Doug, did you read the article Jack linked to? Do you remember back in the good old prewar days, not to mention the "Mission Accomplished" days, that one of the main purposes of this glorious war was to save the poor Iraqi people from living under the crushing dictatorship of Saddam Hussein? Remember that? Now the poor struggling multinational corporations are trying to stick it to the Iraqi people for "damages" they suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein, who is now in prison.

I think that is outrageous, and an insult to the memory of the servicemen and women who have already died in this bloody war.

If you are the red-blooded American you claim to be, Doug, you should be outraged at this, too. You should be calling for our government to tell the UN to cancel those "reparations." Countries all over the world have been forgiving Iraq's debts, to help the Iraqi people get back on their feet. Do you think that Halliburton and Pepsico deserve a better deal than Great Britain and Japan? If so, Doug, then you're not a patriotic American, after all. You're just a shill for Halliburton.

But of course, you have the answer, don't you? "Oh, yeah? Well look at what those other guys did." That's the reply of a first grader who got caught doing something he shouldn't have. My first grade teacher didn't buy it, Doug, and it still doesn't fly.

I don't want to sound angry, but guess I am. I'm sure you're a good person and a good musician, Doug, and I'm sure we could have a good conversation over a beer sometime. But I just get so very tired of your automatic programmed responses to any comment that is critical of the Bush/Republican line. Now I know why people used to get so upset at "knee-jerk liberals" -- it's very frustrating listening to a knee-jerk conservative.

Aloha,
Mark