Letter to Tony Blair from an Iraqi schoolgirl

Dear Mr. Blair,

My name is Maryam. I live in Baghdad and I am ten years old. I am learning English in school. Some people say we shouldn't study English because England is our enemy. But my teacher says that England used to be our friend and will be again. She says politics always changes, so it is OK to study English. That is good because it is my best subject.

When we are friends again, I want to go to London and study English. I hope we are friends again soon.

When I was born, my family moved to Baghdad so my father could work and buy food. The doctors here are very nice. When I grow up I want to be a doctor. I will travel all over Iraq and help sick people. Then I will travel all over the world and help people in other countries.

My father is a good man and he works very hard. He has never hurt anybody. My mother takes care of me and my sister. She is only 6 years old. She needs my mother. I love them very much. If I grow up I will be a doctor and I will help people and I will never hurt anybody. Please don't kill my family Mr. Blair. Please do not drop bombs on us anymore. Please do not kill me.

The Bees of War.

If a child gets stung by a hornet and starts crying, many of the nearby people will feel sorry for him, and maybe see if they can help somehow.

When they catch him hitting a hornet's nest with a stick, while still feeling sorry for his pain, try to point out a relationship between the action and the result.

The second time, they feel a little less sorry for him.

The tenth time they see him hitting a hornet's nest with a stick, they start to root for the hornets.

Coming up next...

"President Bush speaks out about his reaction to the protests, and what he thinks about the protestors, next on the ten o'clock news."

Normally, I don't watch TV news, but this, I wanna see :-)

Tony Blair and George Bush

So, both are for the war, but their method of selling it varies a lot. The TV tonight showed statements from both of them:

Bush: I have a great respect for democracy (smirk), but I'm going to make decisions based on what I know is right, not what a bunch of commoners think. This coupled with lots of ra-ra gung-ho rally-round-the-flag-boys and shaking fists in the air shouting "USA! USA!"

Blair: The protestors are right to want to avoid the horrors of war, but we must act now so that we don't have to act more strongly later.

If your goal is to sell a war, I think the way Tony Blair is doing it is much more sensible and likely to work. I wonder if his people would favor the war if they didn't also see Bush on TV being such an idiot.