Justin, the demand that people withhold from speaking their consciences for the sake of the morale of the troops is an ancient and time-honored tool of demagogues to suppress dissent. It's totally inappropriate in a free society such as the one we flatter ourselves we live in.

There hasn't been a time in the last 50 years when there weren't American troops stationed overseas, and for a significant part of that time they were in combat. Now Bush has promised us permanent war, so I wonder, when would be the appropriate time to express one's conscience? Apparently, never, as far as you're concerned. Sorry, but I don't buy it.

During "major combat" in Iraq opposition was appropriately muted. Now that "major combat" is over, and now that we're starting to learn some of the ugly truths behind the rush to war, it's proper to speak out. Bush has cleverly set up the situation in Iraq so that we're stuck with it, so nobody has any hope of turning the situation around; but we can at least hope to speak out against future mistakes, using Iraq as the object lesson. And to speak out against the reelection of the perpretator of this ghastly error in judgment.

Among other things, the American people are being told we're going to have to pay through the nose for the privilege of running Iraq. Remember "no taxation without representation"? We have every right to express our discontent with the situation.

Sorry, Justin. I can imagine that you were all fired up by what you saw when you scanned the news, but your call to curtail freedom of speech is entirely inappropriate, especially from on who's pledged to defend that freedom along with all the others.