Well, I'm going to get mashed. But at least one Republican ought to weigh in and represent the party.

First things first, if anybody deserves to be on the losing side of a short, nasty war it's Saddam.

That said, I'm a bit old fashioned. Any American president who wades into a real war -- as opposed to chasing down thugs and outlaws like bin Laden -- without a formal nod from Congress, and preferably a declaration as called for in the Constitution, is on very dangerous ground.

Doing so (the vague and somewhat creepy Tonkin Gulf resolution notwithstanding) cost Lyndon Johnson his presidency.

Thirdly, President Bush is a person of more character and talent than a number of you realize. But the urge for any president -- the most powerful state leader on the face of the earth -- to "smite his enemies" often leads the best of them into unfortunate rhetoric.

Even liberal icon Harry Truman once quipped that he wanted to "drop an atom bomb on Joe Stalin's head."

As for the current situation, you will notice, that after all the saber-rattling, Iraq has offered to accept inspectors again. Maybe -- in the deep game of international realpolitic -- that was the whole point. The president took a PR hit in order to scare Saddam into a moderating posture. It's possible.

Finally, and if this a flame, so be it. I think the chief difference, in the U.S. at any rate, between Republican/conservatives and Democrat (not democratic!)/ liberals is the liberal penchant for rant and namecalling.

Most Republicans, for example, will admit that even Bill Clinton, who I certainly loathe, was a very competent administrator and one of the few presidents we've ever had who really understood economics. That's why he signed the Welfare Reform bill among other "Republican" fiscal initiatives.

Liberals, on the other hand, always seems to prefer rant to reasoned debate. Some of you really ought to pick up a copy of the "National Review" once in a while, if for no other reason than to learn that the other side does indeed have some interesting ideas to bring to the table.

With every wish for peace and justice, Tony