Only a fool or an idiot would not be sad at the prospect of war. And, no one hates war any more than one who has fought in one. It is absolute idiocy to say that "soldiers and military men love war" as many of the protestors on the streets of this and many other nations so viciously and falsely claim with mindless screams and chanted slogans.

No man who has experienced the horror of seeing another man that he has known, shared meals with, sweat and bled with, suddenly die a horrible death, often screaming in agony, can or would ever say that war is a thing to be desired! Any who would claim that such a man would relish a repeat of those wide-awake nightmares that stay with him for a lifetime is contemptible and mindless! Take it from me. I know all too well.

War, while not a much desired circumstance, is still not nearly as bad as its alternatives at times. I have often said here, and elsewhere, that our human race is but a hair's breadth away from its origins on the cosmic time scale. As in all jungles, there are predators and the sad and indisputable truth is that predators always set the agenda and make the rules. It is their nature to be predatory and survival of others requires all the rest of us to be aware of those realities and be prepared to act in accord with those natural and undeniable truths.

More importantly, one cannot be so foolish as to think that a predator respects any language of resistance other than a force greater than that he may be able to impose. It is the ONLY effective language to which a predator will EVER respond. The predator sees your discomfort with the need to use force when required as a sign of weakness and validationof his right to prey upon you. We don't have to like that reality, but we must acknowledge, accept and live with the truth it represents.

Look to the history of your own ancestors and mine, Draggie-doll. Adolf Hitler was a predator who lead a pack of other predators. There was only one way to stop his crimes against mankind. It took the combined efforts of the warriors of many nations, several years, millions and millions of dollars and the blood and the very lives of thousands upon thousands of other men who were not predators to bring his cruel violations of human rights to the end those crimes demanded.

No Allied soldier wanted to storm Omaha, Juno, Sword or any of the beaches of Normandy on that 6th day of June in 1944. How many of those men in those landing craft do you think liked what they faced? How many do you think enjoyed knowing that within moments, in many cases, their arms or legs would be blown off, their intestines splattered all over the sand of those beaches, their heads could feature gaping, shattered voids where but a moment before there lived a man?

I assure you that not one man or woman in the forces of this nation, Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Hungary or anyone in the service of any of the other "coalition of the willing" armed forces at work in Iraq today is overjoyed at what they must now face because a madman and his bloody thugs who are also predators wishes to build, make, stockpile and hide weapons that are the modern claws of the 21st century human predator. He refuses to abide by the rules of civilized men and he has a record of working hand in glove with other predators like Usama bin Laden and the hatred-consumed Palestinian homicidal maniacs who think it is "honorable" and appropriate to explode bombs that kill them. Thatsthey will die is fine with them so long as it also kills innocent children and adult civilians who happen to be of another religious belief or racial subgroup. Hussein and his madmen are the facilitators of those like the animals who used four airliners as weapons of mass destruction to kill over 3,000 men, women and children who were busy at living at nothing more threatening than living their daily lives in this country on Spetember 11, 2001.

I am saddened that you feel that others condescend to you here. I apologize if any comment I may have made might have mistakenly been taken as a negative comment on your anatomy. I have no grounds upon which to pick on anyone else's anatomy. The last set of Xrays I had done bore the legend, "Do not bury or embalm. Patient still alive... for now!"

I will repeat what I have said here so many times as to make it almost a mantra on an equal footing with those chanted by the ancient cantors of the Temple of David. You are most certainly entitled to your own opinion here and we welcome you stating those opinions. That is the first part of the equation of "free speech." The other, equally important, half of the equation is that others have an equal right to have contrary viewpoints and state them. No one says you must argue or agree with their beliefs or that they MUST argue with or accept your opinions. That is the essence of both equality and freedom and both are celebrated and worshipped here.

I will also repeat another thing I have said here many times before. If you don't wish to take part in a thread, you are free to not do so. Neither Sage nor I will come slap you up 'side the head and point a loaded firearm at you to force you to take part in that thread. And, if you don't wish to be a part of any thread open here, START ANOTHER ONE!!!!!!! Start one that is on a subject you do wish to discuss.

I know all too well how your physical health and the financial hardships those problems create can serve to beat you down until you don't wish to work to be happy. Here's some bad news - equally as much a reality as the existence of predators in our midst - if you wish to be happy, you - and all of us - MUST work to allow you (and ourselves) to be happy.

We all really do want you to be happy, Draggie-poo, but you have to help us help you be that way. Let's start with a smile and one of your patented evil giggles.

There. Don't you feel better already?