US QDR...

[Splinty]

Peter, I'm beginning to get the impression that if the U.S. somehow discovered the key to immortality, cheap endless power, and was able to end world hunger and poverty in a day, you'd gainsay it just because someone at the BBC said we were wrong.

[MikeyD]

Hey, this is America. If the key to immortality and endless power were discovered the drug and energy companies would get their hands on it first. They'd find a way to make cheap endless power expensive & rationed, and imortality would be payable on the installment plan.

[ March 15, 2006, 11:51 AM: Message edited by: MikeyD ]

[Peter Cairns]

Splinty,

If the US discovered those things nobody at the BBc would say they were wrong, though they might comment on the consequences, like the collapse of the oil industry or who gets to be immortal first and how many will die before it becomes universally available, which are pretty legitimate things to ask.

That's actually one of the things the BEEB does very well, ask intelligent questions, that and questioning even intelligent answers.

Peter.

[Imperial Grunt]

Here is an article about how the US Army has changed its training for its brigades. It has turned 180 degrees. Article from US News and World Report.

Army Training

[WineCape]

As professor David M. Kennedy said before: From the outset, the war (OIF) was a colossally bold and breathtaking risky gamble. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, the U.S. failed to beat the odds.

Forget about WMD and links to al-Qaeda. The real purpose for invading Iraq was the extravagant ambition to transform the political culture of the entire middle East. The Bush Administration bet American might and good intentions against the accumulated weight of centuries of religious rivalry, tribal tensions, wanton bloodletting and autoritarian rule.

Even American hyperpower has proved no match for the burden of all that sorry history.