It is quite comfortable in the United States today. Summer is slowly leaving us but, aside from less daylight, most don't notice it. Business is pretty good and expected to improve. It's the long, Labor Day weekend. At its end, America goes back to school and back to work commencing the annual rite of renewal. The day after Labor Day is the beginning of the American year. Nevertheless, the most ghastly of the Four Horsemen is on his deadly way and there isn't much anyone can do to redirect his path.

War, real war, not the `war on terror', is coming to the United States. Barring a miracle, war is at hand. Some young Americans will die. Thousands of Iraqis will die. The Iraqis know it; the U.S. military knows it; the world's governments know it. But many Americans don't know it or, at least they don't believe it. Not yet. You see, the President hasn't actually said it. Actually, what the President has said is a lie. He said he hasn't made up his mind. George, you can't be serious. Even Republicans don't believe that; nobody does. America is going to invade Iraq.

Most of Europe's governments publicly disavow the President's position. But Europeans have nothing to contribute: no technology, no air power, no money. Troops? Unthinkable. By naysaying, they let America take the hit while they gain whatever benefits accrue when Hussein is gone. The Arab countries don't want a liberated Iraq. That could lead to a liberated Saudi Arabia, Syria or Iran. Why would those governments want that? Those are the players. Nobody cares what the Latin or South American governments think or say. China is quiet; Russia, like Europe, may bark but won't bite. Africa? India? Who is left?

Why, then, in this pleasant Summer of 2002, is the United States preparing to invade, conquer and restructure the sovereign nation of Iraq? Consider.

It is true that Hussein is a rotten SOB. So are the dictators of other Arab countries such as the "royal" family of Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Cuba and all the rest. It is also true that Hussein (and the others) are busy developing and obtaining what are called weapons of mass destruction. But, as has been pointed out, Russia and China have had them for decades, including the ability to deliver them concurrently onto multiple American cities. North Korea, India and maybe Pakistan each has some form of nuclear capability. So what? Deterrence works and none of those countries is even a blip on the Administration's targets for war. If China is not a charter member of the `axis of evil', what country is?

Despite leftist whining, this war is not about oil, though it is a factor. Iraq is not going to invade the United States and Hussein, even if mad, is not suicidal. Al Quaeda members are suicidal; Palestinian bombers are suicidal. Hussein is into living and maintaining his power in Iraq. We've kept Iraq on a short leash for the 12 years of our embargo. Iraq threatens no country. Yes, it's a home for terrorists. So are Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Why not invade them all? None has an air force or an army of any concern.

What's going on here? Surely the President isn't going to send in the Marines for no reason. Despite some snotty wise guy pundits, Bush is not stupid; neither is Cheney. The only sensible reason available is one the administration refuses to discuss. The rationales Cheney offered in his recent speeches are insufficient for America to declare war and, as noted, they could easily be said of many other dictatorships.

The administration has taken a very long range, historical view and decided to eliminate radical Islam, Arab political hegemonies over oil which has a major effect on Western economies, particularly ours, and to nip the new rise of antiwestern civilization nations, peoples and groups. In other words, we are going to topple Iraq so as to topple the other Arab dictatorships so as to take the zealotry of Islam and its religious pathway to power out of the hands of tyrants before it's too late. It is the "Clash of Civilization". It is the reverse "Domino Effect" of the cold war except that the tyrants topple, not free countries.

No other proffered explanation, alone or in the aggregate, is enough to send Americans to die. But, because of the racial, ethnic and religious underpinnings, the Administration is not going to say it. The Crusades have returned. We, the Christian West, have decided to defang the Islamic clerics and zealots. To show that the Twin Towers was an aberration which cannot be repeated, we are going to kill Hussein, restructure Iraq and inseminate the Arab world with the sperm of liberty. Thus we diminish Islam and Mohammed to the same levels we in the West hold our faiths and thus we eliminate terror and future wars against the Infidels. Us.