Descent into War

After months of talk and bluster, war is upon us. This newspaper has been deeply critical of the Bush Administration's decision to wage war on a country that has not attacked us, while advancing a theory of international relations that is radical, distasteful, and dangerous to the future. We regard the descent into war with the deepest foreboding, and we fear the United States has squandered a great reservoir of good will among many of the peoples of the world, that will take decades to rebuild. We believe the President has acted without the essential support of his own country.

At the same time, we fervently hope that the administration is correct in its military calculation and that the matter of arms can be decided quickly and without catastrophic loss of life on either side, and without enormous dislocation that would create millions of refugees and economic distress.

We hope the administration is right that in many places our forces will be welcomed as liberators. We have certainly selected one of the world's most merciless and dangerous regimes as our target and quite possibly we can help create a better life for the residents of Iraq, the cradle of the world's most ancient civilizations.

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As to the respects due to the 300,000 young men and women who are facing unknown and terrifying dangers in the service of their country, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie said what needed to be said yesterday at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

Dubie noted that one of his son's friends has a dad serving in Kuwait, who placed a call to Dubie on a cell phone.

"He was in a tent in his second sandstorm," Dubie related. "It was 110 degrees."

"We need to support our troops.

"We all have strong opinions—and thank God we do.

"It's a tough time for our nation.

"It’s a tough time for families."