• Vietnam versus Iraq

    If you’re like me and you read the news in print, on the web; you listen to it on the radio, in the office; and you watch it (seldom) on TV, you may have heard comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam. Although I’m rarely reading over your shoulder, or in shouting distance while you read these entries, I can hear a few of your responses:
    “Please. Not another list.”
    “What comparisons?”
    “You can read news on the web?”
    “Is he EVER going to go back to work full time?”

    Well, I decided to do a little research… stressing “little.” Here’s some of the highlights (I use this term lightly):

    Vietnam peak (number of U.S. troops: 1968 – 1969: 550,000
    Private Contractors (approx 10%): 55,000
    Total U.S. Personnel investment: 605,000
    Total land area: 128,000 sq mi
    Population: 41m (approx – in 1970)
    Population density: 320/sq mi

    Troops in Iraq (the U.S. contingent among the dwindling “coalition of the quasi willing”): 160,000
    Private Contractors: 160,000
    Total: 320,000
    Total land area: 169,000 sq mi
    Population: 27m
    Population density: 171/sq mi

    Taking the recent population totals for Vietnam and comparing it to the the number of troops there, you get a U.S. Personnel to Vietnamese ratio of 1 to 140. Looking at the total land area and the population density – along with a bit of reading about the country’s geography, there’s a fair bit of the country that his habitable.

    Now that the “surge” is underway in Iraq, our U.S. Personnel to Iraqi ratio is 1 to 84. Furthermore, looking at the population density – along with a little reading about the country’s geography, there’s very little of the country that is habitable.

    So… by my rough calculations (and with no military training or expertice whatsoever), it appears to me that we have almost twice as many U.S. personel commited to Iraq on a per capita basis as we did in Vietnam, to cover far less habitable territory.

    Granted… we lost Vietnam, and since the mission was supposedly different**, the value of these numbers may be limited. (**Since the mission seems to be a moving target in Iraq, it’s difficult to determine just how “different” it really is.)

    My point to this entry is that Iraq is not another Vietnam. In some respects this may be worse. Although the overall numbers are lower, you can make the argument that we’ve got a BIGGER investment of personnel in Iraq (when you consider the size and make-up of the objective) – and with all due respect to Mr Bush (which at this point isn’t much), we’re still losing.

  • Where art thou innocence?

    I don’t know when it was, but sometime between my childhood and parenthood, bare footed children became the height of neglect. As a child, freedom from footwear followed freedom from responsibility. The backyard was our summer oasis, relieved from the yolk of academia. The bare, dirt stained foot was no less an icon of liberty than a bald eagle soaring on the updrafts of a hot summer day.

    Now I can’t let my son wander the back-country of our family room, sans stockings, without risking the wrath of the in-laws. You’d think I was letting the poor boy run naked through the neighborhood. You ask me, a boy’s feet can’t be coddled. Feet are our ambassadors with the ground; and it’s everywhere… in all shapes, textures, and temperatures. Part of being a child is learning about our world, and not all of not all of it is sheathed in a lycra/cotton blend with rubber exteriors.

    I say, let thy feet know the world!

  • I’m so discouraged

    FEMA Knew Of Toxic Gas In Trailers – washingtonpost.com

    I don’t know if I’ve said it before (here), so I’ll say it now just in case: sometimes I can’t help but wonder if conservatives in government sabotage their agencies and programs on purpose… in order to prove their point that “less government is better government.”

    Think about it. In a perverse way, shrinking government can lead to all kinds of examples of folly… which becomes fodder for the call to shrink government more.

    (Personal note: I was really disappointed that “fodder” did not appear in the OSX dictionary application.)

    I can’t help but wonder if this article in the Washington Post (the link at the top of this entry) is an example. FEMA is now synonymous for mismanagement. A good number of people will see this article and conclude that this is more evidence that government is good for nothing.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency since early 2006 has suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in government-provided trailers with levels of a toxic chemical 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers, congressional lawmakers said yesterday.

    One man in Slidell, La., was found dead in his trailer on June 27, 2006, after complaining about the formaldehyde fumes. In a conference call about the death, 28 officials from six agencies recommended that the circumstances be investigated and trailer air quality be subjected to independent testing. But FEMA lawyers rejected the suggestions, with one, Adrian Sevier, cautioning that further investigation not approved by lawyers “could seriously undermine the Agency’s position” in litigation.

    Three trailer residents who testified before the panel described frequent nosebleeds, respiratory problems and mysterious mouth and nasal tumors that they or family members had suffered. They also said veterinarians and pediatricians had warned that their pets and children may be experiencing formaldehyde-related symptoms…. “We have lost a great deal through our dealings with FEMA, not the least of which is our faith in government,” said Paul Stewart, a former Army officer in Mississippi.

    I hope this serves as another anchor around George’s neck, rather than an indictment of public service. With so little oversight, regulation, or support, the private sector often does no better.

    Both my wife and I work for the state. My wife’s department doesn’t have the money to buy desks. They’ve got drawers that don’t open and chairs that are older than many of the trees in my yard. Several departments have been known to lease abandoned retail space, have problems with water leaks, and have working conditions that quite possibly wouldn’t be legal in the private sector.

    Here’s a fun fact for you: OSHA, the “Occupational Safety and Health Act” specifically does NOT have jurisdiction over state employees. The Feds regulate private sector working conditions, and encourage state governments to create their own oversight office to protect state employees. Many states do just that, with programs that are approved by the Feds. Florida isn’t one of them.

    So if you wonder why government doesn’t work at times, or you whine about all the taxes you pay, ask yourself if you’re getting what you pay for. Whether you realize it or not, you’re making it really hard for those who care… keep caring.