About

The status quo:-The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 for what was supposed to be a quick war to find and eliminate the weapons of mass destruction and to hold Saddam Hussein accountable for participating in the 9/11 attacks.  Over 4,400 U.S. military personnel have died there, as of March 2011, and over 90,000 Iraqi civilians have died (according to IraqBodyCount.org). -In 2006 12,790 people in the United States were killed by firearm homicides, according to the Center for Disease Control. -The U.S., with under 5% of the world’s population, spends 45% of the world’s military budget, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (link on the right). -The U.S. currently has troops stationed in 130 nations, according to GlobalSecurity.org. We can do better than all this.  We can devote more of our resources to real prosperity, real freedom; and we can get along with our neighbors better than we do. I think the points above are just a few aspects and results of our violent society, and we would do well to examine carefully all the violence around us — violent toys, movies, universities; a population happy to produce and deliver bombs, but largely out of touch with the shock and fear of an actual bomb blast in their back yard. ***** This blog is by Eric Timar, an amateur Peace Guy living in Virginia.  I graduated from the University of Dayton in 1990, and many posts will concern military contracting — including weapons development — conducted at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) and UD’s Laser and Optical Communications Institute (LOCI).    Contact: tegbook @ hotmail.com ***** My favorite definition of garret, from dictionary.com: “an attic, usually a small, wretched one.

Origin:
1300–50; ME garite watchtower < OF garite, guerite watchtower, deriv. of garir, guarir to defend, protect; see garrison

---