I have been confounded, confused, embarrassed, fighting mad, and sometimes sleepless to think that so many Americans agree that we invaded Iraq without "just cause" (there's an echo of another disaster), and yet no one, least of all the media or government, seem to care at all about who we killed in this war, their names, their situations, their families. First, we owe them our deepest apologies, and after that we owe them so much more: financial aid, relocation assistance, job training, and on and on and on.

Why is none of this mentioned in the presidential campaign? Not sexy enough? Too distasteful and "off message"?

We should all be profoundly ashamed.

Hi Mr. Patterson. How many Americans agree that the invasion was without a "just cause"? I admit, I do not know. I am relying on the same news media that I malign in the post above. But I have a pretty good feeling that it is more than 50% of the country. And as to why I am responding to a 3 year old "thread" as you refer to it, I only just today heard of this person, Marla, who seems to have embodied all that I referred to when I said I was confounded, sometimes sleepless, etc. as to what we have done to innocent people whom none of us seems to formally care about.

I am curious as to your take on the subject. Where do your opinions fall?

Thank you, Steve Smith

Yes, a feeling, based upon the "polling" that is announced so often. But more importantly, I am against the war. I see it a bit like watching your young son start a fight with another kid, then rooting for him to win because he's your son.

The whole rally chant to "support our troops" seems wrongheaded if you don't back the war. The troops volunteered after all. I'm sure it's impossible for a country to back down after they've started such an operation. To do so would make them appear weak. So on we go, trying to win a war we never should have started, all the while ruining our reputation and slipping steadily in the eyes of the world. Not to mention making new enemies daily who will get their revenge eventually, probably on our children.

Did you support it initially to find and destroy the weaponry Iraq was supposed to possess, or were you on the side of rescuing the citizenry from their evil dictator?

THANKS AGAIN for taking the time to answer someone who you probably don't agree with on any of this war talk. I have heard as well that the public may be turning a bit in support of our occupation, but suspect it could be stimulated by a lot of the "we are winning now" statements from the McCain sphere.

As to polls, in another sense, what could be more democratic than trying to get well rounded opinions from the public? As to my own use of "feeling" and as you suspect, my not having read any real polls, as a means of forming my own opinions and beliefs, you are correct. I am allowing my persuasions to give way to a creeping and crumbly foundation for my positions. My fault.

As to discovering the Marla girl, what are your thoughts on that subject, her attempt to deem it important enough to put legs to her concerns about who died, when, where, and why? Was she wrong? I sense a realpolitic in your writing that may find naive my concern for what we glibly label collateral damage. Why did Tommy Franks christen America's ship free of "body counts". That policy seems to have taken hold in this country. Let's say Iraq was a perfectly just war, and the majority agreed, would we then do counts?

I have been reading the Atlantic Review since yesterday and will continue as it is obvious to me that I am out of my league intellectually and with respect to the subject matter considered in those pages. Fascinating.

I was long a devotee of Christopher Hitchens, mostly to glean knowledge and admire his thought processes although voyeuristically. When he jumped on the band wagon of our Neocon adventure in Iraq, I was dumbfounded but still follow his work and try to understand why.

I promise to go back and read those other reasons you mentioned that George Bush gave to justify our attack.

Do you personally follow any of the reporting that attempts to find an accurate count of the number of dead Iraqi civilians? I know they vary greatly, but if you do follow that, I'd be curious to know which accounts you
respect.

As to our troops, I have not and would never call them as a whole "baby killers". I suspect that a lot of them are so young it is difficult for them to know what they believe and why. I know that group peer pressure is powerful and youth wants to believe in something and be a part of it.

I'd also be curious as to your opinions of Colin Powell and his place in all of this. He's certainly been strangely absent for a long time now.

Thanks for your fine thoughts and obvious respect for the truth as you know it and keep riding this wave of discovery of what humans do and why.

Stephen Smith