What I believe to be one of the many concepts that elludes Bush’s infantile thought processes is a remark made by Anthony Cordesman in his testimony before the Senate. He said, “The US is not the political, economic and social model for every culture and every political system. . . .”

I understand that many Americans consider their country to be a force to be reckoned with, but when will death and carnage become a last resort instead of a first thought?

Most people are aware of the death toll among American soldiers reaching the 2,000 mark, but there are numerous Iraqi casualties that are rarely mentioned. Estimates vary on the number of Iraqi civilians and members of Iraqi security forces that have been killed and there has been no official figure for the number of Iraqis killed since the war began. Some estimates have range from 10,000 to 30,000, and according to iraqbodycount.com, the death toll has reached well above 30,000.

But those statistics only account for the deaths that were reported. Out of fear of reprisal, many Iraqis don’t register their dead with hospitals and proceed directly to burial. I would imagine there are many bodies unaccounted for that were blown up, burned beyond recognition.

According to CNN.com, most of those who were murdered were women and children. I assume none of these had anything to do with the air strikes of Sept. 11, 2001. Air strikes are blamed for most of the carnage.

The war was supposedly started to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction, none of which were ever found, and more than 135,000 troops remain in Iraq. Personally, I believe murder is wrong. President Bush and his cohorts have no more a right than I to murder a human being, but soldiers are still sent out to kill and be killed. They even wear their future toe tags around their necks.

When thousands of volunteers from the Middle East joined together to defend fellow Muslims, the main purpose of al-Qaeda was to drive Americans and all American influence out of Muslim nations and to destroy Israel. In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Despite the war on terror, al-Qaeda continues to be a threat, say the newspapers, television, magazines and Big Brother.

Even if Al Qaeda were given free reign, they would be unable to murder as many people as the “war on terror” has. Americans are not the only ones being killed in battle. Iraqis that had absolutely nothing to do with any terrorist activity are being bombed and blown up to protect us, the holier-than-thou Americans.

I like living in this country as much as the next person, but it is an asinine and self-righteous belief that our way of living is the standard. Bush believes however, “The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists around the world, increase dangers to the American people, and extinguish the hopes of millions in the region.”

At the Vatican in 2003, Pope John Paul II stated in response to the war on terror, “War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations.” Bush also believed that, “War cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations.”

I never thought I would find myself agreeing whole-heartedly with the pope on a major issue, but there is a first time for everything.

Iraqis voted in favor of a new constitution on Oct. 15. With a huge majority of the vote going one way and a big suspicions, we have no idea if the constitution was actually favored by most.

Specifically, women’s rights groups in the Middle East believe that Iraqi women will suffer from the “new Iraq.” According to women’s rights groups, the constitution does not protect basic rights of women, especially with the strict Islamic law within it.

War is a horrible thing no matter what it’s for. War is never necessary and we all need to live our lives in peace. Terrorist threat does not make it all right to murder thousands of innocent victims.