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Too bad the Internet era is over...
Or we'd be saying that this was is being fought on dot-com time.
Though, in one sense, I suppose we are saying that.
posted by
timshell
on March 26, 2003 at 5:34 AM
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War lengths
Remember back to European History...The Thirty Years' War? The Hundred Years' War?Heck, the concept of war being a finite conflict is probably a European invention anyway, other cultures seem only to regard "Peace" as a respite during which to shake hands and try to break the other guys' knuckles. These were in the days when it took weeks or months to lay seige to a city-state, or mount an invasion to cross the English Channel. But you could get a lot of bangs for your buck; now we spend millions each time we slap a cruise missile into the ground.
Production, economics and logistics can't keep pace with the rate of usage of supplies and equipment by modern weapons in a modern offensive campaign as we do it (high-tech blitzkrieg). You use up your stocks and that will largely be it. Not to mention manpower is not the highest with the all-volunteer force pared down from it's "two theater major war" levels of the Reagan era. And the international and intranational protests.......we could win the war but lose the world.
Four months is going to be a real problem unless we change the style of war and the style of diplomacy. In the meantime, switch your portfolio to energy and weapons stocks.
majroj
posted by
majroj
on March 25, 2003 at 9:00 PM
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Excellent Point!
I've heard the same thing, only I think you were more coherent in your response. I just yelled "DUH"! at the television.
posted by
editormum
on March 25, 2003 at 7:12 PM
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But in the world in which we live...
...everything is instantly given to us. Take email: you can write a friend a letter, send it, and a few seconds later your friend is reading it. You can use a digital camera and be able to see your pictures in even less time than it took for Polaroids to develop. Everyone is so accustomed to things happening NOW that to them a few months is something close to a lifetime. In a way, it goes back to my post about hating people. Everyone is so impatient these days as well.
There is one thing I heard on CNN that made me do a double-take. "This is a very dangerous war." Ummm...am I missing something here? Are there safe wars? And if so, why haven't I heard of those wars?
posted by
Jemmie211
on March 25, 2003 at 6:47 PM
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