Joyously Prolific

The moment the world has held its breath waiting for has happened about forty-five minutes ago.

We all knew we would go to war. The 48 hour "Get out of Dodge or else' ploy wasn't going to work any better than it does in the movies. I didn't want the war, but I knew it would come. I can't think that anyone sane, anywhere, would really want a war in this day. I would have liked to have seen diplomacy work, but it rarely does.

How do I feel about the war?

I think it is a horrible mistake that we'll all regret -- everyone on all sides of the battle, here and elsewhere. There are many factors that led to this, and unfortunately, it's too hard to sort them out in the current climate and find out if one outweighs the others. We have become very reactionary since 9/11 -- and that's to be expected. We want to stop the terrorists from doing it again. I think that's wise. I don't think it's really possible.

Unfortunately, I also think far too much of this crisis came to a head because the war in Afghanistan was not politically 'exciting' enough. We can't pretend that politics don't have a big part in this war, but then they do in every war. How much of it affects what we did -- I don't know. I don't trust propaganda on both sides, and because I can't know if the Iraqi government really had weapons ready to use against us, I can't be completely certain that we've done something for protection, and not for glory.

But, because I don't know, I can't say that it isn't for protection. Either way, though, I don't like that it came to war. War is too dangerous, and I'm only glad that I live in an area that is mostly out of harms way.

It's been very odd to sit here, waiting for the war to start. I thought about the age when mass communications wasn't the norm, when you didn't know the moment the first bomb hit the enemy city.

The war is an attempt to go after terrorists. I want terrorists stopped. I don't want terrorists to strike at the US again -- or anywhere for that matter. But let's look at our own country for a moment. We have had our own homegrown terrorists. Why haven't we gone after the groups that backed the Oklahoma bombing and wiped them out? Because they're American Citizens, and it would be political suicide, as well as probably starting a civil war. Not a good idea. However, if we're going after 'foreigners' because of this problem, I think we better take a closer look at our own society. Not that I want any more of our rights to be trampled on, but hypocrisy should at least be admitted.

By the way, when did terrorists start hanging out in libraries so much that they have to be closely watched and everything checked out listed for Homeland Security?

I don't like the war.

I don't expect my feelings on this to matter one way or another in the matter.