So what I want to know is, where do we go from here? We've attacked Iraq, and presumably next we're going to be raining hellfire and brimstone down upon them. The United Nations has just found itself with a rogue nation leading a military insurrection, going directly against the wishes of the majority and loudly proclaiming that might makes right. Whether or not our actions are justified is a different question -- even if we do discover that Iraq is using chemical weapons or illegal long-range missles, or if we discover that Iraq is indeed financing or sheltering terrorists, we've still done substantial damage to the closest thing to a global peace-keeping organization in existence. Is it the moral duty of the United Nations to lead a global retaliation against the United States? Should China, Russia, Germany and France all mobilize their armed forces and attack Washington, D.C. to show the American government that might does not make right, we are not in fact untouchable, and that any actions taken directly against the will of the global community will in fact have severe negative repurcussions?

Further, if AbuBakar Ahmed Syed of the United Arab Emirates is correct in his assertion that "It's not a war -- it's a unilateral show of muscle power to the whole world", what does that mean? Yes, America has been frustrated in our efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden. Yes, Al Qaeda and terrorism as a whole is still very much at large, of which we will probably see definitive proof in the upcoming weeks. And yes, America's untouchable image has been marred since September 11. America right now is a bruised warrior, who feels it needs to demonstrate to the world that its authority is unquestionable, and anyone attempting to strike at us will regret it on an unimaginable scale. We've failed in our attempts to find Osama bin Laden, so we'll go against the other icon of resistance against American authority, one who actually leads a chunk of land we can target. A glance at CNN or the BBC will show you the results.

So when do we stop? When Osama's been found and Saddam's been ousted? Will that be enough to assure America that our dicks are indeed bigger than everyone else's? Or will the resistance at the U.N. by the French, the Germans and the Russians make our cowboy president feel justified in laying siege to Paris, Berlin and Moscow?

The actions of George W. Bush may be proven correct if Saddam does indeed have chemical weapons or has been financing global terrorism. But do the ends justify the means? And is toppling a melodrama villain really worth the price of toppling the closest thing to a global court that we have?

At the moment, we are a rogue nation. We are going directly against the will of the United Nations. There will be repurcussions. Our President has delivered us into one of the darkest periods of American history in the last quarter-century, and for what?