Beccy, No one is doubting that all those horrible things are true. I suggest making a list of all heads of state for whom a similar list of atrocities exists and check to see which of their countries are also being threatened with preemptive attack. It might also be instructive to see which despots on the list are actually being supported by the U.S. government or one of its agencies.

If we have no choice but to commit the world to war over Saddam Hussein's atrocities, don't you think we should also begin working down the list and get them all? Read this article on “Friendly Dictators” to begin to get some appreciation of how the U.S. has traditionally dealt with these monsters.

My experience has been that many people are looking for a simple, feel-good solution to the world's toughest issues and don't make time to really do the research necessary to develop an informed opinion. Instead, they decide which of the loudest voices on an issue they are willing to trust and adopt that point of view. If the loudest voice is also in some official capacity or is a media star of some kind, the choice may be easier.

The world isn't so much a struggle of good against evil as it is a complex interaction of national interest, private interests, desire for power, human interests, religious belief and historical perception. Until one is really familiar with all aspects of this complex matrix of powerful human imperatives as they bear on a particular situation, one is really just at the mercy of the currently loudest voice.

Think about it, please.

      - Mark