The following reader's opinion appeared in today's Ventura County Star. It speaks my own mind quite succinctly:

"I found myself deeply offended by something I recently saw in The Star.

No, not the picture of the brutal deaths of U.S. citizen/soldiers in Iraq at the hands of the liberated Iraqis, but by letters complaining about the picture being printed. Apparently, our sensitive citizens can only take their reality from oversimplified reality TV.

This collective wish to hide or pretend there are no real costs -- continued horrific, brutal costs in lives and blood and treasure with no end in sight to the war to liberate Iraq -- has costs of its own.

God forbid children get a glimpse of the horrors of this unnecessary war of choice to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. Better we all conspire along with our perpetually campaigning or vacationing war president to hide the truth, hide the coffins that arrive in a steady stream to Dover AFB, hide the thousands of permanently scarred GIs, hide the cost of tax cuts and loss of civil rights this president has imposed upon us and our grandchildren.

For Americans to get the sense that this war of choice -- foisted upon us by lies and exaggerations -- is not worth it, would be to risk his defeat for re-election, and end Bush's annual $300 tax-cut bribes for our votes".

-- Tom Kaiser, Hueneme

"War of choice", (whose choice?), is what we are engaging in, not a war of necessity or self-preservation, and the cost we are paying and being asked to continue to pay indefinitely is disproportionately high, i.e., the means certainly does not justify the end result. Do we run the risk of Iraq becoming a modern era Vietnam??? Wake up people, it already has!!! George W. and his cronies believe they can hold our will hostage with simplistic reasoning and superficial justification thinly veiled over the reciprocal of democracy and justice. There was NO connection between Al-Qaida and Iraq until our government created one by lies and subsequent military action, but now Al-Qaida may be the very least of our worries as an entire region/culture/religion looks to end our reign at the top.

Could 9/11 have been prevented? Probably not. Did this government over-react? Spectacularly, and any connection used to convince us that our current foreign policy is "justified" can be easily debuked with very little effort and truth-seeking. Yet it seems that all George has to do is evoke some substance-free moronic excuse in that home-spun Texas drawl of his, and legions of normally intelligent adults in this country settle down and fall in line, ready to send their sons and daughters squarely into harm's way in pursuit of nation building and continued corporate dominance of our society. What the fuck America! We have allowed our country to become the very opposite of what the Founding Fathers envisioned, and the affluent masses seem either okay with this, or merely too apathetic to enter into the realm of thinking for one's self. Ultimately this dynamic, apathy and the subsequent kaos it brings about, has caused the unraveling of ALL great societies. A little historical research will bring this frighteningly into view for anyone brave enough to look into the past and thereby gain new perspective on the present.

If each and every individual would simply take the time to carefully and thoughtfully consider what we are being fed, daily and relentlessly, and then interject what we are probably living on planet Earth to learn, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", you'll see that the math in the current equation doesn't work. Once the pursuit of truth is undertaken it's up to the individual to choose how to continue on, either in ignorance and oblivion, or fighting the good fight. Iraq wasn't, isn't and will never be a good fight, and the only way the madness will start to get better is via the individual. We all have the power to change the way of things, but it may take a great deal of courage and commitment to face up to a government run amok and bent on eroding our civil liberties and freedoms through a daily barrage of fear and corporate coercion that runs contrary to the original ideals this country was founded upon. Wake up and smell the coffee, but you may want to ask for a refill from someone other than George W.

"The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves". -Plato-