Maybe its a naive notion, but I'm hoping that we will eventually be out of the middle east entirely. One of the reasons Osama has so much sway in the region is because he goes off about the american presence. So I'm hoping that now that Saddam is being hunted down and with friendly governments in Iraq, Afgan, Pakistan, Saudi and so forth, and we get the Israeli's to calm down and back up, then we don't need to be over there so much and in the end have less threats of terrorist attacks. That is what I mean in doing something about Saddam. Otherwise, containment guarantees a foriegn presence and that is exactly what pisses everybody off over there. I would be pissed too if Sacramento was patrolled by Saudi jet fighters and armed troops in order to make sure Gray Davis didn't raise taxes. Or if the Pakistani's had a huge military base in Renton. It is a form of occupation if you ask me.

As for world opinion, I get the feeling that it is not so much anti-amricanism, as it is anti-Bush. I think if we got somebody in there who doesn't turn everything into a holy crusade, didn't address the world with contempt and engaged the world as a community of equals, there would be much flag-waving.

OK, I know my post is late in the game, and everyone has cooled off, BUT...What's wrong with containment? Everybody agrees that Saddam is a Bad Man, and nobody wants him to get his hands on WMD, but the US has a wonderful history of picking and choosing the dictators it would like to confront. I think we can accomplish the same goals (making sure he doesn't kill his citizens or build nukes) with a bunch of inspectors breathing down his neck--it would make the intl community a whole lot happier and avoid the bloodshed. I think as Americans we are less comfortable with these grey areas and like to feel like we're "doing something..." Well, clearly Bush is "doing something"--what exactly we're not quite sure, but maybe that rationale (along with a completely un-media savvy public) explains why this war is getting so much support.

Hello. Check this out:

An Allergic Reaction To The Bush Doctrine
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7458

The first thing we can do to get things back on track would be to revoke the blank check to wage war where the president sees fit, granted by congress last year. Every president, Democrat or Republican, should have to make the case for war to congress.