Tom, in mathmatics, you cannot remove a variable from one equation and expect that it is going to work in another, but this is the virtual equivalent of what you think I'm going to do now.

If you don't understand that analogy, I'll try one final time to clarify this concept for you. Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq are all different situations under different circumstances in different places at different times...

The number of imponderables in each and all of these situations is immense, yet you demand to know why what applies in one situation does not apply in all of them.

And anyway, the plain fact of the matter is: I don't know what makes Americans tick, why they do this today and that yesterday. How would I know, and why should I now attempt to justify, rationalize or explain the behavior of Americans vis-a-vis any of the operations I've mentioned above.

What really matters is that the people are out there today carrying signs calling for peace, not war.

Why do they do it? Well, you asked for it once before, so I hope you don't mind me taking advantage of your question to repeat myself:

Some Americans might have one or more of these reasons for opposing war with Iraq:

An American might oppose war because:

War is a course of action to be taken only as the last resort.



War is expensive.

War catalyzes the laws of unintended consequences.

War takes innocent lives.

War destroys private property.

War ravages the land and pollutes the environment.

War encourages futher weapons development.

The American people oppose war.

The administration has not made a convincing case for war.

There are too many unanswered questions about 911.

No case has been made for Iraqi involvement in Black Tuesday. How did we get from the WTC to Iraq?

This was supposed to be about the war on terrorism.

War results in loss of civil liberties.

War encourages fascism.

War creates future enemies.

War encourages terrorism.

War is the ultimate terror.

War is evil.

The president is trying to gain too much power.

Rather than leading the world to war, the United States of America should be promoting the cause of peace.

Congress has not declared war on Iraq.

It is wrong to start wars.

It is not in the best interests of the United States to wage war on Iraq

The Iraqi people have already suffered enough.

As aggressors, we surrender the moral high ground

"Thou shalt not kill."

The United States is being manipulated by Israel

The sabre rattling is being used to distract attention from domestic problems.

The war is really a move to gain strategic advantage on the geopolitical chessboard of the "Great Game"

The war is being used to promote the cause of the NWO.

War would encourage Saddam Hussein to use his WMD.

We might lose.



Thanks again for asking.
sp