Just finished reading this.

Dozens of Seattle police officers escorted the demonstrators while others, armed with long sticks and pepper spray, stood behind fences and police tape outside the recruiting offices for the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

If you're protesting the war but not the individual service-members, why protest at a recruiting station? The people working there are service-members. In the Army it's a volunteer duty (like Drill Sergeant Duty) in order to have a couple of years stability (although there are a number who do it in order to avoid deployment.)

My friend just left last week for his deployment. He's a "newbie" just like me, as we both were in the same AIT class. My cousin just got back from Iraq with his unit.

And I look at these pictures and the people protesting for "peace" are downright angry. What they're angry at, I don't know?

You wake up and the sun is still up (although it may be cloudy.) You have to what? Go to class? Assuming your parents don't pay for your education, you're having to work (God-forbid) to pay for your education (FYI, there are numerous resources available from the government including student grants and loans. It's almost impossible to not fund an education this day in age. And yes - gasp - you will have to pay any loans back. The interest on them is minimal and you have forever and a day to pay it back.)

I just don't know what to think when I read the paper.

And then all of the complaining about the Olympia Police Department reaction. Okay, let's say the police reacted badly and unfairly (for the purpose of this post.) The people protesting can't control their emotions because their buddy just got hit with pepper spray, yet we want to put our Soldiers on trial because their umpteenth buddy just got killed and maybe, in the fog of war, they killed a person not involved with the direct conflict.

In a way I'm glad the people protesting got a glimpse into the world of having to make a split second decision. You can't be a Monday Morning Quarterback forever. Every once in a while, you have to venture away from theory and into reality.