ubject: War Thoughts (Info requested) Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 23:29:53 -0600 From: Martin To: "J De'Block" , Brady Quarterman , Steve Barosko , Shaun Himmerick , Jay Hannah , Liz Thelen , Fuzzy Gerdes , Kristen Wheeler , Emanuel Mavricakis , Erin Anderson , See Loong Chin , Marci Shaklee , Mike Monahan , Amber Ruffin , Scott Starkey , Melissa Cameron , Lawrence VanVactor-Lee , Kerstin Caldwll , Don Nguyen , Mark French CC: redoncue@hotmail.com All, I hope everyone's doing well. Can you please send me your mailing address. Also your thoughts on the big war are welcome. -Martin Begin forwarded message: > From: Martin > Date: Wed Mar 5, 2003 22:56:36 America/Chicago > To: Liz Thelen > Subject: Re: Where are you > > > Liz, > > Great to hear from you. I hope things are going well. > > I hope you can accept my most sincere apologies for the eternity > which has passed since our last correspondence. No excuses. I am > abject before you. > > First, the pertinent (if now superfluous) info: > > 403 N. 39th St. > Omaha, NE 68131 > 402-880-8002 > Martin@Bluecircle.org (the address you used obviously works as well). > > Now, on to things. > > Things are going well, more or less, here in Omaha. Way the hell > back in September, I directed a pretty successful run of Improv shows > downtown. It was a revival of the show we did two years ago, Who > Wants to be a Person with $27? We gave away real money and > everything. > > I had intended to teach another class and direct another show, but > held off fearing the prospects of war and prolonged absence. Yet here > it is, the Ides of March, and I'm still waiting to be called. I have > a cushy staff job now as a Wing Scheduler, which means I'm one of the > officers who builds the local flying schedule. After our triumphant > return from Afghanistan, we were mighty busy with the training. Funny > thing about war: the more time you spend fighting one, the less > prepared you are to fight the next one. So when we came back we had a > very busy flying schedule to catch up on all our training, and I put > in some very long days and weeks. > > Now of course, with a very significant portion of our assets back out > on the road, there's less to do. I myself was expecting to depart > last week to Turkey. But it seems the Turkish Parliament had other > ideas. > > They'll come around. > > As for my own personal feelings on the war, I have to say I'm torn. > You see, we already are at war with Iraq--have been for twelve years. > I have the flight logs to prove. In fact I've flown dozens upon > dozens of missions over Iraq in support of the no-fly zones. And > almost everyday since the Gulf War we've sent an armada of the finest > combat aircraft ever to fly through those same skies. Each and day > they've flown, they've (we've) been fired upon by Saddam's miserable > gunners. And just about every day we've observed those shots, counted > to ten, then turned around and flew home. Every now again however, > our patience has grown thin, and we've silenced one or another of > those guns. > > So it was not too long ago that I and my comrades expected this to be > a permanent state of affairs--a endless occupation of Iraq from the > air. Needless to say, any prospect of making this whole, dreadful > business in any way less permanent is an appealing one. > > What's more, as I've had the opportunity to observe the life of the > typical Arab up close, it's hard to imagine it could get any worse. > Saddam has been very clever about diverting any meager scraps which > may have slipped through the cracks of international sanctions toward > his own military effort, so that he might someday be even a bit more > effective at bloodying his own people. He seems of the Stalinist mind > that compassion is weakness and cruelty is strength (a common attitude > in the region). And the flagrant manner in which Saddam has used his > own people to shield himself and his own vain interests, I have to > say, turns my stomach. I can only come to the conclusion that a > modern, civilized world has no room in it for the likes of Saddam > Hussein. > > And his neighbors aren't much better. Saudi Arabia, as just one > example, is the most oppressive country in the Mid-East, which puts it > high in the running for most oppressive worldwide. The royal elite > are undisciplined and gluttonous, the poor and the foreign are treated > with xenophobic hysteria, and women are property. I have a hard time > even going there anymore. So the prospect of a free and democratic > Iraq having even an exemplary influence on the likes of the Saudis is > also a very appealing one. > > And then there's that whole invading other countries thing. > > It's a sad, sad day when the best example the US can set for the rest > of the world is one of aggression. A sadder day still when countries > like Russia, China, Angola, Libya, etc. can claim the moral > high-ground for nothing more than opposing US leadership, even when > not a one among them has even so much as considered consulting the UN > before picking up their own sabers against much weaker countries than > Iraq (names such as Tibet, Chechnya, and Rawanda come soon to mind). > As for the Frence, after strong-arming the Ivory Coast, nuking South > America, and selling rocket motors to North Korea, it's a wonder they > even have time to make to make grand speeches at the UN. > > But I digress. > > You may have noticed, I'm beginning to develop some rather rigid > views on proper moral conduct. Worrisome perhaps. > > At any rate, I sure would like to believe that the United States is > still capable of remaking the world in our own democratic image. We > did a fine job with Germany and Japan. But of course, they had it in > for us first, and so we had a good excuse to intervene. Marching > right into a country where the people have as little opportunity to > speak for themselves as Iraq seems much more unfair, and un-American. > > Regardless, I now believe it has to be done. > > We've managed to construct a world order that is at once chaotic and > dependent upon the credibility and capability of the US to organize > that chaos. So you can't just go sending 200,000 Americans half-way > around the world only to send them home again when things get > personal. > > I have every confidence that the war will be short, limited, and > very, very precise (in fact pay attention, as you're about to witness > the single, most disciplined application of military force in all > human history--the first Gulf War will be a flame-thrower by > comparison). I have further confidence that the compassion of > American GIs will shine through once the war is over, both in our > willingness to spare the innocent from our bombs and in picking up > hammer and nails to rebuild what ruins we've made. > > I have somewhat less confidence in the will of the George W. > administration to take the political risks inherent in reconstruction. > We had a remarkable opportunity to wash Afghanistan clean in the well > of prosperity and freedom, and we seem to be falling short. > > The difference, I'm hoping, is in the ground. > > Iraq will be able to pay for its own reconstruction. So perhaps the > promise of a long-term, stable oil supply will entice the Bushies into > biting the moral bullet, and giving those poor Iraqis their just due. > > And if men and women of good will have anything to say about it, it > just might. > > So I hope things are going well for you, Liz. > > Yours in service, > > -Matt > > P.S. I need your address as well. The wedding is planned for June > 14th, and we have some invitations to send. > > > On Saturday, Oct 19, 2002, at 09:20 US/Central, Liz Thelen wrote: > >> Hi Matt! >> >> How are you doing? I haven't talked to you in ages. I am just updating my >> address book in preparation for Christmas card time. What is your current >> address? For that matter, what is the best email address for you? >> >> Are you excited about the made-up war with Iraq? George W. must have been >> getting really bored after he got through with Afghanistan. Maybe if we >> bought him a Game Cube and some really fun new games he would lay off the >> rest of the world. Do you think? Well anyway, I'd be curious to see what >> your opinion of all this is, since it may affect you more directly and me >> and since you have more firsthand knowledge of what's happening. Obviously, >> like always, I think that our president is pretty much a moron, but not only >> that, I am beginning to worry that he's a very, very dangerous moron. For a >> while I was starting to feel hopeful because it dawned on me that there >> would only be 2 more years of him and then we'd get to try to elect someone >> else. It was freeing to remember that even though at the beginning of his >> presidency it FELT like he'd be there forever, he won't really be. (On the >> other hand, I also think it's only a matter of time before he gets Congress >> to pass the "MAKE ME KING" act so that he will never have to step down - >> what an egomaniac.) But now that he is making up wars for the hell of it, I >> am feeling like those 2 years we have left are really a half-empty glass, >> not half-full. The thing that worries me most is that on the one hand, he >> keeps claiming that a diplomatic solution is preferable to our last (but >> super fun) resort of force.... But on the other hand, every time Iraq gives >> in to one of our demands, the administration dismisses it and says "Never >> trust Saddam! He's not trustworthy! He's lying!" I know I'm really seeing >> this whole interaction from the outside, and I wouldn't know whether to >> trust Saddam or not. But it just looks like a big setup---it seems obvious >> that we'll go to war even if Saddam hands over the keys to Iraq and retires >> to Paris. The more I think about it, the less it all makes sense. >> >> What do you think? >> >> If nothing else, send me your address. And hey, when are you getting >> married??? >> >> Liz >> >