Thank you for all of the comments and support for my first blog.
One comment asked me to tell the story about introducing myself to Scott Ritter, the Chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998. I like this story because it shows why I was against the Iraq War before it even started.
I introduced myself to Scott at a conference with the comment "Hello Scott, I used to schedule U2 sorties for you over Iraq." It got his attention. Since the war in 1991, the United States provided U2 reconnaissance missions in support of the U.N. Inspectors in Iraq.
While still on active duty in the Air Force during the mid 90's, I had two rotations in Saudi Arabia, with the duty of scheduling and coordinating all of the airborne reconnaissance covering the southern portion of Iraq. As part of my duties, I attended the General's briefing every morning, answered questions, talked with intelligence agencies, and talked with people planning what to bomb if we went to war the next day with Iraq. No one was concerned about weapons of mass destruction in 1995 - because we knew the programs had been shut down, the stockpiles destroyed. Like Scott, I knew statements out of Washington about WMD in Iraq were wrong.
On two other subjects - Thanks to all who donated to the campaign last week. It's terrific to see the nationwide support. Be assured it all adds up - however much you contribute. I hope that someday, soon, we have public financing of political campaigns to limit the influence of money on politics. Remember the Golden Rule: those with the gold make the rules.
Been a busy week, I was up in Alturas, CA for Fandango Days. It was nice to get back to a small town celebration. They have good internet connection there, but we had zero cellphone service. The campaign staffer I was traveling with went into withdrawal without his cellphone. I enjoyed two days of peace. People were friendly, food was good, and a nice breeze kept the day from being too hot. Only bad part was Mt. Shasta just a short drive away. A friend climbed it the week before and told me about her ascent while we were doing our 12 mile run last Sunday. On my list of things to do ... but not in the near future.
Visit my relaunched website here. You can make a contribution to help our effort here.
Charlie