...is that as you grow older, you wind up seeing more and more of the people you know pass away. Death awaits us all, some sooner than later. Now while I am quite understanding that it is our inevitable end, it is still hard for me, as I suppose it is for anyone else, to lose those whom we have known over the years. Growing older is not an easy thing for more than just physical reasons such as your health. The stress of losing loved ones, friends, associates, coworkers is always with you, the older you become, the more you lose.
Last week I lost a pretty good friend, he was a coworker. He was 68 and died of a heart attack. He apparently thought he had indigestion, or maybe he refused to admit to himself it may have been a heart attack. His death probably could have been prevented by going to the hospital or calling 911. He was in pain for many hours before he died, all the classic heart attack symptoms, pain in the chest, tightening, a feeling of indigestion, then pain in the left arm. He died on New Year's day. What a shame. He was a good man.
Another person I knew passed away two days ago, I got word of it yesterday. He was 58, and while he was not a close friend, he had been a coworker of many years who had been retired now for about 6 or 7 years. While we were not close friends, we were on friendly terms, and I really liked the guy. He died of lung cancer, another thing that maybe could have been avoided. He had his quirks but he was a good guy too.
I had not seen either in at least a couple of years for one, and several for the other, yet that does not make it easier when people we know die, sometimes it makes it harder for us to accept, to cope with. Yeah, I know, we all have to go, death is unavoidable, at least for mortal men. It just is damned hard seeing people go like that as you grow older. Heck I thought seeing almost everyone I have worked with over the years retire before me was tough, it does not even compare to seeing them pass away. They will be missed, forever - as long as my forever lasts.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, January 11, 2007
More Troops to Iraq Maybe that is what is needed...
...then again maybe it is not. I am not too sure on the president's call to send 21,000 or so more of our brave men and women to that hell hole; but then again I am happy it is not my decision to make; and I do support him having made it. My guess would be that the president himself is not 100% sure this tactic will work either, but he has made the decision. I do not envy him his job right now.
Something else in his plan though, is likely to give our fighting men and women, and the armed forces of Iraq, a much better chance at beating down the terrorists. That will be our changing our rules of engagement. While the president was not very specific about exactly which of the rules would be changed, and to just how they would change, the implication is that the armed forces will now be allowed to act as if they are actually fighting a war and hunt down and kill our enemies instead of trying to be policemen who are overly concerned with getting sued if they do not bend over backwards to honor the civil rights of the criminals with whom they deal. One can only hope so, that is one who truly wishes to see victory in Iraq, and who wishes to see a smashing blow dealt to the terrorist pigs whom we are fighting. If you have not heard his speech or read the transcript, please do so by going to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242958,00.html
Doing something proactive, taking the bull by the horns, is the only way to win in Iraq. Our leaving would be a disaster not only for the people of Iraq, but for the United States and much of the rest of the world in that it would provide a base for terrorists much as Afghanistan had been. We are there now and we need to finish the job we started to protect our freedoms. lease do not doubt this war is helping to do just that since the terrorists have concentrated much of their strength in Iraq. So if we can destroy them there - we do a great deal to weaken them worldwide, and therefore make it less likely they will again attack on our soil. Thus this protects us all.
It was once said that the cost of freedom was perpetual vigilance. When you think of it though, perpetual vigilance is not enough. There is a higher price to pay for freedom. If you are only vigilant without taking action then you will just see your freedom destroyed by your enemies. The cost of freedom requires not only perpetual vigilance, but perpetual willingness to take action to protect freedom. I do not like the prospect of seeing my own son over there, he is 17 and will be 18 before it is all over. He is at the age when duty often calls. Although I hope he goes to college first before entering the military, the choice is his alone. So I know that should my son decide to enlist and go, I would honor his decision as he would be honoring the USA. I like any other loyal U.S. citizen seeing do not like to see U.S. troops being injured and killed, they are all our children or our brothers and sisters, or even our parents. Yet as much as it is abhorrent to see them be injured or die, it is more abhorrent yet to see aircraft full of innocent people slamming into skyscrapers, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania; it is more abhorrent still to hear the cries for help of the innocents as they called 911 saying a plane had hit the building and it was on fire and they needed help; it was more abhorrent still to see people falling through the air after they had jumped out of the burning twin towers to escape the flames, at least one hopelessly flapping his or her arms like wings in a hopeless attempt to cheat death.
Yes, even though I do not know if President George W. Bush is making the right decision, as only time will tell, I have to go along with the decision he has made if only because he is not turning his back, and the back of the USA, away from what needs to be done to protect us all, and to defeat an enemy that has avowed again and again to utterly destroy us, and those vows were made long before we entered Iraq. No I do not envy him his job, but I have faith in his decision and hope it will work out right, after all - we are fighting for our lives and our freedoms, and life is not worth anything without the freedom to live it.
All the best,
Glenn B
Something else in his plan though, is likely to give our fighting men and women, and the armed forces of Iraq, a much better chance at beating down the terrorists. That will be our changing our rules of engagement. While the president was not very specific about exactly which of the rules would be changed, and to just how they would change, the implication is that the armed forces will now be allowed to act as if they are actually fighting a war and hunt down and kill our enemies instead of trying to be policemen who are overly concerned with getting sued if they do not bend over backwards to honor the civil rights of the criminals with whom they deal. One can only hope so, that is one who truly wishes to see victory in Iraq, and who wishes to see a smashing blow dealt to the terrorist pigs whom we are fighting. If you have not heard his speech or read the transcript, please do so by going to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242958,00.html
Doing something proactive, taking the bull by the horns, is the only way to win in Iraq. Our leaving would be a disaster not only for the people of Iraq, but for the United States and much of the rest of the world in that it would provide a base for terrorists much as Afghanistan had been. We are there now and we need to finish the job we started to protect our freedoms. lease do not doubt this war is helping to do just that since the terrorists have concentrated much of their strength in Iraq. So if we can destroy them there - we do a great deal to weaken them worldwide, and therefore make it less likely they will again attack on our soil. Thus this protects us all.
It was once said that the cost of freedom was perpetual vigilance. When you think of it though, perpetual vigilance is not enough. There is a higher price to pay for freedom. If you are only vigilant without taking action then you will just see your freedom destroyed by your enemies. The cost of freedom requires not only perpetual vigilance, but perpetual willingness to take action to protect freedom. I do not like the prospect of seeing my own son over there, he is 17 and will be 18 before it is all over. He is at the age when duty often calls. Although I hope he goes to college first before entering the military, the choice is his alone. So I know that should my son decide to enlist and go, I would honor his decision as he would be honoring the USA. I like any other loyal U.S. citizen seeing do not like to see U.S. troops being injured and killed, they are all our children or our brothers and sisters, or even our parents. Yet as much as it is abhorrent to see them be injured or die, it is more abhorrent yet to see aircraft full of innocent people slamming into skyscrapers, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania; it is more abhorrent still to hear the cries for help of the innocents as they called 911 saying a plane had hit the building and it was on fire and they needed help; it was more abhorrent still to see people falling through the air after they had jumped out of the burning twin towers to escape the flames, at least one hopelessly flapping his or her arms like wings in a hopeless attempt to cheat death.
Yes, even though I do not know if President George W. Bush is making the right decision, as only time will tell, I have to go along with the decision he has made if only because he is not turning his back, and the back of the USA, away from what needs to be done to protect us all, and to defeat an enemy that has avowed again and again to utterly destroy us, and those vows were made long before we entered Iraq. No I do not envy him his job, but I have faith in his decision and hope it will work out right, after all - we are fighting for our lives and our freedoms, and life is not worth anything without the freedom to live it.
All the best,
Glenn B
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