With all of the commotion over who did what to whom and on which desk, it is getting a little too hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys these days.

Luckily for the American viewing public, we have terrorists to help us make those blurry lines a little less gray.

This weekend, controversy over the Monica Lewinsky affair threatened to push President Clinton’s approval ratings so high that the Hubbell couldn’t find it on a good day.

The plan to stop terrorism dead in its tracks also began in earnest.

While a majority of Americans felt that the move to bomb terrorist camps on the other side of the world was a stunt to draw attention away from President Clinton’s embarrassment, a majority of this nation’s citizenry also supported the decision to drop bombs in the name of peace.

What is wrong with this picture?

It seems we have finally hit the point where even when we know something is merely a publicity stunt to divert our attention, we still can’t bring ourselves to disapprove of it.

Even conservative detractors found the time to support the move publicly.

It seems that we just can’t think of any new ways of dealing with the world’s problems, so we just fire up the fighters/bombers and let slip the dogs of war.

Maybe the time has come to try something old … like diplomacy.

If we would concentrate our efforts on creating lasting peace in the Middle East, acts of terrorism could be significantly reduced.

Americans need to realize that the difference between an act of terrorism and an act of war is merely the size of the army.

Our country is too big, too prosperous and too ignorant of the rest of the world to continue to respond to violence with violence.

That way can never create lasting, meaningful peace.

If we want to safeguard American embassies, then we need to start opening dialogues to create understanding between all of the nations of the world.

If we continue to flex our muscles every time we are attacked, the only response we can hope to garner will be the escalation of violence.

Today it is car bombs; Tomorrow it will be biological weapons.

The next day will be nuclear weapons aimed at vulnerable American cities.

For our own protection, we need to get back to the drawing board.

International diplomacy must be our first priority.