Pro-war side distorts position of protesters

To the editor:

That the United States should initiate a war with Iraq, especially a unilateral and/or pre-emptive strike war, is an issue which demands serious debate which, if it is fair, must begin with two underlying premises: Neither the pro-war nor the anti-war sides have the right to question the patriotism of the other side, nor does the pro-war side have any honest basis for declaring that those who are against the war with Saddam Hussein are by definition also against and unsupportive of the American troops who would fight in such a war.

The true fact is quite the opposite. One of the major reasons the anti-war side argues against the war is not only that it would result in the untold deaths of many innocent Iraqi civilians (often referred to by the euphemistic term "collateral damage"), but even more importantly this war would also result in the maiming and the deaths of American servicemen and women. Until the pro-war side is honest enough to accept this fact, it will continue to distort the position -- and the patriotism -- of those who caution against a U.S.-led pre-emptive strike war against Iraq.

JOHN C. BIERK

Cape Girardeau