Last week our e-mail accounts got all these messages from people who were and weren’t in favor about using them as forums for discussion. The topic: The “possibility” of war against Iraq.

I agree in part with Elisa Banalieva’s opinion of how humans’ lives and the future of more people will be jeopardized, but I must also say that I totally support the idea of keeping this kind of comment in a forum specially made for them.

Yes, there’s a “delete” button on my keyboard, but I don’t think that’s enough reason to get all those mails in my inbox. I’m concerned about this issue, and that’s why I try to keep up with the latest news by reading newspapers, watching the news and searching the Internet. However, some times I get tired of all this, and looking at those opinion mailings just makes it worse.

Like Scott Saunders said in one of those mass e-mails, “It’s about as annoying as porn and get rich quick spam…” Contrary to many of the usual e-mail accounts where one can do very little to avoid getting junk mail, we can avoid this problem with our Simpson e-mail accounts if we would have more consideration for all the people we reach when we send a mass e-mail.

I’m sure there are many more people interested in the subject, and they have the freedom to express their feelings and thoughts. But please, don’t try to impose your point of view by sending massive e-mails. Find an appropriate place to do it. Perhaps the quality of the messages would be better if they would come from people who want to know about it.

I’m not in favor of this war because in my own personal opinion the “goals” of getting rid of terrorism and protecting the whole world from the tyrant Saddam will not be accomplished after all.

Besides, I think that people who support this war haven’t considered the fact that it could become the first time American territory is attacked by other nations in a war. The only ones so far have been sporadic terrorist attacks and they caused an enormous commotion. Now imagine how it would become if war is declared and Iraq attacks the United States soil.

Even during World War II only some of its territories in the Pacific Ocean were directly attacked. Unless they were soldiers in the war, Americans haven’t truly lived through the disastrous effects of a war.

They can’t tell us how it feels to be sleeping and be woken by a bomb dropped near by. Or how it feels to be living in the middle of the war wondering if one would be able to come back home safely. Or how it feels walking in the street and suddenly being surrounded by bullets. People in Europe and Asia can do it, and I’m pretty sure that if they could they would erase them from their memories.

Are Americans worried for Iraq’s nuclear weapons? The United States has nuclear weapons too and so far it’s the only country that has used them against civilians. Shouldn’t this worry be the other way around?

I like to see that people really care about this matter. That means we use our brain for more than memorizing facts and that’s good.

Don’t get discouraged and keep thinking about it. However, regardless of your position there’s a proper time and place for everything.

As much as you have the right to share your opinion, people who don’t want to know it also have the right not to get reached by it.