The accounts emanating from Iraq of the selflessness and courage under fire of our troops are truly awe-inspiring, and stand in stark contrast to the anti-war protests on our bridges and in our downtowns.

One can only imagine what would have happened at the North Bridge in Concord on April 19, 1775 if the British regulars had encountered protesters gently cradling candles rather than rebellious colonists armed with muskets. But I suspect the protesters would have ended their day’s vigil swinging from the end of a rope.

Is there anything the protesters think is worth fighting for? They claim they want peace, but what is the meaning of peace that appeases and perpetuates terrorism and the tyrannies that support it? Are a million dead and missing Iraqis as a result of Saddam Hussein’s brutality, or thousands of innocent Americans dying on Sept. 11, acceptable costs for “peace”?

Franklin D. Roosevelt, on the eve of America’s entrance into a war against an earlier genocidal maniac, said, “We too, born to freedom and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.”

Thank God for the rebels on that bridge that day, and for the many thousands of Americans over two centuries, willing to stand and fight for those of us who can’t – or won’t.

Kenneth Ryan

Blue Hill