Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

"The best laid plans of mice and men...." I think it's one of the most profound phrases ever written. It's not even a sentence. It is not even the whole statement. It doesn't even include a verb. But, that phrase alone sends a powerful message.  

John Steinbeck was so moved by it, he entitled his famous novella, Of Mice and Men. And I was so moved by it, I created a situation about it in My Stretch of Texas Ground. 

That phrase has wit, wisdom, and sarcasm. So, the next time someone comes to you with a grandiose scheme that he's certain can't go wrong, all you have to tell him is, "the best laid plans of mice and men..."

And, there are no grandiose schemes more grandiose than the grandiose schemes about war. Think back to 2002-2003 in the buildup to the Iraq War: the predictions about the ease of victory; about the length and the cost; about how the Iraqi people would view us as liberators, etc. And less than two months after the start of the war, George W. Bush held a televised spectacle aboard an aircraft carrier to celebrate the end of major combat. A big banner saying "Mission Accomplished" was strewn behind him forming the backdrop to his televised speech, which has become known as the Mission Accomplished speech. The worst fighting and dying lied ahead and for many years. 

And it was much the same in Afghanistan. Very quickly, the Taliban government fled Kabul. It seemed like the mighty U.S. had made quick work of them. But really, it was just the beginning of 19 years of war, through the administrations of three Presidents, in which thousands of Americans would die, and hundreds of thousands of Afghans.  

And even today, the war continues. The U.S. has stepped back to supporting the Afghan government, rather than engaging the Taliban directly, but still, the fighting goes on, and there is no basis to think that peace is imminent or even on the horizon. 

And Libya. Oh My God, Libya. What an absolutely nightmarish hell-hole it is, when it used to be the garden spot of Africa with the highest standard of living. Gaddafi was a dictator, but he was a rather benevolent one. The wealthiest country in Africa has been reduced to rank poverty and perpetual war. And our media doesn't even cover the disastrous consequences of Obama and Clinton's war. 

No mouse would be stupid enough to start mouse wars that are comparable to U.S. wars. I'm afraid that Robert Burns owes an apology to the rodent community.