Pete,

I agree with you, now that we are in this war, it would be unwise to just pull out. Now that we have gotten ourselves into this war I want us to "win." But, I fear that we will not find any "weapons of mass destruction," that they have been destroyed or more likely moved out to another country, hmm Syria, perhaps. What I fear the most is that if Saddam is losing this war, he will use his weapons of mass destruction on our people, likewise I fear that if we are losing this war, that we will use our weapons of mass destrucation on his people. Who wins then?

I agree that many protests have anti-Bush elements, like people holding up "Evil = Bush" and chanting "Hey, hey, Ho, Ho, Bush has got to go," that do nothing but shut people off to the anti-war effort. I disagree with it, but I do not think my presence condones it. I attend protests (there's one in downtown Chicago April 4th if anyone will be in the neighborhood) because I do not approve of my country's attacking Iraq. The fact that protests appear to be anti-Bush is because that is the aspect that the media and the right-wing chooses to focus on in order to provay a "with us or against us" attitude. In the same way, that I do not support all aspects of America's foreign policy, I do not support many aspects of the current anti-war movement. I am my own individual idealistic American and I have the right to agree and disagree with Bush Policy in a way that is not disrespectful. Right now, it's too late to talk about protesting what alternatives there were to war, so I won't. I can't protest ending the war because it's too late to pull troops out when Baghdad is so close. Can I protest because I fear rhetoric like "total victory"? When will enough be enough? This war is going to take a while and I want more information. I want to know how our marines can enter Baghadad with snipers everywhere and the Republican guards wearing civilian clothing, or worse forcing civilians to wear military clothing. I trust that our military will figure this out. I want to know what will happen if Hussein flees the country and hides or if he is ousted/killed. I want to know how long the United States will occupy Iraq AFTER its "total victory." The United States doesn't mind dictators, as long as they scratch our back. Or what happens if there is not a single dictator, but that the future "democratic" governing body in Iraq is approved by the U.S but not approved by the Iraqi people or vise versa? Can I protest this war for the resentment towards Americans that will follow-- resentment for destroying a country that will cost more to rebuild than we could/should give?

With all these questions about the future it is hard for me not to bring up the past, but I'll keep it at two short points. First, I think playing on American fears, anger and vulnerabilty to 9/11 to justify this war was wrong. Second, it's arrogant for population A to assume that a pre-emptive strike against population B will not warrent reprucussions on Pop. A for it's attack on Pop. B. (We did not buy it when the Japenese "pre-emptively" stuck pearl harbor)

Protesting this war, cannot change the past, nor can it answer my questions about the future. Unfortunately, I am doomed to walk down the street where the past meets the future. I did not do anything in the past and I can't live with that excuse in two three... ten weeks.

If that reason is not good enough, I have one more. Protesting this war is rooted in my desire to be an influential member of the fourth branch of the American governmet. I feel disenfranchised from my government. However, listening to speakers, talking to people who agree and disagree with my views, writing letters urging my senators not to support an insane amount of tax cuts, voting in local elections, and even *gasps* attending protests strokes my self-indulging desire to be apart of the political process. Perhaps, I'll say it doesn't matter, but I can't say it unless I try. At the very least, someone will see or hear what I have done in the past month and maybe do something in the future.


-- Amy

DAMNIT F***ing Shit damn damn damn

It's 5:30 in the morning and i just spent two hours replying to Pete's entry and I pressed a create a new blog by accident and it wouldn't let me go back and eh I didn't post eh or publish eh eh I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now

wow... awesome story, Amy. But... i'm going to throw some water on the flames now. The war has started. I think the worst thing we could possibly do at this point is stop it. That is what we did in the last gulf war. We caused a bunch of casualties and damage, Saddam set some oil fields on fire, and then we left. The Iraqi people hoping, to get out from under thier madman son-of-a bitch dictator with the help of the American army were suddenly abandoned. All the rebels who had begun to rise up against Hussein were killed or imprisoned. We cannot allow that to happen again. This war, which i admit we have no business being involved in, has already started. Hussein's dictatorship has weakend, we can't suddenly pull out again. This operation should be done by now. Bush said it would take what? Two? Three weeks? It's already been two. This should be overwith. We shouldnt need to send in more troops, we shouldnt need to keep fuckin around in there. If this garbage continues... if this "war" keeps dragging on and on, then yes, i say commence the protests. But for now i see protests as counterproductive: more anti-Bush than anti-war.