Okay, so running on five hours of sleep, a bag of fruit snacks and a couple glasses of iced tea, maybe this won't be the most coherent thing you'll ever read. Or maybe you won't read it. It makes no difference to me. You don't need to read or care about my views on the war, I'm writing about it anyway.

First of all, let me start off by saying that, although my opinion on the situation may lead you to think otherwise, I believe that it is important to give everyone who is fighting the war for people they've never met before, the people fighting under the impression that this is indeed a war against terror, all the support you can give them. If you don't agree with the war, action shouldn't begin with denouncing the soldiers. With that said, let's continue, shall we?

Since the war officially began in March of last year, 619 soldiers have died. That is the count up to this day [at the time, June 21, it's a hell of a lot more now]. The President and the government he runs calls it a "war on terrorism" after the September 11 attacks. It has often been misunderstood that Iraq was a part of that attack. That has been false since day 1, despite Bush's insistence of "ties" between Al Quaeda, the group responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, and Iraq, who we are currently at war with. There is no evidence of such ties, and it's just being used to justify a war that so many people are growing to doubt.

The sad thing is, it's highly possible that Bush will be re-elected this year. Although, up to now, it seemed so clear that Bush's approval rating was such that it was a sure-fire win for Kerry, it became evident to me over the past few days that I had just not opened my eyes to the country I live in. Driving down the freeway, someone had painted on the back windshield of their car, "I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM." The fact that our country is so misinformed and so faithful to whatever leader best interprets their idea of justice makes me cringe. Practically every SUV driving, soccer-mom, Christian, all American family is voting republican this november. I'm not even going to get into the religious aspect of the war.  In news reports it's been said that we're making progress as twenty-something year old citizens of our country and citizens of all ages in their country die for a cause that's said to be "a war on terror." Revenge is not progress. Isn't killing innocent citizens of a city, or town, or country considered terrorism? How is what we're doing in their country, which had no involvement in the attack on the United States not terrorism?

So why are we there? What is the real cause of this "war on terror?" Oil. Oil=Money. Money=Power. Iraq harbors the world's second largest oil reserves in the world. They sell billions of barrels of oil to companies in France, China, Japan, Russia and other countries every year. With Iraq and its oil wells under American control, the United States can gain hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars in oil profits by selling the Iraqi oil. But if we're after Iraqi oil, then why are gas prices the highest they've been in x number of years? When the Iraqis knew that we were going to take over their oil wells, they sabotaged and destroyed many. Just recently, the repair of one oilwell made the news.

So all moral and ethical reasons aside, what are your tax dollars going toward? Why are your friends and family risking their lives? Not to protect our country from terrorists. If anything, we're creating more of a hostile environment. No, it's all going towards Money and Power. Two of the most important American values.