Slashdot Mirror
The Future of PC Games, According to Microsoft
Geaty writes "Gamespot has an article up about Microsoft's big PC plans. Topics covered include why DirectX 9 will be the last DX for a while, the increased game support in Longhorn, and a 'standard' PC controller. Looks to this ignorant reader like Microsoft is trying to tackle the games market (again?), cornering matchmaking and patching. The controller issue seems like an attempt to bring to the PC platform some of the uniformity that consoles have."
I guess standardization, unilateralism and competition apply here, so it's time for me to rant.
Thinking intelligently about iraq
UN security council resolution 1441 mandated the use of force against Iraq should Iraq refuse to comply with the terms of UN weapons inspectors to disarm Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This resolution has been treated as a mandate to squirm around by Iraq. Sadaam Huesein has tried to wriggle out from under the boot of the mandate and only as the boot was applied more firmly has he begun to comply with the orders of UN weapons inspectors.
President Bush is now requesting a new resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. He has stated that Sadaam's wriggling is not compliance with 1441 and that we should now initiate a regime change to remove the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. In the meantime the other notions in the UN have argued that the pressure the United States has applied to Iraq has prevented Iraq from wriggling out of the sanctions of 1441, and that there is now no need for a regime change or war in Iraq. This finally brings me to my point.
At the cost of billions of dollars, the United States has effectively begun forcing Baghdad to comply with 1441 by threatening a full invasion and overthrow of the Iraqi government. It is undeniable that Iraq has begun complying with the demands of weapons inspectors, destroying Al Samoud missles, and granting unrestricted interviews with scientists and civilians the weapons inspectors meet with. However, the only reason Iraq is complying, is as an Iraqi student interviewed in Time magazine says, "there is a gun against the back of our heads."
So put a gun against the back of Baghdad's head and they will do what you tell them to. Who wouldn't? But what happens when you remove the gun? France, Germany, Russia, and China have argued against invading Iraq. But they have not suggested how to continue enforcing resolution 1441 without continuing to hold the gun against the back of Sadaam's head. And why should they? They are not paying the billions of dollars it costs to support a technilogically advanced invasion force of over 200,000 troops in a hostile environment. President Bush's answer is to pull the trigger, and help the people of Iraq form a new democratic government.
Pulling the trigger has not historically been the most effective solution unless it has been well thought out. The United States has been fairly reluctant to do so unless directly attacked. The bay of pigs, and Vietnam remind us why pulling the trigger deserves lots of foresight. And it doesn't seem to me that much foresight has been applied to pulling the trigger in this case. But while everyone is saying, "hey we should think about this and let the inspectors do thier job", the United States is footing the bill. And it gets VERY expensive very quickly.
This brings me to my suggestion. The United States is pissed, and we don't want to spend all our money wrangling with a slippery dangerous alligator, so lets have the rest of the UN pay for it! We want to get in, get the dangerous regime out of power in Iraq, get out, and help to build a stable democratic government where people can live in a free environment. Other governments have issues(problems) with our plan. Fine, propose a sensible way to change the regime in Iraq. But footing the bill while we wait with a loaded gun against Baghdad's head will light a bit more of a fire under thier ass i'm sure!
The United States wants a stable world composed of stable governments. At least, speaking as a United States citizen, I do. We fought the cold war in the belief that democracy is a form of freedom that the people of the world should be allowed to share with us. If the best way to create a safe and organized world to live in is to sit outside Iraq with an invasion force until all of the terms of the weapons inspectors have been met, then i am for that. But I believe that if the world wants to criticize the plans of the United States to protect
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