The other day my son wanted to kow why we were at war...
My husband looked at our son and then at me. My husband and I were in the Army during the Gulf War and would be honored to serve and defend our country again today. I knew that my husband would give him a good explanation.

My husband thought for a minute or twu, then told my son to go look out the front living room window. He said, "son, stand there and tell me what you see."
"I see trees and cars and our neighbot's houses," he replied.
"OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United States of America and you are Presidant Bush"
Our son giggled and said ok.
"Now son, I want you to look out the window and pretand that every house and yard on this block is a different country," my husband said, "and pretend you see Saddam come out of his house dragging his wife by the hair and hitting her. She is crying and bleeding and then he hits her in the face and throws her to the ground. Then he starts kicking her to death. Their children run out but stand crying quietly because they're afraid of him. You see all of this son, and what do you do?"

"dad?"
"what do you do?"

"well, I would call the police, dad."
"ok, pretend now that the police are the United Nations. They take your call, listen to what you say and refuse to come help. What do you do then?"
"but the police are supposed to HELP dad!" my son starts to whine.

"they don't want to son, because they say it is not their place or your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it," my husband says.
"but DAD, he killed her!!" my son exclaims

"I know he did, but the police say to stay out of it. Now I want you to look out that window and pretend you see the neighbor who you're pretending is Saddam turn on one of his children and start kicking him to death too. What do you do?"

"well if the police won't do anything, I'll go ask the other neighbor to help me stop him," our son says.
"Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening but refuses to help you stop him. What do you do?" my husband asks again.

"But DAD, I need help! I can't stop him by myself!!" our son starts to cry.

"ok, no one wants to help you, and now the man across the street saw you call the police but knows they aren't on the way. He saw you ask for help from the neighbors and saw that NO ONE would help you stop him. He stands a little taller and puffs out his chest. Then guess what he does next, son," my husband continued, "he crosses the street to Mrs. Anderson's house and drags her outside. He steals what he wants and kills her too. He turns around and sees you standing in the window and laughs at you. What do you do?"

Our son is crying and he looks down at his feet and says, "I'd close the blinds daddy. the police are supposed to help people who need them and they won't help. You say that neighbors are supposed to HELP neighbors, but they won't help either... he's too scary for me alone. I can't stop him alone and I can't just look out the window and see all the horrible things he's doing... so I'll pretend it's not happening."

My husband and I looked at our son, and my husband said, "Now son, pretend that you peek out the blinds and the man is at your front door. What do you do?"

Our son straightened his back and clenched his fists and said without hesitation, "I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD! I'm not gonna let him hurt Mommy or Kristin! I'd fight him! I would fight until I couldn't anymore dad!"

my husband hugs our son and says, "what if he was too strong? suppose it's too late, and he's gotten too powerful and he's already at YOUR front door, son. You should have stopped him... before he killed his wife, BEFORE he killed his child, BEFORE he killed Mrs. Anderson. You have to do what's right, even when you have to do it alone son, before it's too late."

My husband looked over at me and back at our son, "the game of pretend we just played is WHY we are at war with Iraq. When good men stand by and let bad things happen because it doesn't affect him yet son, THAT is one of the greatest atrocities in the world. YOU MUST NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, EVEN IF YOU DO IT ALONE. Never close your blinds."