I have been overwhelmed with indecision about what is TRULY the right thing to do about Iraq. And it just isn't Iraq, it's the whole role the U.S. plays in foreign policy. I can truly empathize with smaller and less wealthy nations than ours. I can imagine as best I can what a mother of five in Guatamala must feel like trying to survive and feed her children on her meager wages, while not having adequate access to the necessities. Not that I would know, but as mother and human being with any sense of compassion, I can imagine.

What I can't imagine is living in a country where I was not afforded the right to elect my leaders, speak out against their rule, and otherwise affect change that might improve my conditions. I can't imagine that and I never will. I live in America. Yep, the home of the free and brave.

I am sure we are SICK AND TIRED of the patriotic rhetoric we are being bombarded with every day. Terror alerts this, weapons of mass destruction that. It gets old. Just like being bombarbed with images of the WTC's being hit with airliners filled with innocent passengers, slamming into a packed building of people who were doing what it is we in this country like best, working for the almighty buck. Bucks that are then frequently donated to the poorest countries in the world in an effort to help them rise above their poverty and HOPEFULLY become like us: free.

Sure that sounds twisted. But if you believe in something and its inherent correctness, then you do what you have to do to perpetuate this ideal. France is not a third world country (yet) and they aren't a Capitalist Democracy either, neither is Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany and so on. But they are free societies with governments that allow their people the right to decide for themselves how best to govern their people. That's why you don't see the U.S. making decisions to attack them. They are different, but equal in ideology.

Now Iraq, and at least another 100 countries in the world, are just plain WRONG and have unacceptable ideologies. They oppress, starve and commit human rights violations upon their people. I challenge anyone to explain to me why twelve years of sanctions that ONLY hurt their people, not the brutal regimes, is better than a swift, albeit military action? It's not.

While I may not WISH for war, I will not stand against it. I will watch with a skeptical eye on my leaders, listen to differing views as to what we do when we are done. Nation building is our best weapon against terror and hatred towards the US. Germany and France are allowed to disagree with our intents because they have been given the freedom to do so by the Allied Nations when they were defended against facists like Saddam some 50+ years ago.

As long as my government's intention is to free the people of Iraq, I am with them. And when they are done, I hope North Korea is next. Because they are just asking for it.