Why do people waste time on anti-war protests?

[pornodoggy]

Sorry ... meant to attribute the quote about sending them to France, but forgot. Still, someone who claims he is not arrogant doesn't due much for his argument by making statements like

Misguided or naive people that only know one side of the story

You see, one could make the arguement that the niave ones are the people who believe that all will be wonderful once we remove Saddam. All the other Arab nations will fall like dominos to the wonders of democracy in action in Iraq. The Palestinians will a) aspire to the dreams of democracy or b) tremble in fear at the fate of the Iraqis and make instantaneous peace with Israel. Al Qaeda (remember al Qaeda? Them terrorist fellas?) will simply close up shop and go away, and of course, God/Jehovah/Allah will reign in heaven, and profits will had by all.

The Palestinians don't have much to do with Saddam. Yes, there are partisans with their own agendas on both sides of the issue that try to lump them in - but it's a red herring. As hard as this Administration has been trying to prove it, al Qaeda doesn't have much to do with Saddam. The United States is getting ready to go into a region that could teach Yugosolvia's former Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians a thing or two about uncivil relations, and the President who promised "No nation-building" will commit us to try to build a country out of it? Thinking that a painted sign will stop the war is not the only way to be misguided, mislead, or niave, methinks.

Yes, I am for the war. Saddam is, at least in part, an American-made mess - a legacy from the days when we armed and aided whoever proclaimed himself to be the enemy of our enemy dujour. He is a threat to the stability and peace of the region, and as such should be dealt with. I would prefer my government act a lot less unilaterally. I wish more people had a realistic understanding of what we are getting into; I wish more people on the pro-war side were a lot more grounded in reality about what we can accomplish, and what the backlash could be.

My girlfriend's son left Monday. He is a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in Afghanistan; now he's off to the Middle East. Yes - I'm for the war. You'll forgive me if I'm not overwhelmingly enthusiastic about it.