The media, Democrats and left-wing activists were all for rushing into Bosnia and Kosovo to rescue Bosnian Muslims and Kosovar Muslims from the genocide of ethnic cleansing by the Serbs, even though it had nothing to do with our national security. And after the horrific September 11, 2001 attack on America, they clamored for rushing into war in Afghanistan against the repressive Taliban regime's mistreatment of women more than they did for waging war against terrorism, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists the Taliban harbored. Then they criticized the military for what they conveniently perceived as getting bogged down in the effort, along with nit-picking about unintended civilian casualties and collateral damage.

But when it came to ridding the Middle East, America and the World of the barbarian terrorist, Saddam Hussein and his genocidal, murderous regime, the usual suspects -- joined by the our former allies and the United Nations -- dug in their heels and opposed the rush to war in Iraq. They did little about Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and nothing about his aid to terrorists groups. And they ignored Saddam Hussein's continuous atrocities and terrorism against his own people, including women and children, which was much worse than the Taliban's mistreatment of the Afghan people.

Instead, they began ad nauseum propaganda campaigns against the war before and after it began. A former weapons inspector, Hollywood celebrities, journalists and even congressmen went to Baghdad to give aid and comfort to Saddam Hussein in his efforts to keep the United States off his back. Then after the war began, the rush was on. They pushed for a quick, sanitary war, criticizing every military move as slow and without perception or planning, as if they were experts regarding matters they knew little or nothing about. Still, they demanded unreasonable things with unintended consequences, frustrating the war and playing into Hussein's hands, while his regime played unconscionable death squad games with the lives of helpless Iraqi people.

Afghanistan is free, and Iraq soon will be, no thanks to those shallow, petty, self-serving people -- many of whom have the audacity to call themselves Americans. Alas, it's simply hard to fight for freedom with the sandpaper hands of ignorant minds holding one arm behind your back, while tripping you up in a mine field of stupid ideas, including yelling fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire. Nevertheless, with the inevitability of regime change in Iraq, it should come as no surprise -- after the smoke settles -- when anti-war hypocrites and political snipers come out from the safety of grandstanding, from behind the comfort of their desks and from in front of the cameras, to support the effort and claim unearned pieces of Operation Iraqi Freedom's pie.

DDC