Friday, December 15, 2006

Breaking Things

Today will be busy. Both a good thing and a bad thing. We’re handing out the Christmas food boxes at the parish hall today. I think we gave out 350 boxes last year and I would guess that we will have more this year. A sign of the times.

Orland is unique in that the citizens are quick to respond to social needs and they do it without any government oversight. The food supply, “The Pantry” is managed by most of the churches here and is staffed 4 days a week by volunteers. The senior center takes no government aid and is self reliant.

Speaking of government; I read that the consensus among Pentagon types is that we need an additional 35,000 troops in Iraq. Armies break things and kill people. That’s what they are trained to do. And how will that make us safer here at home?

History (there’s that terrible word again!) has shown that the deployment of additional forces has only increased the resistance of the insurgency. Just ask the generals of the former Soviet Army who were caught in the same situation in Afghanistan. Or ask British historians about the events leading up to the formation of Iraq as a country. Or better yet; read our own American history as the original patriots of the 1700’s reacted to the additional troops (Hessians) sent by King George to quell, once and for all, the insurgency.

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