What did I do to warrant this flood of not-so-nice mail, which included threats of bodily harm, as well as some biologically implausible suggestions?

Last week a group of Gulf War veterans formed a team to raise questions about our impending invasion of Iraq. Together, we agreed on some basic principles, none of which were “anti-war.” Rather, our goal is to ensure before we commit our forces to war, we consider all the key issues.

Those issues are simple: whether or not the invasion will destabilize the region; full medical care for returning soldiers (which never happened in 1991); the Administration should release any information justifying an attack; Congress is the body which should approve any war and should ensure adequate oversight; we should meet our international obligations, including working through the UN Security Council, and a full accounting must be made for those who are missing-in-action. Our full statement can be found at http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org

In the first twenty-four hours after we announced our site, quite a few veterans signed on to the statement. But a small minority sent hate-mail. To give you a picture of the tone, I’ll quote three of them:

“Get over your-stupid-selves. Dumbass Liberal pussies.”

“I say turn the place into glass!”

“Where in God's name did you ever get the idea to countermand the commander in chief of our nation?”

Ok. I have to take exception to this. Let’s make one thing clear – George W. Bush is indeed the commander-in-chief of the military, but last I heard, the President works for the people, not the other way around – even if they didn’t vote for him.

Since when did patriotism equal silence? Did that happen about the same time peace activists were added to the “no-fly” list? Will we let the terror war, or the Iraq war, or the oil war, or whoever it is we’re fighting this week destroy the very foundations of our democracy?

It’s time for people to sit up and pay attention. We’ve reached a turning point in history, where Americans say they’ll cash in their freedom and liberty for security. We defeated communism and dictatorship, so now we’ll try capitalism and dictatorship?

Unless we all speak out, we just might. Because the tenor of the debate is exactly what President Bush said: if you’re not with us, you are against us. If you don’t support war on Iraq, you must be Saddam’s best friend. If you don’t support “turning the place into glass,” you must be anti-American. If you don’t support slaughtering innocent civilians abroad, you must support terror against Americans at home.

I’m a combat veteran, and I reject that argument. If we give up the civil liberties on which our society was founded, then what are we fighting for? If we trade in our brains for the spin of the oil-company-controlled White House, we’re in trouble.

But then again, if I believe what I read in my inbox, I’m just a radical with a liberal left-wing nut, anti-everything agenda.

Charles Sheehan-Miles, a decorated Gulf War combat veteran, is the author of “Prayer at Rumayla” (XLibris, 2001) and is a former President of the National Gulf War Resource Center. He can be contacted at http://www.sheehanmiles.com. The Veterans for Common Sense statement can be read at http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org