Keeping it in perspective

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of New York City Saturday to express their opinions on the one-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. People dressed in costumes, shouted chants in unison and listened to guest lecturers through speakers stationed high above the crowd. If you looked through the sea of picket signs and posters, an array of messages were shown: "No blood for oil," "War is terrorism with a bigger budget" and "End the occupation."\nStrangely, other signs touted messages that weren't war-related at all: "Bush stole the election," "End violence in Haiti" and "Stop racism now." Some were even simply advertisements for stores or political candidates.\n Though some of these are important issues, they don't have much to do with it being one year after the war in Iraq. It seemed like everybody was using the media attention on the protest to advertise their cause -- whatever it may be.\n People in America have used the war to their own advantage ever since it began. Many politicians have used the war as a reason to attack President Bush, while the other side has used it to rally patriotic support for its candidates. The media has used the war as a way to keep viewers glued to the television set, often ignoring other worthy news of the day "to provide up-to-the-minute coverage" of the war. The oil companies have used it as an excuse to jack up their prices at the cost of the average consumer.\nAnd that's not all the war has spawned. Innumerable country musicians and pop singers felt the need to do a tribute to the troops. Merchandise companies kept Wal-Mart heavily stocked with American flags, teddy bears dressed up as soldiers and "We Got Him" T-shirts.\nPeople were led by the media into thinking thousands of people have died in Iraq. In actuality, approximately 580 Americans have been killed while 10,000 have been wounded. Every life is important, but we must remember that half a million Americans died in World War II. Although all wars are inherently devastating, we need to look at this war honestly if we are going to judge it.\nWe need to view the war with a clean perspective -- ignore the distractions and focus on what the war was really about. It wasn't about miniature American flags, "freedom fries" and Saddam dart boards. Whether or not you believe the war was justified, it is still the first war in our adulthood. People we know dropped their lives to go overseas and fight -- people our age from our towns. If you want to know what the war was really about, we'd advise you to talk to someone who was there. Talk to a soldier who came home. Talk to an immigrant from Iraq. Talk to someone who has actually been there and not the politicians and news anchors who haven't seen Iraq in person but are only using the war to fit their own agendas.