Though some may call me a Peacenik, I don't think of myself that way. I oppose this war however. During the gulf war I felt differently.

You "kill, kill, kill, 'they don't think like me'" types may be wondering how an American can feel this way. I respect other cultures and other viewpoints. I don't think our current policy of destroy and rebuild in our image is acceptable. We are not God. But we act as if we have all the knowledge and can choose what is right for every other person on earth. People with similar backgrounds will have similar outlooks on life. We won't have those same outlooks. Americans (I hate to put some of you down with the news) are not perfect. We don't have all the correct beliefs or ways of doing things. Cultural misunderstandings abound, and are escalated by things like this. With this said, even I believe that Saddam should have been removed from office long before this point. Even if it were by our own soldiers. And, though I don't agree with how we removed Noriega from office, I would sure support that for Saddam.

I believe that with the problems that the American government have had with various countries, in different continents from Iraq, this war will escalate. This is especially true if we go against the wishes of the UN council. If we think that going against the UN is a good idea, I must wonder our goal is to increase our number of enemies. "You don't have license to attack someone else's country just because you don't like the leadership. . . . We are supposed to be taking a lead on the moral issues of the world." General Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor, on BBC and reported in the London Times on August 5, 2002

The war on terror seems besides the fact. We have a President intent on "doing right" and Saddam in his own way is probably trying to "do right." It's just that we don't really know for who, except himself. We would all benefit from a universal translator as long as core beliefs could be translated as well.

And, if we think that ignoring worldwide disdain is a good plan, we will have to live with the consequences. You may be comfortable with it, but I am not. I was raised in a military family. One of my cousins is an officer in the airforce. My grandfather fought in WWII in the navy. Five of my uncles were in the navy as is my brother. My sister was in the airforce. In fact, my ancestors fought in the revolutionary war. And, even though I was raised to respect the military, I think we are putting them in a bad situation at this point. Well, I think we are putting ourselves, here on this land of ours in a bad situation as well. I do not believe for ONE MOMENT that this will be beneficial for the country. In fact, we will probably incur the wrath of a lot of groups/countries. I wouldn't be surprised if terrorist activity here and abroad increases with our actions. We attack their land and way of life, they attack ours. I am not at all comfortable with that. If we had a little more support from the world's governing bodies, I might feel differently.

I do not endorse the actions of Saddam. I can not say that I endorse those that our current leadership is using either. Are we tied to playground scuffles and namecalling?

If we are using the terrorist threat as an excuse, and want to target the terrorists and their cohorts,perhaps we should go ahead and bomb Scotland, since there is occasional terrorist activity in Ireland. Or bomb Portugal because of the fighting in the Basque region of Spain. Afterall, they are the same sort of people in terms of looks and region. Hell, let's just bomb the US (and Canada while we are at it) because of the Ted Kazynski's and Tim McVeigh's out there... I am sure we could find some of their friends or families at the least. Let's hate everybody!