I've tried very hard up this point to keep my blog carefree. I wanted my blog to say nothing that could possibly be construed as serious. I'm a firm believer that laughter really is the best medicine. But I woke up this morning and I watched the news. I've been watching the news a lot since September 11th, 2001. I have several friends who refuse to watch the news anymore because they get so depressed. I cannot and will not say too much about this. I liken the attitude to that of a large dog who hides its head, its body fully visible to everyone, and and yet this dog, because he cannot see anything, thinks that he's now invisible. Bad things still happen, even if no-one is watching. Someone once asked if a tree falling in the forest makes any noise if there is no-one there to listen. So, I watch the news. And today I was rewarded, because seven of our young servicemen who had been captured and held prisoner were found alive. I was rewarded last week when I saw the statue of Sadam pulled down in Baghdad. Yes, I do think a tree falling in the forest makes a lot of noise and I want to be listening.

I have several opinions about the Iraq conflict. No-one likes or wants war. When President Bush made the decision to go to war, I was thankful that I wasn't in the position to make that decision. But I guess, in a way, we all made that decision when we voted for the various public servants who advised and helped President Bush with his decision. You did vote, didn't you? As this war has unfolded, I've been amazed and horrified with all that I've seen and heard. I've watched the war protesters spout their slogans. I've heard the tales of horrors perpetrated by Sadam and his regime. After the fall of Baghdad, I watched people opine that the Iraqi people looting their streets, aren't capable of handling freedom. And then I remember the same was said of the freed slaves before, during and after the Civil War here in the United States, mainly by southern land and slave owners. Could the man I heard protesting in Iraq in front of the Palestine Hotel have been a Sadam Loyalist and a member of the Ba'ath party? I know that there are many Socialist groups supporting the protestors here in the United States. Interesting how history seems to repeat itself.

Yes, I definitely have several opinions about this Iraq conflict. Although, I don't want my country to become the police force for this imperfect world, I think there will be times where we are given no choice. As long as the conflict in the Middle-East had remained in the Middle-East, we were content to try diplomacy. But, the conflict became like an infected sore and spread its sickness to our shores where it no longer could be ignored. I am happy that the Iraqi's now have a chance for freedom. I am sad for all those who have taken freedom for granted. Freedom is a wonderful thing but with it comes many responsibilities. Freedom is a costly thing. Many of our young soldiers have paid the ultimate price for that freedom and not only in this current conflict. It will be interesting to see if the Iraqi people will come to appreciate freedom in all its joys and all its sorrows no matter what the cost.

I could not hide my head no matter what the temptation and ignore the current state of affairs here in the United States and in the world at large. I may not talk of these things ever again in my blog, but never think that I do not care or that I have no opinion of these matters. If a tree falls in the forest (if children are kidnapped in Sudan and sold into slavery) and there is no-one there to hear it (someone has chosen not to watch the news because they find the news so depressing) does the falling tree make any noise? I really pray that it does make a noise. I hope it makes a noise so loud that it shakes the world.