It seems that every week we see some new group or individual protesting the impending war with Iraq. They all have their own reasons and views for protesting the war, but it can be agreed that most of them are not even sure why they are protesting and end up contradicting themselves in the same sentence.

This is not the Vietnam War again — despite what some may think. No individual has been shipped off to war who did not sign up for the military with the knowledge that he may be called up into active service someday. Protesters need to get their ideas together before they blindly march wherever they can.

In an attempt to find out why the protesters were protesting, a Web-based group sent out a crew with a camera to ask some pressing questions. Many who were against the war said they believed it was merely a war to gain control over oil. However, these same people, when asked why we did not take control of Iraq’s oil during the last Gulf War, seemed completely miffed.

Other individuals do not believe the United States should be trying to “clean up” a problem nearly a decade after they supposedly created it. This is one of the dumbest ideas to ever be formulated. You seriously believe that a person should not try to fix a problem they created, regardless of time? Individuals have changes of heart every day, and to say that one should not right any wrong they may have caused is absurd.

Another common thing people against the war believe is that war has never solved anything. This reminds me of a particularly funny anti-protest sign that read, “Except for ending slavery, fascism, nazism and communism … War has never solved anything.”

Others have decided to take more personal protests. But the problem with these types of protests is you often do nothing but draw unnecessary attention to yourself. A good example of this involves a Manhattanville College girls’ basketball player who turned her back to the flag during the national anthem.

While individual protest is fine and completely legal under the First Amendment, turning your back to the flag — whether literally or figuratively — is disrespectful. The flag stands for many things and is a symbol of pride. It stands for what our nation was and what it has become. It is not a symbol of the government itself, but of each individual citizen of this great country.

In the end, it is the right of every protester to express their views and opinions on the possible war and on many other topics. We are lucky to be allowed such freedom under the Constitution, but many of these countries we are helping to liberate do not. If we go to war for no other reason, it should be to help these people to enjoy the freedoms to which every individual is entitled.

In their quests to express themselves through protest, the protesters may be doing nothing more than alienating themselves from many of those whom they are closest to. While they may be able to say they are fighting for their right to peace, I believe they are doing anything but fighting.

John Stuart Mill explained it best when he said, “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

Perhaps the next time you march against the war, you should consider that the purpose of war is to make the world a safer place not only for ourselves, but for those we often go out of our way to defend. The policies which so many protesters seem to be against are the same types of policies that have kept this nation safe from tyranny and oppression for over 200 years.

Joey Maresca is a junior in electrical and computer engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].