Iraq the Casbah

When I heard last week about Stephen Downs being arrested for refusing to remove his anti-war T-shirt, I was appalled. I read several stories about the event because I just couldn't believe it was true. I shouldn't have been so surprised though. Despite ongoing demonstrations, George W. Bush considers protesters to be nothing more than a "focus group." I disagree. I think we're the only ones raising our heads from the flock rather than sniffing the butts of those in front of us.\nFrankly, I'm sick and tired of protesting being discouraged. It's often said that protesters are unpatriotic -- the "with us or against us" attitude. I oppose the looming war because I personally think it is going to make things a lot worse for America. We've definitely got the whole world on our side: Spain, Bulgaria and Britain. Wow.\nAre Americans not allowed to protest? Are we not allowed to dissent authority? Iraqis sure aren't, so should we follow in their footsteps? Maybe we should all just follow our president around not questioning any decision he makes. I find this eerily similar to the election policy in Iraq. Iraqi citizens had no choice. Is that where we're headed? Maybe not, but we owe it to our forefathers to uphold the rights of democracy.\nSome people have made the correlation that if you are anti-war you are anti-American and therefore you are pro-Saddam. Ha! On the contrary, I believe many protesters would like to see our troops return home safely. Is that unpatriotic? Is it unpatriotic to not want to see your friends and loved ones return body bagged and toe-tagged? They won't be fighting and dying for our country in Iraq. They'll be fighting and dying for Iraqis. If anything, I'd say those who support the war are the ones who are being unpatriotic.\nProtesters aren't defending Saddam Hussein to the slightest. Is it plausible our government could be lying about the atrocities committed by the Iraqi government? You're damn straight it is. Being truthful to everybody certainly didn't stop the U.S. and Kuwaiti governments during "Operation Desert Storm -- The Weekend Vacation." The two governments hired American public relations firm Hill & Knowlton to sway public opinion -- rather create it -- to win support for the Gulf War. This resulted in a false story about Iraqi soldiers killing babies in a Kuwaiti hospital.\nAh, but the United States is the big brother to the world! We're supposed to help everyone and protect them from evildoers, aren't we? We certainly did a whiz-bang job of protecting our own country on Sept. 11. Where was our big brother? What better way to spread peace and humanity to those who have never experienced them than with misguided missile strikes, machine gunfire and bombs? Remember that little shindig in Vietnam? Man, we were most certainly on the ball there.\nCalling protesters anti-American and pro-Saddam is just an excuse to cast them from the rest of society. Public dissent and questioning authority is what being an American is all about. We have the right to protest this war, and we will. If those of us who are against this war are truly anti-American and pro-Saddam, we'll move.