Reg,

I indeed have changed my mind with regard to going to war with Iraq.  In my view, the only politics being played out is that within the UN.  Bush and his administration have dealt straight forward from the start. 

I'll reiterate what Pat said...Bin Laden did not have ships or planes to reach our shores and yet he did.  In a horrible way.  I see Saddam as being as big a threat if not more so than Bin Laden.  Just as evil and just as determined. 

If there was a realistic chance that we could negotiate away the current problem I'd be against the war.  I just don't see how you can possibly believe there is meaningful dialog to be had given who we're dealing with.  Who shall we negotiate with?

Everyone is talking about giving the inspectors more time to do their job.  Do you know what their job is?  Their job is not to go looking for hidden evidence of WOMD.  Their job is to simply verify that the weapons which Iraq had have been destroyed.  It was never the intention of the inspectors to be doing surprise inspections.  It would be an unrealistic expectation to believe they could turn up the necessary evidence to justify going to war.

I think a reasonable person can conclude that in the very near future if we don't act now, the weapons he's developing will make their way into the hands of terrorist types who will use them on us.  That for me is what I hang my hat on and say 'enough'.

I mean no disrespect to your soldier friend.  I too served my time, 4 years in the Navy from '75 to '79.  It was a volunteer service then as it is now.  Going to war was the furthest thing from my mind when I enlisted but I also knew that it was a possibility.  If your friend was involved with the Gulf war I'd be curious to know why he's still in the military as not much has changed in the last 12 years.  I think we had a cease fire with the expectation that inspectors would remain in the country to ensure that the weapons were destroyed.  That hasn't happened.

I saw over the weekend all of the coverage of war protesters around the country.  That can be a bit misleading because it leaves one with the impression that these are the only voices which should matter.  What about the Iraqi citizens who can't march in the street to support our liberation of their country.  You'll never hear their voices so long as Saddam remains in power.  Shouldn't those matter too?

Kevin g