From a letter to the Seattle Times

[ravencallscrows]

Eric Sorensen's article "Millions march against war" from Sunday's Times is welcome coverage of the local opposition to war in Iraq at present, but implies a dangerously inaccurate postulate.
 
Mr. Sorensen writes "Support-the-troops rallies acted as ideological counterweights to the local anti-war protests," which infers a Vietnam-era reaction on the part of those opposed to the proposed military action, where the protestors frequently vented their ire on the members of the armed services.
 
Such is not the case with the current situation. Amongst the signs visible at the protest were banners with slogans such as "Protect our troops-bring them home." Numerous veterans-including those of the Vietnam and Gulf Wars also took part.
 
Opposition to the Bush administration's planned invasion is in no way a blanket statement opposing the military. There are those of us who participated in the march who simply do not see a justification from the evidence which has been presented to warrant the potential loss of lives that military action with the focus of deposing Saddam Hussein would require.
 
Even aside from that, many conventional munitions used in the military have been demonstrated to be biologically hazardous-with the prime example being armor-piercing tank cannon and artillery shells made with depleted uranium. Veteran's Administration reports show an increased incidence of radiation- related sickness in soldiers from the Gulf War who were exposed to the radioactive dust and debris left from these shells, and United Nations reports show a drastic increase in leukemia and birth defects amongst Iraqi children born and living in the area where these munitions were used in the war to liberate Kuwait.
 
If war becomes inevitable, there needs to be a clear consensus amongst the prospective members of a coalition to oust Mr. Hussein, and not just the US acting as a rogue nation flying in the teeth of international opinion. There must be a clear vision and focus to such an operation, including stabilizing post-Hussein Iraq, lest we run the risk of that nation devolving into chaos and becoming perhaps a far greater threat to international security.

We'll see if the Times actually runs it or something similar. And if they were to like the style and decide to offer me a reporting job, well, i wouldn't be opposed to that. Working for newspapers is fun, even if it paid really poorly when i did it many years ago as a desk reporter in southwest Florida.