Mark my words.  There will be a war. But, where are the war jitters? It is a bit eerie that bombast, declarations and the kind of things that presaged former conflicts are largely absent.  This one has a lot of posturing and backstage maneuvering but little action. By all available evidence there does not have to be a war.  But there will be the anxiety of those families who have children or relatives removed to far off places where the staging of this war will take place.

World War I was before my time.  An uncle of mine died while in the service but that was due to the influenza outbreak that killed so many. I grew up in the 1930’s when Mussolini was invading Ethiopia, Hitler was pressuring his neighbors and Japan had invaded China.  There was endless talk about war then and it provided jittery jitters. I was in Boy Scout camp in the hills of New Jersey when December 7 1941 dawned and we were at war.  We had no radio and we learned that our country had been attacked only when we returned home. Then there was no time for jitters because we now all became patriots and some of us, like me, became a Civil Defense courier-carrying sample messages between point A and point B in case a real attack was made on our homeland.

Most of our jitters are caused by the possibility for a repeat of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. We all remember well the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon as well as the failed attempt when a third plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Our jittery feelings today are not caused by the possibility of Saddam Hussein attacking us but are again generated by the knowledge of Osama bin Laden’s excellent plan to humiliate us.

It is not so much the airplane thing this time.  We are more concerned with what we will not be able to see – things like anthrax and poison gases.  Did you ever wear a gas mask?  I did when we were prepared for gas attacks in basic training. I am claustrophobic and did not do well in a gas mask. We also do not know where and when a next attack will take place. This is worrisome.

At my age I am no longer terrified about death but am more concerned that it not be drawn out and painful.  Mostly, I am interested in trying to prevent this war and head off any of the dreadful consequences of introducing war and its privations to innocent civilians.  Once again, the most important consequence would be the decimation of a whole generation of our young who will be the first to be sacrificed.  I do not believe that Mr. Bush and Company have any idea of these consequences.

I am jittery about the future of our country while it is in the hands of these “War is O.K.” types.