Why Scrapbooking Moms are the Secret Weapon in the War on Terror

There is a front line and a back end to every successful war effort. Rosie the Riveter was an icon during World War II and she was symbolic of the strong American woman who took command of the US economy and war manufacturing; without her there would have been no Allied victory.

We are once again embroiled in a bitter war and just like those times in the 1940s, the time of ending is uncertain. There is one thing that is different--women are involved in both the front lines and the back end and this can only be a good thing for America.

Regardless of which side of the political fence you stand upon in regards to the current war--you cannot disregard the sacrifices made by soldiers and the loved ones who bear the burden of their absence and, God forbid, their loss. But we must ask ourselves what is all of this sacrifice for?

There are many possible answers to this but here is what I think--the purpose of life is to constantly renew itself. This hypothesis is evidenced by the cycles of nature that occur around each of us every minute of every day we live. If this assumption is correct then it is our children and our children's children that are the vehicle of human renewal and are therefore the objects of our protection.

If it were gold we were protecting then the keepers of the gold would be the most valuable asset we would have--the ones who secured the bars with guns, who weighed each gram to the ounce, and who kept accurate figures that tallied the sum value of the entire gold reserve.

If it were gasoline we were protecting then the attendants who stand watch with squeegee in hand at the pumps would be our guardians of the cycle of the future of humanity.

But that's not the case because if children are the ultimate objects of value that we are protecting with the life's blood of our young men and women then it is the guardian of children who are our most valuable asset.

Now, if gasoline or gold bars were the object of ultimate importance, then which guardian would you choose: the one who just stood by with a weapon and ignored the gold or let the pump rust? Likewise, which guardian of our precious little resources of the future would you prefer: the one who passes out lunch money with no care of what nutritional value the child receives and who moves the child's head out of the way of the television set when they are begging for attention or the guardian who worships their child and treats them like a living project that can only compound in value over time with the attention paid to them today?

Obviously the doting mother is the preferred guardian for our little golden bib spoilers but what is it about the scrapbooking moms that separate them from the rest of the crowd? It is the action of taking their feelings, their memories, their love, their skills and their talents and creating something that truly turns common memories into works of art--keepsakes that can be handed down for generations.

This love for family, for community, for social order and the righteous zeal for living a good and happy life is what puts the bomp in the bomp shh bomp shh bomp. The scissor wielding, glue stick stamping divas are the colonels of the home front battles that take place every morning between thrown Cheerios and every evening between "one more drink of water" stalling techniques before bedtime.

We spend so much time protecting our children that we rarely give credit where it's due--to the guardians of those children--the ones who teach them to wipe their little bottoms and hold them when they are shrieking from 3 A.M. nightmares. Billie Holiday once sang, "God bless the child who can hold his own." I say we should also give praise and thanks to the monolithic mothers who stand guard over these children and, luck and heavy preparation provided, teach them to hold their own.

Joshua Minton is a father and husband as well as a writer. He is co-developer, along with his wife, of the Video Scrapbook Diva DVD system which teaches mothers and fathers how to take their family films, transfer them to the PC and turn them into fantastic movies that can be shared with family and loved ones.

Josh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He has won several awards for his poetry and fiction, including the BGSU Alumni Book Award and was included in the 1999 edition of Who's Who in College America.

Josh’s professional background is in the health insurance industry where he has spent the last two years serving as Executive Business Analyst for the Executive Director of the nation's largest health insurer. He currently serves as President of Family Bliss Enterprise, Inc. ([http://www.familyblissenterprises.com]) and is webmaster of http://www.joshuaminton.com where you can view samples of his essays, poetry, fiction and much more.

You can contact Josh at josh@joshuaminton.com

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War on Terror - Is it Really?

For years, I have wanted to publicly state my views and thoughts on the "war on terror". I mean, I was chomping at the bit. But I had a problem. For commentary to be successful, a journalist must not be biased, and I was. How could I write an unbiased and objective viewpoint when I had too much on the line; My son was on his second tour in Iraq, so it would have been practically impossible to write a fair posting. Well, he has returned safely, and I'm gonna to pull the gloves off.

This so-called "war on terror" is in fact a war, by any calculation. However, it is a war previously unknown to mankind. It is not your great-grandfather's in WWI, your grandfather's in WWII, or even your father's in Korea or Vietnam. Those engagements were basically simple: You knew the enemy, hopeful that they were where they were supposed to be, then tracked them down and shot them. All of them. Then you occupied their empty space, and started anew. It doesn't get much more basic than that. Identify, find, shoot and occupy. Hell, even G.I. Joe knew that.

This new war we are engaged in has no such easily defined strategy. We don't know the enemy, don't know where he is,and face stiff restrictions on who, when, where and if we should shoot them. Identifying, finding and removing them have become problematic. There are so many stumbling blocks strewn across the path to winning this war that I don't ever see it happening. And, to make matters worse, President Obama made a huge blunder. He "declared war on Al-Qaeda".

You must understand this. A declaration of war means strict compliance with the Geneva Convention standards of warfare. Well, now we have put ourselves under an umbrella of rules and regulations that must be followed. Picture Osama bin-Laden huddled in a cave with his followers, somewhere in the world, saying "Okay guys, here are the rules. No more cowardly acts. We must now fight fair". Now, imagine all those eyes going glowing white with incredulity, as if they are saying, "Well, what do we do now?.

This war on terror is no traditional war and doesn't fit well with traditional standards of conduct. Al-Qaeda has written their own set of rules, and we must write ours if we are to have any chance of victory. During the two Great Wars, we gathered intelligence from the local populace. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Now, a huge majority of the locals are at least mildly sympathetic to the terrorists, and are not as forthcoming in their information.

There is no defined front in this new war. The enemy isn't wearing a Vietnamese pith helmet or a German 'SS' patch on his soldier. He is wearing clothing considered casual, blending right in with normal citizenry of any and all countries. Yet, he does not have any rules, while our hands our so entirely tied we ain't getting loose.

Our intelligence gathering community is at great risk, as seen by the cowardly suicide bombing on a remote CIA outpost in Afghanistan. 7 dead United States officers. This country relies too much on our 'allies' help. The intel guys need to develop their own intelligence, and have the ability to act once it is in their own hands.

If there is credible information available, why must those intel guys go through all the bureaucratic b.s. to remove one threat? Taking him down, immediately, must be allowable, right there in the field. Then, allow our guys any means necessary to get more intelligence. Yes, I mean up to and including torture. You get what you need, in any way you can, to prevent more attacks against the United States and her citizens. How someone can justify killing innocent men, women and children is beyond my comprehension.

I'm not much for the Bible, but "an eye for an eye" sticks out for me. I do not mean wholesale slaughter of civilians in terrorists' safe haven countries. But we must be allowed to maximize the use of force necessary to combat bin-Laden and the string-pullers, and the pesky minions that do their dirty work. Find, capture and retrieve information as needed, playing by their rules. See how they react to payback, using the same formula they themselves use.

The misguided political agendas running this war must face reality and reset themselves to play a whole different game. The rules have changed dramatically, and so must we. Give our guys what they need to protect us. I don't care one whit if the President of France says he is outraged by our actions. See what happens if the Eiffel Tower gets blown up. I just bet that France takes another look at the role his country plays (doesn't play) in world affairs.

The war on terrorism is global, and every country, save a few, are at risk. If you want to win, take off the kid gloves, screw world opinion, and go get what intelligence you need, any way you can. Al-Qaeda has set the bar and the rules. We cannot continue to react to what they have done. We must be proactive to what they are going to do. Let the United Nations moan and groan and complain. The U.N. is a useless, toothless body anyway. We must use the Old West mantra of shot first and ask questions later. Only, don't shoot to kill if possible. Shoot to maim, to allow us to glean any information possible. To fight the savages and criminals, we must be likewise.. Our very survival depends on it.

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