I believe the saying is "The first casualty of war is the truth". This war is no exception. Weren't we led to believe that the Shock and Awe campaign would demoralize the Iraqi army and leaders into giving up this war quickly? Weren't we told that Iraqi military would be laying down their weapons and surrendering in droves? Weren't we told that Iraqi civilians would welcome our forces with open arms? It appears to me that our government seriously miscalculated almost everything about the Iraqi response. Shock and Awe has had little effect. Iraqi military is putting up signifcant resistance. I think the jury is still out on whether our presence is welcomed by the citizens of Iraq, but the initial appearance is that we are viewed as an occupying force. All of this makes me very skeptical of anything our government tells us. Propaganda is a powerful weapon, and it is used extensively by both sides.

I keep seeing images in this war that remind me of Vietnam. I realize that this war is nothing like Vietnam... and god forbid it should ever become that. However, these pentagon briefing, with military officials desperatly trying to set realistic expectations, and bragging about the effectiveness of bombing or ground conflicts, the reporting of casualties, are scary reminders of those awful days. This really hit home as I watched a plane delivering the remains of deceased soldiers back to Britain with full military regalia.

Please, God, make this war end soon. the longer this goes on, the greater risk that this will escalate beyond our control. There are so many opportunities for bad things to happen; terrorism, Syria, Kurds and Turks, Israeli engagement, launch of chemical weapons, just to name a few.

The reality is we are in this war up to our armpits. There is no turning back. I support our troops, I want us to prevail, I want Saddam to leave Iraq... I just want this over quickly.

Seems like one of those significant milestones... traded in the ole' Family Minivan for a hip new (well, used) Jeep Grand Cherokee. The days of Soccer Mom/Dad, are begining to fade away.

Saw George McGovern on Larry King last night. What a great man (and a WWII decorated figher pilot); a reminder of how the Democratic Party once was, and should be. He was very articulate against the war, and what he said rang so true. There are so many motives that have resulted in this war beyond those that we are being told; oil, money, revenge, our inability to capture Osama, politics, economics, etc. The reality is that Iraq has not been a threat to anyone in the last 10 years, the inspectors have not uncovered any chemo-bio weapons, and thus far, our troops have not either.

The best way to support our troops is to get them home and put an end to the death and destruction that is going on en mass. Shock and Awe has begun, the destruction is horrific, and one can only hope that this conflict will conclude quickly before this escalates into a situation that is totally unpredictable and out of control.

Listening to GW Bush's address and ultimatum for war was a bone-chilling experience last night. War is upon us, and that is a serious and sobering thought. I have definetly been staunchly anti-war... but I gotta admit, Bush made an effective argument for the actions to come. Also, following the speech I watched PBS Frontline. They did an in-depth report on Saddam Hussein, and the history of this conflict. This guy really IS a dangerous son-of-a-bitch. He holds Stalin as his hero and mentor, and models his leadership after him. I trust PBS news for delivering the facts, and this Frontline production has tempered my view to the point of accepting the events that are likely to come. Don't get me wrong... my greatest hope is that significant worldwide pressure will come to bear on Saddam in the next 40 hours, and that he will leave the country, and the war will be over before the first bomb is to fall.

Posted my old Palm V and MP3 player on ebay. Put 'em together as a bundle. Hope it sells.

Lovin' my Sony Clie, Personal Entertainment Organizer. Way cool. Palm OS PDA, combined with MP3 player, Memory Stick, HiRes full color screen. Also got Missing-Sync which integrates the Clie with Apple's iLife apps. Specifically it lets you load up tunes from iTunes, and photo's from iPhoto, as well as mounting the Memory Stick as a hard drive on the desktop. Sorry 'bout the geekspeak, but its a great combination of products well integrated for the maximum coolness factor.

Its March... that's one full year that I've maintained my 45 lb. weightloss.