The news is reporting that there are now 150,000 US troops surrounding Iraq. Wow, that seems like a lot of personnel. I was really grateful that someone in church a couple of weeks ago said a prayer for the troops. No matter what your opinion is about Bush and the upcoming war in Iraq, we should never forget to pray for the men and women who defend our country. They make it possible for the people back home to have the freedoms we do.

Sometimes at church, people forget to pray for the troops, and instead pray that we don't go to war. I mean, it's fine to pray that we don't have a war, but it kind of upsets me when we don't pray for our troops. It's probably not San Francisco politically correct, to pray for the people who defend our country, but I don't care. I just hope that if we do go to war, that the anti-war people don't treat the soldiers badly if and when they come home. I've read that the soldiers were treated very badly by the anti-war protestors, when they returned home from the Vietnam war. I hope history doesn't repeat itself again.

The soldiers are just doing their job, just doing what they feel is right, just exercising their right to defend the country, just as the anti-war peope are exercising their right to protest a war that they they feel is not justified.

I heard an interview with the editor of the Economist a few days ago. He endorsed the war. Thomas Friedman, the NY Times critic whom I totally respect for his knowledge of world affairs, endorsed the war. Ronn Owens said it right some time this week. Who do you trust more? Saddam Hussein or George W. Bush? Not that I voted for Bush or would reeelect him, but I definitely trust him more than Saddam Hussein.

As for the French and the Germans. I say follow the money trail. Iraq is France's and Germany's biggest trading partner. The US only gets 6% of its oil from Iraq. France and Germany are just trying to protect their supply chain and their revenue source. How bad karma of them! I think we will go to war, whether France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, China, the UN Security Counsel, and the anti-war protestors like it or not.

Some congressional representatives have even called for a boycott of French goods, and for the US to pull its troops out of Germany. I think we should do all of these things, but we need to also take it one step further, and cut off any American aid to any country who goes against us on this issue. Ungrateful countries! They bite the hand that feeds them. I hate that! Then if the US stays out of some country's affairs, like on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, these same countries whine and tell us we aren't doing enough for world peace. Make up your mind people! Mon dieu!

Ted Koppel just said something funny (not a direct quote), "it hardly seems like unseemly haste that we're going to war with Iraq, since we've been trying to disarm Iraq for 12 years and have failed miserably in the attempt." I totally agree!