[LibTeeth]

Your response hides a distinction you seem to want to blur. By referring to liberal-tarian pacifists, you are swinging a rather brood brush, and not very accurately. Many liberals in fact do support the war, because war strengthens the state, and they know they will once again inherit the reigns of power when the fickle pendulum of electoral instability swings again to the other pole. Those liberals who are pacifists are setting themself up as dialectical foils, both to conservative warhawks and moderate liberals who support the war effort. Most libertarians don't disdain war from a sense of pacifism (I don't know too many gun toting pacifists, and I don't know any libertarians who don't shoot there guns as much as they shoot their mouths). Most libertarian criticism is concerned with the growth of the omnipotent state. If Clinton were doing the exact same thing as Bush right now, many on this forum would be far more critical and far more alarmed. This inconsistency contrasts starkly against the coherent set of principles that offset the libertarian stance from the conservative. It could be worse though. The conservatives in Moscow are trying to conserve Marxism, and we haven't sunk to that level yet.

[Protagoras]

Many liberals in fact do support the war,

The most recent legitimate poll I have seen shows more Democrats support the war than not. More than half of all Demcrats support the war. Look at the vote totals and the names of the Democrats in congress who voted for it.

On the other hand, without benefit of a poll, I have unscientifically polled most of the libertarians I know and they are overwhemingly in favor of removing Saddam's regime when they are convinced that he is a threat. They all support the government's legitimate function of defending our rights from thugs like Saddam. Not all of them are convinced that he is a threat which justifies this action at this point, but neither are many conservatives.

On this forum, many loudmouths call anyone who shows the slightest hesitation to sign on to everything the President says, traitors. It seems that those types value your right to dissent, as long as it is dissention to Democrats.