It's becoming painfully obvious that the civil war mounting between Democrats and Republicans over the 2004 presidential election is bad timing for political nit-picking and an insult to voters' intelligence.

Indeed, it's simply dangerous to play politics-as-usual when America is at war with terrorism, particularly when it plays into the deadly hands of those who want to kill us.

At this point, it doesn't really matter whether or not weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq, or whether or not the intelligence was good or bad prior to the invasion. Saddam Hussein had WMD's and he used them.

What matters is that Saddam Hussein was the weapon of mass destruction used against his people and his neighbors. He was a major terrorist and supporter of terrorism. He was a continuing threat to the stability of the region and the world who had to be removed.

Tragic and unacceptable as it seems, what matters even more is that it is better to lose a few lives fighting terrorists, where they are and where they come from, than losing thousands more on American soil.

Like it or not, we are inextricably tied to a global economy and we will be dependant on the energy of oil imports and the stability of oil producing nations for many years. That's another important reason for us to be in Iraq. It has one of the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. For their benefit and ours, Iraqis deserve to enjoy the freedom of their own form of democracy and the fruits of a market economy.

And like it or not, China is rapidly developing a market economy and a giant thirst for imported oil. Therefore, it is vital to our economic and national interests to ensure the security of oil resources against the potential of dreadful dealings.

Daniel B. Jeffs, founder
The Direct Democracy Center