Thoughts on War

By TAD BARTIMUS

Around the nation, Among Friends readers worry that although they are talking about war, they are not being heard. Rest assured that this column is listening, and that in the echo of your voices, we hear our own:

Attorney, New York: "I have mixed feelings about Saddam Hussein. We created and empowered him as a petty dictator to 'balance' the power of the Ayatollah in Iran. Rather than dealing with Iran ourselves we established a surrogate. Trading one evil for another is not the policy of a great nation, and neither is appeasement."

Small business owner, Florida: "I am a war veteran and I think we are too cavalier with the word 'war' ... I don't think the American public is ready for a real WAR! I hold my 2-year-old son a little longer and a little closer, wondering like all mothers of all times -- what kind of world will I leave for those that come behind me?"

Rancher, Wyoming: "We should have finished the job (against Saddam Hussein) 12 years ago. We either have to be a global power or revert to isolationism. We are not likely to help our image among the Arabs this way, but how can we tolerate such a threat to our nation and the world? Let's just hope our efforts are fast and successful."

Public relations executive, Kansas: "I have to believe our president knows something we don't. At least I hope so. Otherwise ..."

Musician, Massachusetts: "I am 59 years old and this eclipses anything that has ever happened in my life ... seems like an easy Armageddon in a domino way: first Iraq, then North Korea ... I feel the worst for the teens -- what a future to grow into!"

Poet, Washington: "I come from the war country (of Vietnam). I ran from place to place and the last run was the longest road, the road of thousands of miles away from my fatherland. I myself had a sad experience of war. But I still think the Iraq war is the necessary war. Because the longer it takes the worse it shall be. In the old days, the people said: 'If you want peace you have to make war.' It sounds bitter. But you have to taste it."

Massage therapist, Hawaii: "Terrorism will probably increase, the hope for collaborative global work against terrorism will probably be shattered, democracy will probably not be established in the region, Saddam (like Osama) might very well elude us into the desert ... but thousands of innocent people will definitely die."

Caregiver, Colorado: "I feel small, inadequate, powerless. I feel as if nothing I believe in -- peace, love of my fellow world neighbors, compassion, empathy, sympathy, compromise, negotiation, responsibility -- matters. I know there are millions like me who do not believe that war is ever the answer. I hope someday we will have the opportunity to give peace a chance."

Screenwriter, California: "I am anxious. Appalled. Ashamed. Too many A's to list. It's like being at a racetrack watching a terrible accident: 'Will you look at the tires come off that thing? Look at that; it's on fire!' Only it's not a car wreck. It's thousands and thousands of people. Americans. Iraqis. Others. For the next 48 hours, Iraq will be the world's most famous ghost town, filled with men and women who don't yet know they're dead. Appalled. Ashamed."

Nurse, New Hampshire: "There is a dull dread, a conviction that we are headed into a very dark future for this country where terrorism will become as commonplace as the terrorism we hear about every single day in Israel ... how dare one man and his close inner circle. How could they bring our whole nation to this? If this is really a democracy, why can't we seem to be able to do anything about the course they have set?"

Teacher, Missouri: "Here in our college town in the middle of the country, you're as likely to see someone holding a sign that says 'Peace is Patriotic' as you are to see one that says 'Support Our Troops.' I find that comforting, but it's about the only comfort I feel. This will not make our country safer. This will not end terrorism. This will not enable a son to clean up his father's legacy or outshine him. This is about oil ... It's the Crusades all over again, except we worship at the oil derrick instead of a manger."

Music critic, Connecticut: "I dunno (how I feel). I've never danced at the end of the world before ..."

© 2003 The Women Syndicate

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