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What a pleasure it is to see free speech in action. Thousands of Americans have crowded the streets recently to protest the imminent war on Iraq. Flocking toward popular areas and government buildings they bare signs such as “Do you want to die for Exxon?” or “War is not the answer” or the ever popular “Down with George Bush.”

It is this latter sign that has always caught my attention because it illuminates the true reason behind the current plague of anti-war protests.

These people are not anti-war. They are anti-Bush. They have been brainwashed by the divisive hatred machine of leftist politics that preaches that those who do not believe in the “progressive cause” are evil, racist or deserving of public downfall.

Where were all of these so-called war-haters when their demagogue Bill Clinton misused the military time and time again in a wag-the-dog strategy to avert media attention from his other failings? Where was the protest when loss of life, both American and foreign needlessly occurred?

During the first year of his presidency, Clinton decided to withdraw some 4,000 U.S. troops from Somalia who were acting as part of a U.N. peacekeeping force.

The politically motivated move weakened the United Nations’ role, and they quickly suffered losses at the hands of Somalian warlords. Efforts led by Clinton to destroy weapons and infrastructure after certain losses resulted in the deaths of Americans and Somalian civilians. But this did not deter Clinton from sending more troops and leading more military campaigns. It all came to a head on Oct. 3, 1993, when a firefight in South Mogadishu ended in the deaths of 18 soldiers and the capture of one helicopter pilot.

But there was no anti-war outcry then. Clinton used the military to cover his own mistake and took it personally when he continually failed as commander-in-chief.

He also retaliated for the attempted assassination on former President George Bush by firing cruise missiles at Baghdad. And he acted without permission of Congress. Although the act itself was justified, Clinton displayed gross power grubbing by failing to consult Congress in the attack. Once again, Clinton acted only to further his own narcissistic agenda without consideration for the American people. And there was no protest.

Almost all of the military action under the Clinton administration, including action in Yugoslavia, Haiti, Bosnia and Iraq, needlessly put soldiers and civilians in harm’s way and quite possibly brought about much of the anti-American sentiment that is seen world-wide today. Yet there were no Vietnam-esque anti-war movements or protests to these questionable activities.

It is not the desire for peace that is spurring the recent anti-war movement; it is a blind hatred of Republicans and the Bush administration that is constantly being preached by leftist groups and organizations. These groups idly stood by when Clinton was war-mongering and causing the deaths of innocent people.

However, this is hardly new behavior from the witch-hunting left.

Republicans are always getting criticized for things that the left equally engages in. The Clinton family and Gray Davis were both part of corporate scandals, yet George Bush, who is merely implicated, gets all the negative media attention.

Also, during eight years of the Clinton administration, arsenic levels in the water remained the same. During his last days in office, Clinton changed the standard, lowering the allowed levels of arsenic to an amount that would cost billions of dollars to meet. Upon arrival in the White House, Bush reversed the decision in order to do more research on arsenic levels. When Bush set the levels of arsenic to one equal to the level during the Clinton administration, he became the victim of an environmentalist campaign that tried to paint him as a killer. The bill was sitting with the Clinton administration for years, yet it somehow was immune.

The double standard of the left is truly disheartening. I am not a Republican, and I wholeheartedly disagree with about half of Bush’s actions so far. I am in favor of war with Iraq, but have some reservations about the Bush administration handling it. Yet I refuse to spread hate speech about our president.

The left doesn’t seem to realize that actions are more important to a person’s character than thought. As a result, Clinton and other liberals can get away with atrocities because they “feel our pain.” And Bush, a man who so far has shown integrity and leadership, and who will be responsible for protecting the lives of all American citizens, is vilified.