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Hi everyone, Ros here

It was chilly and overcast last time I was in Cleveland and it’s like I’ve never been away. The remainder of last week’s snow is hanging around, and outside the window of the WCPN offices, the morning rush hour is beginning to ebb away. The two shows we did here back in November remain some of the best WHYS has ever done, and walking through the doors here brought back some happy memories.

(It also brought back memories of climbing into a snazzy van after the shows, driving off to Detroit and feeling very content with life. Not long later, we broke down and I was saying goodbye to four hours of my life in a rundown gas station in the outskirts of Toledo. I’m hoping for better luck on the road to Columbus later today.)

It’s the fourth anniversary of the American-led invasion of Iraq, and it was always going to be talked about on today’s show… here’s some questions to get us going…

IRAQIS THEY WANT AMERICAN TROOPS TO STAY – SHOULDN’T WE LISTEN?

A new Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú survey features a great deal of statistics (I know, I read it all on the plane). One that grabbed me was that only 35 per cent of Iraqis want America troops to leave now. That doesn’t mean they welcomed them when they arrived, it doesn’t mean they approve of everything the Americans are doing… but it does mean that 65 per cent of Iraqis see some role for American troops in the immediate future. So as the majority of Americans supported the invasion in 2003, shouldn’t they now listen to how Iraqis would like them to finish the job?

IRAQIS DON’T WANT SADDAM BACK
It might be stating the obvious that the majority of Iraqis doesn’t want to go back to having Saddam as their leader, but is it worth mentioning anyway?
No-one denies that some things could have been done differently and better after Saddam fell, but isn’t the fact that he’s no longer in power worth celebrating? Isn’t four years without Saddam better than another four with him?

OVER 70 PER CENT OF AMERICANS OPPOSE THE WAR IN IRAQ – SO SHOULD THEY BE DOING MORE TO END IT?

The TV news networks here are full of reports of anti-war protests around the country. It’s claimed that there may be as many as 1000 candle-lit vigils willing the troops to come home. But we're still counting the numbers turning out for these protests in tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. So could the 70 per cent of Americans who now say they’re opposed to the war do more to stop it? An anti-war demo in Spain was bigger than any held here in the States.

WHAT SHOULD AMERICA DO ABOUT MUGABE?
Lots of questions above about the rights and wrongs of how America dealt with one leader with a scant regard for human rights and democracy. There’s another in Zimbabwe in the form of Robert Mugabe who the State Department here has said is directly and personally responsible for beatings handed out to opposition leaders and supporters. Bearing that in mind, what should America do to bring an end to these human rights abuses? George Bush sees one of his missions as spreading democracy in the world – what should he do to further that cause in Zimbabwe?

Well done if you’ve got this far. A long email but there’s a lot to talk about today.

Speak to later from the East Cleveland Public Library.
Cheers,
Ros