And so it begins again. The following quotes are from the AOL News report, "U.S., British Planes Attack Iraqi Targets" by Robert Burns, of the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (Feb. 16) - Executing President Bush's first military attack order, American warplanes joined British fighters in bombing sites around Baghdad on Friday, hitting air defense radars and other targets that U.S. officials said posed a growing threat to allied air patrols.

The strike was the first outside the "no fly" zone over southern Iraq in more than two years, although Bush said it did not signal a change in his administration's policy.

"A routine mission was conducted to enforce the 'no fly' zone," Bush said at a news conference in Mexico with President Vicente Fox. "It was a mission about which I was informed and I authorized. But I repeat, it's a routine mission."

At the Pentagon, a U.S. general called the strike a "self defense measure" initiated by the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf. The number of U.S. and British attack planes involved - 24 - was much larger than in previous missions over northern and southern Iraq in recent years.

Iraqi television said one person was killed and 11 others were injured in the attacks. Asked about the report, Pentagon spokesman Lt. David Gai said: "We're not in the business of verifying or refuting outside reports."

...The Bush administration recently released millions of dollars to Iraqi opposition groups to work inside the country. Those opposition leaders were meeting Friday with State Department officials when the attack occurred.

Ahmad Chalabi, a leader of the anti-Saddam Iraqi National Council, said he welcomed the U.S. action but '"air strikes alone will not solve the problem.'"

"Air strikes," he said, "must be within a comprehensive plan to get rid of Saddam."

How can a bombing attack be considered "routine" that involves more war planes and takes place within 5 miles of a population center like Baghdad for the first time since December 1998? And what is this nonsense about its being "self-defense"? Iraq is a broken country where the citizens are lucky to have access to clean drinking water and electricity. Iraq is hardly a threat.

The U.S. is the threat.

I first read about the bombings after going online around 11 AM. Within the hour, I'd received phone calls from two friends--one here in SF, one in Vermont--who were terribly upset and knew I would share their feelings.

I was not surprised that Bush had chosen to bomb Iraq. I'd figured it was just a matter of time. When I'd read a small article in the paper on January 21--the day after his inauguration--that said Saddam might be manufacturing weapons of mass destruction in a castor oil plant, I'd heard the beat of war drums in the distance. I just didn't know things would move quite this fast. But George Sr. has had a long eight years to plan a revenge strategy against his arch-enemy Saddam, and we all know who is the power behind Junior's throne.

As I said to my friends, I refuse to let George W. Bush--or any person whose attitudes and actions are so contrary to my own--get under my skin. I learned that much from his father. When George Sr. dropped the first bombs on Baghdad on January 17, 1991, I felt the explosions in the core of my being. I let him tell me that if I was a citizen of this country, I was responsible for all that was being done in my name. Never again. They can do what they will, and I will respond by openly standing up against their atrocities...but the atrocities are of their doing and sit on their shoulders, not on mine. They act in their own names, never in mine.

So today I did what I needed to do.

I called my Senators, Representative and the White House Comment Line to protest Bush's bombing of Iraq. I wrote a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. I talked with people wherever I went about this cruel act. At 5:15 PM I read an email about a San Francisco protest demonstration against the bombing that was to have started at 5 PM at Powell and Market. I immediately hopped on La Lucha and scooted over there by BART. I marched for 15 minutes before the demonstration ended, but it was enough to me that I was there. And I am now writing about everything in my online journal, which is read by persons around the world.

It is going to be a long four years. Every time Bush acts in such an unprincipled and inhumane way--whether toward nations, groups, individuals, creatures or the environment--I will do as I did today. And I invite others to do the same. Don't give your power away to a so-called leader who is undeserving of your support. Fight with every creative tool at your command.

It's simple to be an activist: simply act.

©2001 Patricia Lay-Dorsey. Please use with attribution.