Thoughts about the new war
By Alicia Sanderson, Grade 12, Tec-Voc High School, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Thoughts of this new war are frequently on my mind. My thoughts are of how I really do wish that these types of actions were not necessary.

I wish that I could go though life in a world without murder, war, and hate. I have been told that my thoughts are crazy. That it is just not how our world works any longer nor is it how it ever really worked. But I can't help but dream of a hate free world. I dream of how I could walk down the streets at night and not worry about being jumped or some twisted person coming at me and trying to kill me.

I am just so frustrated with what is happening to this world. I know that most of us think it is a good place to be and that we in Canada and the United States live in a free world. But what is free really? I am not sure if I could say the same. Free to me is no worries, living life without the fear of death through murder, war, or because I just glanced at someone the "wrong" way.

I am so full of anger. To me, this war seems to be quite useless. I don't really see the point in starting a war in hopes of finding one person, but in the meantime killing so many more than is really needed. I do believe that those who are responsible for what has happened should be punished, but I do not believe that this war will really help.

I've been wondering, what if we do find this man responsible and we kill him. What will happen next? I do not believe that it will then be over. If there were people willing to take their own lives and others as well for what they believed in so strongly, what makes us think that there will not be more in store for us?

I am really afraid of what might be. What would happen if there were another incident such as what has happened to the States? What are we supposed to do then? Start this war all over? I do not believe that this is really going to work. But now it is too late; too late to go back on a decision that was made with such hate, the type of hate they had for us. Sometimes I wish that I could just live in my fantasies, then there would not be such things. It would be so beautiful. But reality is that this world is not so bright and chipper. We must go through our daily lives without one such hint as to what is in store for us. I think that it would be nice if we could all get along and have similar beliefs but that is just not how it is out here.