CarolC - That is a point I will concede. We have not always been the very best of folks. We are human and have made mistakes. Were we to go to the root of why Iraq is where it is one would have to return to England and the Crusades.

But we cannot assist the citizenry of Iraq when we are not permitted to and to do so in any name other than Muhamed is a death sentence. Makes it a no-win situation. I'm not a supporter of Christian outreach as I believe they are great at saving souls but crappy at saving people. But even our Peace Corps has been denied entry to assist the local people with labor to meet local needs.

I think in more recent times we have made a couple of mistakes. We should have not acquiesced to the UN's "request" that we stop destroying Iraq's Army in the first war. And we should have gone on in and assisted in setting up a more amiable government. Not just to us but to the world. Iraq is not a bad country. It's leadership in harmony with the world has made it a high risk administration to cope with. And when people get scared there is no predicting what they will do.

America has a wonderful record of winning the war - it's the peace that continues to elude us. We did well in Europe with the Marshall Plan and in Japan with McArthur's work post WW-II. Since then we've been in a hurry (I believe reflective of our societal trends) and not given the time and patience to really follow through.

I'm a supporter of the UN and its support in our concerns with Iraq (How's that for politically correct?) and the probability of Iraq's support for other terrorists who are not going to care one whit about whether or not we go to war to continue their Jihad against us. The more the merrier in this process I think! I believe President Bush made a statement the other day and I really liked it. He said that Saddam Hussein is not America's problem. He is the world's problem.

Can we do more? Yes. Should we do more? Yes. I believe that every option we can use prior to war is a good one. But I am not a peace at any price on this one. I firmly believe that if we do not get this settled this time, and in a good way (let that read with the world's support - especially the Muslim world), we may have another short term success with long term problems that will ultimately end life as we know it.

I'm hoping for the long term success. But Mr. Hussein has got to go. And Thank You for the nice compliment CarolC -

No simple answers - never is -

Steve