You won't be crucified by me, Silverfox. I'm one of those wacky agnostics. So...a secular comment:

Now that it's begun, I hope our troops turn the Iraqi bastards into mincemeat. Fast. With minimal casualties. Go get 'em. They (the Iraqi leadership and military units that choose to fight us) deserve to fry.

As a citizen of the world, I am very disappointed with the heel-dragging and stalling by the United Nations. They had every ability to be tough as nails on Saddam. They chose the route of placid beaurocracy. They did not do their job. Now they face irrelevancy.

As a citizen of America, I am disappointed with the ham-handed, bullier-than-thou "diplomacy" on the part of the Bush administration. World leaders must be wooed, be made to feel important, and believe that their opinions matter. Our leaders chose insults and ultimatums, and we stand virtually alone as we wage our attack. Further, they used 'evidence' that was either patently false or purposefully doctored in making their case for attack. What does that do for our credibility?

Bottom line: Everything has been botched. We blew it. The UN blew it. Saddam blew it just by being born. And now our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and loved ones, are on the front lines trying to untangle the mess (interesting that only ONE of our 535 congressmen...Sen. Johnson of South Dakota...has an enlisted son or daughter in the armed forces). We can be confident that they, at least, will not blow it.

This attack will not "cure" us of terrorism. It will not prevent the rise of future despots. So, for now, all we can do is hope that our men and women in uniform kick ass...and keep kicking and kicking and kicking and kicking until the lunatics are gone. Superior training, instincts, leadership and, yes, firepower will see them through.