Our current military presence in Iraq gives us a great opportunity to spread democracy in an area of the world where people are less civilized and treat each other inhumanely. We have a lot to teach them about our American way of life, which obviously leads to better results than the way they are used to living. After all, look at what a mess Iraq is.

If the Iraqis understood our true reasons for being there, they would welcome us with open arms. Unfortunately, they are not welcoming us with open arms, so there must be some misunderstanding. I think the most important thing for our military people over there now is to convince the Iraqis that we are just there to spread democracy and the good life. I haven't seen any reason to think otherwise, so I think we should stayin Iraq until they understand us.

Some people may say that spreading democracy and the good life isn't actually a military objective. But how do we know that our soldiers aren't as good at that as they are at fighting wars?

I was thinking of joining one of the branches of the armed forces and volunteering to go over there to help out. But then I realized that I can probably be more effective over here, rallying support for our troops. And I've never been much of fighter myself, so I wouldn't really be at home with all of the violence over there. Plus the heat in the summer would really bother me.

Still, I really believe that we should stay in Iraq until we have achieved our objective. I'm not too sure what that is, but somebody who reads the newspaper more would know that. I'm a little too busy to read the newspaper, but I understand the situation well enough to have my opinion about it, which is that the president knows what he is doing. After all, he is the president.

Like with the weapons of mass destruction. Iraq never got to use weapons of mass destruction on us, which shows that Bush invaded in time to stop them.

And you have to make sure the terrorists don't get weapons of mass destruction. If we don't stop them in Iraq, they will be over here. Since we are stopping them over there, we will be safe over here. That proves we are doing the right thing. I heard on the radio that we will have to be doing the right thing in Iran pretty soon also. I would obviously support that, since you gotta do what you gotta do.

I was talking to the guy at the gas station the other day about how gas prices are going up so high. "Blame Iraq, blame Iran" he said. So that's another reason we need to be there: to stop them from keeping on raising gas prices. We can't very well be teaching them the American way of life if they are threatening it by raising gas prices like they are.

The war in Iraq has really brought this country together. It's like talking about sports. Everybody can talk about it. So it's kind of like we're all cheering for the Raiders or something like that. I think that's a good thing.

Some people say we should get out of Iraq, but I say that Americans are not quitters. We have our pride and that's why people around the world look up to us. Leaving Iraq now would be like admitting we made a mistake. All of those deaths and injuries couldn't be a mistake--that would demoralize the whole country. So obviously, we are there to stay even if it may cost us a few lives. It's worth it to keep our pride and spread the American way of life.