The following was written yesterday, before the major bombing began.

War Coverage

War coverage is my new temptation. I want always to know what's going on, even if nothing is going on--especially if nothing's going on. I don't like the useless pictures of a calm Baghdad, but I do like watching a reporter in Iraq try to explain what he's seen there. I don't like the images of bright flashes of light which are supposed to be bombs, but I do like interviews with soldiers preparing for action. I've even got choosing a network covered: NBC has the best talk, ABC has the fastest news, and FOX has the best ticker. On the radio, I listen to the local NPR station.

One thing that bothers me is when experts and analysts try to predict what will happen in the future. I simply have no desire to know. They may tell me what has already happened and what is happening, as long as they leave the future in the future. Finally, the media should stop covering anti-war protests. The war has begun, and it is more of a detriment to their cause than a help to protest against it. Do they seriously think that if they protest hard enough, the U.S. and the U.K. will say, "All right, you win," and get the troops out of Iraq? No, lives have already been lost; it is too late to turn back. All protestsing (and media coverage of it) does is give Saddam's only real hope, that the Western anti-war movement will stop the U.S. invasion, more weight in his deluded mind, and thus keep him longer from surrendering. I do not want to be either shocked or awed by my country's military might. I want Saddam and his regime to give up--that is what will end the war the soonest.