The nascent peace and anti-war movements are about the only sane bit of public posturing seen in this country since Sept. 11. While the events of 9/11 were horrible, and the events of Vietnam were horrible, and World War II was horrible, and the events occurring daily in the Middle East are horrible, how does killing more people make it less so?

It is mind-numbingly familiar to listen to well-dressed, well-spoken, well-educated leaders of our various countries stand in front of the cameras and tell us time after time that this latest outrage must again be met with sterner measures. And I am disgusted when someone tries to tell me that I am not an American anymore (nyah-nyah!) because I don’t think we should initiate attacks against Iraq, or any other country.

When someone shows me a case against Iraq that stands up to just war principles, I will almost certainly support sending the children of our senior government officials off to do battle with the bloody infidels. In the meantime, don’t we have better things to worry about? Like undoing the USA Patriot Act? Now that was a bonehead move!

Bob Ashby

North Bend

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