One of the most important things I got out of this whole day was that the issue of war in Iraq is far from bi-lateral. This is not some -you re either with us or against us- situation. Nor is it a -hawk vs. dove- situation. People s opinions on this war are so complicated that its important that we not classify individuals as either a 1 or a 0 because its convenient. There's no one solution and everyone's opinion is valid IF they back their stance with information rather than blindly following in either direction. The people who were running around today insisting we MAKE PEACE NOT WAR pissed me off even more than the people who were going around insisting that WE BOMB THIE S* OUT OF THEM (btw the use of the word THEM is a good litmus test as to how uneducated someone might be on the war Ask that individual who they think THEM is. Xenophobs are everywhere) Even though I'm anti-war, I have to give

more props to those who at least promote taking some kind of action. But either way both are blindly following and for that there is no excuse. I would rather you sit on the bench or run in the wrong direction than just stand in the middle of the field with no information to propel you because you make yourself look stupid, make your team look stupid and get in the way of the game. (and no I do not think that this is just some game, its just an analogy, let it go) Whatever position you take we all have a responsibility to get out there and educate ourselves on the issue Fight with emotion but use information as your weapon We also need to realize that it wont end here and it wont end tomorrow----------Im concerned about our nations safety thats WHY Im anti war Im sick of this -your anti war therefore your anti American safety- BS. I could make the argument that we d only be perpetuation a cycle of violence by going in and bombing Iraq, but I'm not even going to play that game

because its too easily shot down by that -eye for an eye tooth for a tooth- argument As wrong as this is and as much as I hate to say it Some of my anti war possy better WISE UP because it aint about lives and justice It's about economy and politics-------If we were into protecting human rights we'd be involved in North Korea-If we were

into protecting UN agreements we wouldn't be supporting Israel-If we were to go and bomb Iraq it would be one of the dumbest political moves in our history because it would only result in a) the creation of more terrorists b) the destruction of International law and diplomacy c) it would destroy the international coalition that provides us with the very inelegance that is allowing us to make true advancements against terrorism instead of some Iraqi Witch Hunt In the words of Jill Stine -Its either international law or the law of the jungle- We not only depend on that international coalition (that the impatient Shrub seems to be so willing to sacrifice) for intelligence, but also for what little global order we have. What s to stop China from bustin a move on Taiwan if we go and pave the way for them by going into Iraq?-------------I find it really scary that people buy that flashy propaganda that connects Iraq with Al Queda…HOW THE F* did that happen?! There is little to no evidence that they even are connected (just like there is little to no evidence that Saddam poses a particularly great threat to the US He doesnt like us But a LOT of leaders don't like us) Plus the UN inspections are working! Slowly but surely. Instead of spending gross amounts of money and lives on a war how about we spend half the money, be twice as productive and not alienate all of our allies by putting money toward more efficient inspections. Ok so Lets hypothetically ASUME Iraq WAS the real problem here; We would have to specify the Iraqi government as the real culprit NOT the Iraqi people Much like the Japanese Empire in WWII, Americans can t seem to wrap their minds around the fact that a government can be so removed from its people that it uses it as a human shield. Saddam doesn't give a S* about his people DUH he GASSES THEM So why would he care if we bomb them? Saddam and Osama are probably off skiing in the Alps together Seeing as how their so CONNECTED and all I bet they even share coco mugs AHHH IRAQ AND AL'QUEDA ARE DIFFERENT ISSUES THAT ARE CONVINENT FOR THE US GOV TO ASSOSIATE TO GET PUBLIC SUPORT-----------I flat out PITTY those of you who live in areas of the country where you're forced to listen to that country song that's all pro war and equates Iraq and 911. WHAT IS THAT! Its this ere witch hunt anthem -Im going to go out on a limb here and make the generalization that not many NYC residents listen to country music. So here we have this country song thats climbing the charts by making all these country fans feel like theyve been wronged all over again so they can feel like they need someone to blame and blow up for their hurt American pride (I say only pride b/c statistically there is less of a chance they directly knew a large number of people who perished in the events of 911) Even if you dont agree with my bias analysis, I do think the popularity, style and reasoning provided in the lyrics of the song are evidence of the substantial amount of people who support this point of view.--------Another thing that really bothers me is that the media is starting to show images of the towers falling quickly followed by images of Islamic praying WHAT?!!!!! OH MY GOD (or should I say Allah) Islam is one of the most peaceful religions out there!!! Its only in the rare fundamentalist interpretations that we see this interjection of violence (and almost all Islamic fundamentalists are more peaceful than your grandmother!)--------It was so inspirational to see a public school student body (who are far more concerned with GPA SAT and the new cast of Real World than politics) get opinionated but there was one incident that really bothered me today. My good friend Muhammad was walking down the hall to get to lunch when a group of insolent/preppy/ignorant/whitetrash/dick heads shouted after him -HEY PAL WE'RE BOMBING YOUR COUNTRY!- and snickered away as he maturely

walked off only stopping to shoot them a nasty glance. He of coarse sits down (or tries too but hes so pissed off he cant do anything but pace) and explains what happened mere moments ago. Now you have to understand hes not even that sensitive and hes not even FROM Iraq. He has Indian parents and is straight up American (the boy owns sweater vests, his parents pay taxes, he pays taxes, likes the 4th of July and has done enough community service to put us all to shame.) He was like Im so pissed I can't tell if I want to just break something or go home and cry. But after some venting he sits down and is all ready to let it slide Im like na-uh. I wasnt really thinking, but I was pissed enough to be pissed off for the both of us and like hell I was gonna let that SLIDE. I grab his hand and we find the group of hyenas. I wave and smile from a distance slowly turn my waving hand into a waving middle finger Still smiling mouthing the words FU because they recognize Muhammad (whom Im dragging behind me) and start making more comments about him and it's funny b/c they dont realize whats about to happen. So after they unknowingly identified themselves, I suggested to Mo that he and I go RIGHT now and tell one of the Deans before they disperse. Reluctantly he agrees and I drag him up to one of the Deans and Mo, on his own accord, starts to explain what happened. We re one of those zero

~Deb~