Are we at war? I suppose we are, given the fact that we are bombing Afghanistan. Though I would beg to differ that we are really at war. War is physical devastation. But most importantly, war is psychological devastation. The Taliban (or “the enemy,” in war terminology) is not trembling in its shoes. In fact, it is feasting and dancing in the streets. It is not afraid, and most importantly, it thinks we can be defeated.

I am bored. I am bored with a war that is not a war. I am bored with a conflict that is doing nothing more than providing an irritation to most of the world and an endangerment of our men and women of the armed forces.

I find myself turning to other things that hold my interest – football, especially the Chicago Bears. Would you believe they’re 6-1? One could very easily compare the Bears to the United States.

The Bears are a great, legendary football team. Its history is rich with fury and strength. Well, well, well. Seems like this could very well be the United States we are talking about. The Bears had mean players, players that would rip your head off, or bite you if you lay exposed in a pile of players. There were down times. But they were not totally down times; just stagnant. The Bears had the Monsters of the Midway, the fiercest defense ever assembled. The United States has seen such dominating times. It has also lived through some stagnant times.

Then the mid-`90s arrived, and the Bears began their descent to the bottom of the NFL heap. They couldn’t tackle to save their lives.

The United States has seen these times. These down times have completely engulfed our country with a sense of stagnancy since before . well, for quite a while. The people of the world point their fingers at us and talk behind our backs. They laugh at our policies and ignore us. This type of attitude is not helping us in our conflict with the Taliban.

The Bears, on the other hand are 6-1. They have risen from the ashes and are once again the Monsters of the Midway. They are not the same team, maybe not even as great as before, but they provide the same results – domination of their opponent to achieve victory. If life in the United States is to mimic the Chicago Bears, now is the time to turn it around. The Bears have risen, now is the time for the United States to rise.

We should stop bombing Afghanistan, or at least this variation of bombing. It is accomplishing nothing. If we are to make the Taliban submit, we must show them the Monsters of the Midway. Some pregame mouth-offs need to occur. Give them 48 hours or so to evacuate the targeted cities, then flatten them.

This time actually BOMB Afghanistan. We practically invented bombing. The United States needs to change its tactics so that we are more effective. Placing ground troops in Afghanistan only heightens this need. Our troops need more protection if we want to minimize the United States’ casualties.

We are very much like the Bears of the mid-`90s, 5-11 or at least starting off the season 1-5. The United States needs to be 6-1. We need to dominate in order to have success in Afghanistan. The Taliban should tremble at the very name of the United States. “The United States is 6-1, and every game they play, someone is injured” should come from the mouths of the Taliban.

Let’s give the Taliban Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary, the two fiercest Bears ever to play the game. We’ll send them to Afghanistan to pummel our opponents. If we are not going to do this, then we should back out and make this a building year. But if we give it our best and meanest, this could be a Super Bowl year.

Jason Bruen is a senior in engineering operations from Lake Bluff, Ill.