There is a growing attitude about war and the defense of our nation, stoked by men such as Ron Paul, which proclaims that we have no business doing what we are doing. The claim is that our Constitution and the intent of our Founding Fathers should prohibit us from engaging in such activities as the war in Iraq. If you argue for the merits of the war, then the charge is made that you cannot possibly respect the Constitution.

The principles of the founders, which they so eloquently enshrined in the Constitution, were never (and I will argue until I am blue in the face) intended to be a prescription for suicide. Despite the rhetoric of "fighting for freedom and democracy for those other people" (the Iraqis), which gets painted over the issue for the world's consumption, the fact remains that we were indeed attacked by a people, on our shores. They don't give a damn about what we did or did not do before (except that we supported the creation of modern day Israel).

They despise us because we are here. They despise us, because we are not ever going to submit to Islamic law. They despise us because we do not wish to push the Jews into the Mediterranean. If they were not so heavily engaged on middle-east soil with our troops, the considerable resources of those maniacal thugs would be focused here, and on Israel. They would have been inflicting as much pain and misery as possible, given a free hand to scheme and execute, and I might again remind everyone of the pain and agony that was inflicted on our nation by so few evil men on September 11th, 2001.

I am distressed that in this day and age, when the vastness of oceans has shrunk to a miniscule 6-hour plane ride, and when weapons of mass destruction are no longer measured by how many men a cannon ball can knock over with one shot, that Ron Paul and others believe we should simply duck and cover. These are not grizzly bears, which if left alone will leave us alone. These are evil, lunatic, human beings who have every intention of not leaving us alone, no matter what.

Those men and women, who have paid the price with their lives and bodies, for us, in Iraq and elsewhere, have not done so in vain. I believe from the bottom of my heart that without their incredible skill, hard work, and bravery, we would already have suffered more (and perhaps worse) attacks.

Yes, to put it ever so crudely.... War Sucks! It smells to high-heaven that we have to spend our nation's treasure in currency and blood. However, the alternative is to simply lie down in the middle of the freeway, cross our fingers and pray that we don't get run over by a Mack truck. That, in my humble opinion, is a clearly written prescription for disaster.