WAR ON IRAK

USA Today Op-Ed: War is not in U.S. interest

President Bush hasn't done a good job of selling this war because he has tried to sell us a pig in a poke. But when the truth comes out, as it will, Americans are going to start asking the following questions:

Where does it end? Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has laid out the road map, with Iran, Libya and Syria next on the list: "These are irresponsible states, which must be disarmed of weapons mass destruction," he told visiting U.S. congressmen, "and a successful American move in Iraq as a model will make that easier to achieve."

How does this war serve America's vital interests? The president says Iraq "threatens its neighbors," but only one of those neighbors wants war. As Patrick Buchanan succinctly put it: "For whose benefit are these endless wars in a region that holds nothing vital to America save oil, which the Arabs must sell us to survive? Who would benefit from a war of civilizations between the West and Islam? Answer: one nation, one leader, one party. Israel, Sharon, Likud."

Our troops will be fighting a proxy war in Iraq, and beyond, not to protect U.S. citizens from terrorist attacks, but to make the world safe for Israel. When the dead are buried, let the following be inscribed on their tombstones: They died for Ariel Sharon.