I woke up this morning and the first thing I checked was whether we were at war yet or not. Thankfully, not yet. But now Bush is being highly inconsistent - what do you want, President Bush? Do you want Saddam gone or do you want Saddam to disarm? Because it's highly contradictatory terms. I'm cynical enough to think that this is just Bush flexing his muscle in order to ignore other more pressing problems, and the fact that he's already pissed off half the world with his unilateral verbage. I'm not one of those who believes in unilateral action nor do I believe that the US is prepared to accept the consequences of acting alone.

Because, you know, there will be consequences.

When I was in Europe last summer, I heard a lot of rumbles of anti-Bushism. I hesitate to say anti-Americanism, the phrase the media uses, because it's not the same thing as being against the actions of the current administration. I don't think the world hates Americans but I think they get tired of our superior attitudes, I think they get tired of our "our way or the highway" attitudes. I think we leave them no choice but to resent us greatly.

How is this not a problem? Was not September 11 the result of people not liking us? It's crazy - just think of the people who hate America enough to kill themselves just to prove their point. I'm not sure we need to add more fuel to the fire.

And all you people who are boycotting the Dixie Chicks for expressing their opinions, you've obviously missed the point of the First Amendment which allows people to voice their opinions without fear of reprisals. To me, that's the scariest thing - that the atmosphere has made it impossible to say that you're against the war.

I'm against the war, thankyouverymuch. President Bush, give me a compelling reason why our soldiers need to risk coming home in bodybags. Tell me what you want - Saddam gone or Saddam disarmed. Tell me if it's worth the death of thousands of innocent Iraqis. And tell me, is it worth alienating our traditional allies to engage in nation building? If you can prove this to me, then I'll change my stance. Until then, I remain unconvinced. A pity, because I support our troops, but not what they're doing over there.