Don't the anti-war protesters see that most of the Iraqi people are welcoming our military?

So much good is coming out of this campaign: the ousting of a brutal dictator, the liberation of millions who have survived his tyranny, the democratization of an Arab nation and the revival of the Iraqi oil industry (which means cheaper gas for everybody).

We're not going to occupy Iraq for 20 years, and we're not permanently seizing their oil wells.

The people who protest along Grand River Avenue now would be the same people protesting government inaction in 10 years after Saddam's cronies plant anthrax in New York City, or after the dictator once again uses weapons of mass destruction on his own people.

Anybody who doesn't see the logic behind the war has no comprehension of international affairs.

The nature of modern warfare has changed so that a threat need not necessarily show up at our doorstep; our military is so advanced that we can meet the challenges of the future before they arrive. Israel faced international condemnation for taking pre-emptive action in destroying Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981, but by the time of the Gulf War, criticism turned to gratitude.

Similarly, once the smoke clears, we will be thanked for liberating Iraq.

Joshua Feinberg
international relations sophomore