Paris is Burning

Here's a stretch, but I'll ask it anyway: If the U.S. had not inflamed the Arab world by invading Iraq, would people be lighting fires in the city of light?

I can't help but imagine the possibilities for peace. If Cheney and Libby had not spent so much time developing plans of mass destruction to seek revenge on Saddam, we may have found a way to maintain peace. If the U.S. had not acted to spread democracy in the heart of the Arab world, Muslims everywhere may not feel so threatened.

Of course, I can't claim to know how anyone else feels, so I am guessing -- at best.

But even if peace after 9/11 was unrealistic, even if the march toward war was inevitable, what if, in addition to plans of battles, the Bush administration had considered one step beyond the air strikes and deployment of Hummers?

What about making plans for peace?

Paris currently cannot find peace. Peace takes work. It takes intelligence and planning. It takes leadership and forethought. It takes resources dedicated to understanding and responding to the needs of all the people, not just those with the loudest voices.

We need talents other than those of the talented Mr. Libby. We need more than lies and deception and stepping on people with little power.

We need to chew the fat cats; please speak out.