I Am Not Pro War

I am so sick of people accusing me of being pro war, as if I WANTED to see the US drop bombs all over Iraq and kill innocent Iraqis. I have lived through two years of war, and I know how frightening war is. War is horrible, insane, devastating. I remember a friend of mine (an ex Marine) asking me in February of 2003 if I was for the war or not - I was conflicted because I wanted to see the end of Saddam's regime, yet I did not want to see innocent Iraqis die. I hated Saddam Hussein's regime, and I was glad that he and his thugs were finally overthrown after 24 years of murderous rule. But I was not in favor of bombing, invading, and occupying Iraq to see the end of the despotic regime. I believe that there were alternatives to war, and the US should have pursued those alternatives long ago. I have written about how the US, under George Bush Senior, betrayed Iraqis who were against Saddam's regime, and even prevented Iraqi rebels from overthrowing him in 1991. Instead of finding ways to topple Saddam, President Bill Clinton chose to continue imposing cruel sanctions on Iraq, which only made Saddam Hussein stronger, and resulted in the deaths of only God knows how many innocent Iraqis. Sanctions is a form of war, but not nearly as many people were against the sanctions as they have been against the 2003 invasion. The US bombed Iraq for 40 consecutive days and nights in 1991. I do not remember as many Arabs calling the Saudis 'traitors' for helping the US in that war. I did not support Iraq's invasion of Iran either, nor did I support Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. I don't remember as many people being against America's relationship with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s. I find it odd that very few people spoke out against Saddam's war with Iran, which cost a million lives. Why the hypocrisy? What is it about this war that is less acceptable than all previous wars? There is no 'right' war or 'good' war. All wars are horrible. All wars result in the violent death of innocent humans. I am not pro war, and I never have been.