Give war a chance

" The President's actual words to Congress and the nation Tuesday evening were, "Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work." But I kept thinking back to the chorus of the 1969 John Lennon song, "Give Peace A Chance." It became an anthem at peace protests".. says Bob Park in his 'What's New' column this week. The new strategy, he said in an earlier column, is strikingly similar to the gambler's last resort: double your bet and hope for the best.

I wasn't around in 1969, but I remember seeing a famous episode of 'The Wonder Years' in which Kevin Arnold accidentally leads a protest march against the Vietnam war and, thereby, has greatness thrust upon him while in the school restroom. The episode fades to black with a chorus of school-children singing the refrain from Lennon's song.. 'All we are saying is give peace a chance'.

Sounds foolish today, doesn't it? It's interesting to note that the peacenik protests to Bush's Iraq war don't seem to be as vociferous or persistent as the Vietnam ones are reputed to have been. I don't know if people are less convinced of the existence of peaceful solutions to the world's problems today (the terrorists don't think so, so should we?) or just more cynical about their protests and demonstrations making any difference at all.