Honestly? I fear that I will be mourning the victims of not only this war itself (both Iraqi and US) but also the victims of the terrorist blowback that the CIA and State Department feel is heading our way if we go ahead with offensive war.

I hope I'm wrong about that, but the odds are NOT looking good.

Incidentally, the State Department has pretty much pooh-poohed the "dominoes of democracy" theory. Chances are higher that the country will break up, partly due to the infrastructure breakdown following the bombing last time and the economic sanctions of the past 12 years. If that happens, politically it'll probably look more like Afghanistan than anything else. Maybe we'll actually pay for some real rebuilding this time, but even assuming we seize all the oil for the rebuilding effort, it's gonna be tight, and considering that Bush hasn't even made his promised payments to the firefighters of NYC after 9/11, I don't have my hopes up. Meanwhile, of course, the deficit is ballooning out of control.

Either way I'll be out holding signs.

As of this writing, there have been 16 "allied casualties," 12 from the United States and 4 from Britain. They were in a helicopter that crashed. Currently it's suspected to be an accident, although this is not yet certain. Either way, they were alive yesterday, but are dead now.

Still, US casualties are few, yes. Does this displease me? Not at all. I hope the overall death is as small as possible, on both sides.

You say that "my side is kicking the crap out of your side." Surely you realize that I am an American citizen, just as you (presumably) are, and that you are not currently fighting in the middle east? Which "side" would you be assigning to each of us?

If you meant to imply that the allied forces (currently composed of US, UK, and Australian forces - despite signing pledges of support, other nations aren't kicking in actual resources) are "kicking the crap" out of the Iraqi side, I would have to agree with you. Did you possibly expect otherwise? Surely you realize that the current battle is between a country which spends more on its armed forces than the rest of the world COMBINED (yes, I am referring to the United States here - among the allied forces we have contributed the vast majority of personnel and equipment) and a country which has been under economic sanctions for the past twelve years, and under UN inspections from 1991 to 1998 and then again from November until a few days ago? A country without even a functioning water purification system?

Of course the US is kicking the crap out of Iraq. That's why they picked Iraq for the demonstration war - they're an easy target. Surely you don't really think the Iraqis are a threat to the United States? Heavens.

What we've got here is a seriously mismatched game, the strong beating up on the weak, the rich beating up on the poor, and yeah, it's gonna be a turkey shoot. Personally, I think I'll switch over to the NCAA March Madness, where there is at least some token effort to ensure a fair game.

Unfortunately people are going to be dying in the meantime. But hey, it makes for great TV.