Patriotism and War

I am tired of the war proponents who write letters to this and other papers citing patriotism as a reason to sit down, shut up, and support the war. I am a patriot. I love apple pie and baseball. I love the natural beauty that is present in this country. I love the fact that for the most part I can say what I want to. I love American punk rock bands. One thing I’m not particularly proud of is how good we are at killing people. As an American, I do not want our military being the aggressor in a war (something we haven’t done in about 100 years). I do not feel the need to liberate the Iraqis as they stare down the wrong end of an M-16. The Iraqis aren’t going to dance in the street when Saddam is gone; they are going to hate us more. Innocent Iraqis will die, there is no doubt of that. As a patriot I feel that it is not in our national interest to be viewed by the world as an aggressive, war mongering state. This war will lead to nothing but problems for America. We will be bogged down in occupying a country with a population that doesn’t support us. We have already worsened relations with many of our oldest and best allies. And most importantly this war has shifted opinion in the Arab world towards the camp of the radicals that attacked this country on September 11, 2001. With every bomb that drops a new international terrorist is born. I oppose this war because it goes against our own best interests. It is the patriotic thing to do. James Downing, CAS ’06 (207) 441-6708