Promoting peace is beautiful, but not functional

To the editor:

Got peace? No. What the United States does have is the inevitable prospect of war. War is bad, there is no real doubt about that. Saddam Hussein is bad. I don't think anyone doubts that either. But what are the alternatives? Sooner or later there will be a war.

We can fight it now, and certainly it will be messy. Or we may let this political bubble grow bigger, thus enabling us to enjoy the semi-peace we experience right now for a little longer. But when this political bubble bursts, what then? More blood and more death?

Nobody wants to go off to war, but it's the big picture we have to look at. A great many died for our freedom many years ago. Don't you want to pass freedom on to your children and your children's children?

As for the case against Iraq, what good are these peace rallies in getting Iraq to disarm? Promoting peace is a beautiful thing, but where is its function when war is inevitable? It's a distraction, an anti-productive happening. Peace rallies are supposed to hold us together, not tear us apart.

Don't work against this country while countless others die due, in part, to the reluctance of protesters. Let freedom reign. Let peace flourish. Let God bless America.

ANDREW STIEFF

Cape Girardeau