...a shameful blemish on America.

I think we Americans have lost interest in the war in Iraq. That is, if we ever had a keen interest. Because it's a war being waged by volunteers. Rather than draftees. That's too bad. That we no longer have conscription. Because if we did, the protest to the war would have ended it by now. George Bush and his political cronies wouldn't get away with waging such a preemptive and obscene and senseless war. We're letting the hired hands fight the war. The volunteers. Plus the contractors hired by the U.S. government. Like the Hessians in the old days. Soldiers for hire. The saddest part of all is that not enough Americans are raising a moral outrage to the war. Oh, a few are. But only in relatively token ways. We really need a protest that takes to the streets. In the cities. In the towns. Even in the countryside. Of course, when George Bush leaves the White House, there'll likely be a return to sanity. And the war will be gradually phased down. But it's taken far too long. That war will go down as a shameful blemish on America. --Jim Broede