Yo, little 2A school in Kansas
This is a personal column, not an editorial. It reflects personal opinion, not necessarily logical thinking and conclusion.
Your Ol' Editor is bothered by the fact that Uncle Sam is marching to war and wondering if it could be avoided. The pundits say our only interest in Iraq is oil. President George W. Bush says it's much more than oil, the reason Iraq must be put down, according to him, is the future of world peace.
Having "been there and done that" your OE is not in favor of war where young men face the reality of an early death, disability, and emotional scars. No amount of oil is worth the price of one young man having to resort to a rifle and bayonet. And it would be necessary, for airplanes and tanks can't occupy a country. That's the job of an infantryman.
We're concerned that what America is advocating is not popular in the world. We realize that most of the USA supports Bush and Colin Powell. We don't mind that the fringe element, the highly vocal minority, is not in favor. They always will exist, it's part of America's freedoms.
We well recall the "America First" folks who were not in favor of military preparedness prior to World War II. Their banners were flying and their spokesmen (including Kansas' senior senator) were saying Germany and Japan were no threat up until the moment bombs began to drop on Pearl Harbor.
A friend whose late husband earned the Silver Star during WWII shared a clipping which told how the American Civil Liberties Union insists that crosses can't be placed on government soil. And she wonders what the ACLU folks feel about those thousands of crosses and Stars of David already erected on the government soil of military cemeteries.
It's disturbing that our Belgian friends have joined France and Germany in not supporting the American stand. We expected such from the fickle French and overbearing Germans, but not from Belgium.
We wonder, are we wrong? Is Uncle Sam making a mistake?
Make no mistake about it, if Iraq is preparing to use atomic bombs or germ warfare; the price of freedom again will be young men living in unpleasant and uncomfortable surroundings, and marching with bayonets on their rifles.
It comes down to the fact that we don't know. Who do we trust? If George Bush is right, the sooner we rid the world of that menace the better it will be. But, if the banner waving dissidents, terrorists, and such are correct and there is no threat; we should bring our troops home.
It's merely a matter of who you trust.
— BILL MEYER
