The other day I heard a little boy ask his grandmother what the point of war was and she looked down at him and said, "It's sort of like a bunch of grownups on a great big playground and one group has a ball and everyone else wants it. It doesn't really make much sense, does it?"

I agree that war is ridiculous but I didn't agree with her answer. I know that patronizing a six year old doesn't mean much when they're six, but the vision he'll have will leave him curious and confused for years. I knew that Bush had decided that Saddam Hussein was evil, I mean who hasn't? But I don't agree with killing a bunch of innocent people for one man whom we may never catch, or invading a country before they've done anything to us. Then I heard a certain chant, "No blood for oil! U.S. troops off Iraq soil!" Blood for oil? This war isn't for oil, is it? I would ask question after question getting numerous sarcastic or metaphorical answers, or simply comments about Bush.

Most people think that kids my age should know all that sort of stuff, but if at age six we're being told we're killing people for toys, how will we know if no one ever tells us? If I am going to protest against something I want to know all the facts, so when confronted I can state my reasons with confidence. I heard rumors about Bush. Blood for oil. Blood for oil. Criticism without reason. Blood for oil. Blood for oil. I saw gas prices going up, and a million other little things that made me hesitate.

I finally couldn't take it. I needed answers. If I couldn't get them in one place, I'd go somewhere else. I learned about the PATRIOT Act, which basically states that if for some reason someone believed you were a terrorist, you could be thrown in jail for an indefinite amount of time without a trial -- even though the Constitution states that all have the right to a quick trial. I heard about Bush and Cheney's close attachments to Enron, and the oil industry, meaning (whether they say it or not) it would be quite handy for the Bush and Cheney families to have an entire country to themselves, just packed with oil wells. I learned a lot and feel a lot safer now that I do. I thought the war was nonsensical before, but now I see where the sense is and how sick it is too. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but knowledge is power.