There seems to be some confusion regarding support of the troops in the gulf. Those of us supporting peace have been accused of not supporting the troops, and this simply is not true. It is important that everyone realizes that we all support the troops. We do not blame them for their actions and realize they are simply following orders. We who work for peace offer the strongest support imaginable. We prayed and worked in hopes they would not see battle! Now, we pray and work for them to come home soon, alive.

The distorting of the work for peace is diverting attention from real issues, and rather than splitting hairs we should address true concerns such as why so much money is invested in war with so little invested to develop cleaner, renewable energy, eliminating any oil-based power. And will we all do our part to see that the promise that this war will end all wars is carried out? Will we demand through letters, phone calls, and petitions the legislation of responsible energy alternatives? And will we insist that Washington produce that “kinder, gentler” America we were promised so long ago? Or will we resume business, literally, as usual, and continue to accept war as our only choice and not give it a second thought?

The issue at hand is not who supports the troops, because we all do. The issue needs to be what we can do to create necessary change, prevent future war, and eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. I hope we all will give this incident a great deal of thought and follow it with action. Anne LeGasse Brewer