Watching BBC

Staying up very late last night, I watched BBC's morning news show, instead of the normal CNN and Fox fare, and it was something of a shock. Issues that are hardly even on the radar screen here in the U.S. got big play: e.g., complaints in the Pentagon that the U.S. forces are not sufficiently manned for their challenge. Other things seemed strange too. The intense pall of smoke over Baghdad was attributed to the bombing - the deliberate oil-trench fires, more responsible for the smoke than even the bombing, weren't mentioned until quite late. Then, too, the commentators. One fellow, whose name I didn't get, probably in an effort to give his comments pizzazz, described the U.S. administration as a "Christian Jacobin cabal." Pretty strong language! After an hour of such fare, I was ready to slit my wrists and give up the fight. But then one of the commentators mentioned that, various incidental setbacks aside, the U.S. forces had already approached to within only about 80 miles of Baghdad. I took heart. Who says we have received any setbacks worth mentioning? General Tommy Franks evidently follows the George C. Patton school of war, which emphasizes speed, and disdains securing logistical lines. In modern blitzkrieg (sorry: 'shock and awe' warfare), speed and punch are everything. My hat off to him! Now, the really, really hard part: securing the surrender of Baghdad and the collapse of the regime, despite intense resistance and the certain use of WMD.