The second religion in our home is probably American Football.  My husband is a great fan (and me too)  of the Green Bay Packers, and of course, they did not make it to the play-offs this year.  Of course, his other "favorite team" is (they way he puts it) any team playing against the Dallas Cowboys.  We watched the match in which the Cowboys were slimly defeated by thier opponent this past Saturday night.  It was a good game, a great effort by both sides.  It all came down to a mishandled ball, and this minor error dashed the forward progress of the Cowboys for this season.

To be really honest with you, I watched the game along side my husband.  I did not care who won, because to me, neither of them were the Green Bay Packers.  Since I was neutral in the gridiron conflict, when the Dallas quarterback mishandled the ball, grabbed it and tried to make a score anyway, this effort was most honourable to me.  Had he made it to the goal, I would have cheered for him, regardless of the man sitting next to me.  I really wanted him to to be real honest, as a reward for his effort to recover from his mistake. I actually felt sorry for him as he sat there, dejected as the time slipped away, a chance for the Super Bowl dashed. 

I used this thinking while listening to President Bush speak to us about this "new course" in Iraq he was to present.  I knew that no longer could he say "we are winning", or use the word victory seriously.  He was very candid and sober in his assessment of the reality of the situation as it is now.  He was very honest about the hardship of this conflict, and that it will not be easy going in the future.  He admitted his "mistakes", and stated that "only he was to blame".  I admire this honestly, though it was late coming, he still deserves to be commended.

There is alot I really want to say here, but I am not as brave as some of you.  I have a feeling that the threat of conflict with Syria and Iran may be what most people should trouble over from this speech.  It seems to me that this is a provocation to broaden the conflict beyond Iraq.  I think that American people need to understand, that this threat alone, concidering that 60% of the Iraqi people are Shi'a, that Iraq is mostly a Shi'a government just like Iran, may have underminded the whole mission.  Our president would have you to belive that Iran "opposes" the government in Iraq.  However, truth is, the government of Iraq is mostly controlled by the same 2 major parties (The Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq and Iran are the same, and the Dawah) that control Iran.  Almost all of the people of the MidEast belive that in this next year, there will be military confrontation between Iran and Israel and or the US.   You have to wonder what will happen to Iraq then.  How will the people (especially the Shi'a) react, and who will the government side with.  And most importantly, who will they express thier anger toward? 

I think that Iraq was like the mishandling of the ball, and the threat towards Syria and Iran was like the run for the goal (you know, Romo could have claimed it as a "fake" had he scored)...but we all saw what happened to the quarterback, he almost made it, but his feet were taken out from under him.  The difference is, at the end of the game, and off the field, they are probably all friends, united in the love of thier sport, and not opponents.  And there is next season.  For Mr. Bush, this escalation is all he has left, and there is no "almost", and no next time.  I wonder is his "leagacy" more important than the best interests of the American people.   Unfortuantly, he seems to be tring to build it on the backs of our soldiers, our treasury, and our reputation as a great nation.

It bothers me that Mr. Bush would try to use "sacrifice" as a patriotic duty when he only gives words to the notion.  Yes, many American lives have been lost, many chairs empty at the dinner table, but not at his house.

On a ligher note...Baltimore and San Diego in the Super Bowl?

Peace Be Unto You

Zanubiyah.