Don't mistake my position for support of the Iraq war, please. I raise this point because I am as opposed to the Iraq war now as I was a year ago. But not for the reasons you all seem to be opposing the war.

It is critical that we understand this history, particularly in light of the upcoming presidential election. Kerry voted to support the Bush administration's pre-emptive war in October 2002. Yet, when there was a legitimate justification for going to war in the Middle East to protect US oil interests (ie when Saddam invaded Kuwait), Kerry voted against taking action against Iraq for invading Kuwait.

I also opposed the Gulf War, but not because I supported Saddam. I opposed the Gulf War, because it was reactionary and didn't deal with the wider repercussions of the West going to war in the Middle East to protect the West's oil interests. I was also opposed to US support for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and opposed to US support for Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war.

I also was opposed to Britain carving up the Middle East, and preventing democratic elections in Iran in order to maintain control over Iran's oil. I was also opposed to the creation of the state of Israel at the expense of the Palestinians.

We are now harvesting a crop of hatred and greed that have grown from the seeds we sowed in somebody else's soil. We need to be clear about this history if we are to get ourselves out of Iraq, but also if we are to change the way our government acts on our behalf around the world. We also need to change our own consumption habits, to bring pressure to bear on the global corporate elite to change the way they do business by having nations engage in their proxy wars.