Anti-war protesters loathe American ideal This war would be over today if we did not care about Iraqi civilians.

Those Americans who continue to protest the war in Iraq, now thatit has begun and our forces are on the ground, are protesting Americaitself.

Susan Sarandon and friends, call your offices.

Once again, the truth of America's basic goodness was driven homewith the dramatic rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch. Our troops regularlyput their lives on the line for those of us here at home, and fortheir comrades on the battlefield.

Compare that to the Iraqi regime, which welcomes opportunities tomurder its own citizens, including women and children, particularlyif it can engineer it so it causes international outrage against theUnited States.

We now know, thanks to the Fox News Channel, that it was SaddamHussein's henchmen who forced women and children into a van, thencoerced a terrified driver behind the wheel by threatening to murderhis family if he didn't comply. He drove straight into an Americanmilitary checkpoint in Iraq, ignoring warnings to stop. Sure enough,U.S. soldiers had no choice but to finally shoot into the car,killing several inside, all according to the regime's plan.

These are people who not only wouldn't rescue a fellow Iraqi, mostparticularly a woman, they would see her killed to advance theirmurderous cause.

OK, so the Americans are more generous than the Iraqi military--even America's war protesters might grant that point. So what? Well,the fact is, we're more generous than anybody. Unlike any othercountry that has ever existed, we fight wars only when we trulybelieve we have to defend ourselves or others, and we do our best tospare civilians and to rebuild the place when we leave.

Sure we've made big--make that huge--mistakes, like allowing Iraqiinsurgents to get slaughtered after the last Persian Gulf War andleaving Afghanistan way too soon after we helped wrest it from theSoviet grip.

Still, the fact remains that this war would be over today if wedid not care about Iraqi civilians. But we do, and far more than theIraqi leadership does. Further, the world will be a better place, andAmerica in particular will be a safer place, when the Iraqi regime isousted.

So why do I get the distinct impression that many of the Americanwar protesters, despite their cynical claims that they love theircountry, would actually be pleased if somehow America lost this war?

Because, apparently like the French and the Germans these days,these protesters see America as a power not for good in the world,but a power which has to be checked before it "gets out of line."

And just what would an America run amok bring to the world anyway?Freedom, prosperity, unleashed ingenuity, a regard for the dignity ofhuman life, the rule of law, a hope for a future?

Sheesh--now that's scary.

American liberals did not protest American military action inSomalia or Bosnia, precisely because no U.S. national interest was atstake. But with an American interest in the balance, as in Iraq,comes the fear that an American victory would advance the cause ofthe United States in the world, and that is something Americanliberals most vehemently protest.

Such liberals would argue that a too-powerful America wouldunleash more capitalist exploitation and environmental degradation.I've got news for them. For each of the thousands of peopleprotesting this war in the United States, there are at least tens ofthousands of people around the world who would risk their very livesif they had to to trade places with them.

Maybe we should try an exchange program?

Joe Klein of Time magazine paid homage to America, calling it "themost benign superpower in history." But that's not right. As asuperpower, America has been a powerful and energetic force for good,unrivaled by any country that has gone before us. The world would bea darker and uglier place if America were not such a powerful nation.And that truth is what American war protesters are really protesting.