news reviews

This is just a quick hit before I leave for work this morning.

Thoughts and prayers to the families of the three service men killed during the ambush on Friday. Sure, two were reportedly taken prisoner, but they died as a result of that action last week. A local talk show host asked how soldiers could be taken captive if they have automatic weapons and the training to use them. While the answers are many, a couple popped into my head almost instantly. If, as the linked story suggests, the rest of their convoy left them and their senior man was killed, then fear may have slowed the reaction time of these two junior soldiers. Also, they could have been injured in the firefight or even knocked unconsious by an explosion and rendered unable to defend themselves. I won't speculate any further, but those are possibilities.

Weapons testing works both ways. The same talk show host had a great idea when it comes to dealing with pot-bellied dictators who want to flex their little muscles, like North Korea seems determined to do. He says that since the U.S. has spent so much time, effort, and tax-payer money to develop an anti-missle system, we should test our technology. As soon as that rocket leaves the launch pad, shoot it down. Waiting for the missle to lift off before destroying it would be seen as a purely defensive tactic on our part. I would add that a follow-up cruise missle to destroy the launch site could be wholly justified as an active defense on our part and it would send the strongest message possible to Hanoi that we're not playing around on this.

To finish on a positive note for this morning... Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, NHL Champions for 2006. I watched most of the game last night and it was a lot closer than the final score indicates. A couple of wide shots by the Oilers and an open net goal with less than a minute to play seemed to seal the deal for the winners of Lord Stanley's cup.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday.