As the anti-war, and sometimes anti-America, protests take place all over the country I can’t help but express the fact that, we all know who believes in and who opposes the actions taking place in Iraq. It is very clear. The assertions and the vocalizations have been heard. Sides have been established and lines have been drawn. So, my question is, what are the protesters hoping to accomplish at this point?

And as the rallies start to take on an even more raucous tone and arrests start to be made I can’t help but feel validated in my thought that the spirit of the anti-war protests have gone beyond getting the peace message out and has turned, instead, internally for the protesters. They have transformed from a group wanting to express their desire for a peaceful solution by our government to a group that is simply acting out against authority not unlike a child when it doesn’t get its way and not unlike the actions of the liberal-left after the 2000 Presidential Elections.

With military action taking place on Iraqi soil some are still arguing the legal and moral points of what we are doing, and that is their prerogative, but the fact remains that the massive loss of civilian life that the protesters maintained would most certainly happen hasn’t come to pass. Whether it was disinformation fed to them by their ultra-liberal benefactors who were too busy figuring out where the media cameras were at Haight & Ashbury Streets in order to maximize their media exposure and further their political agenda or the failure of this group to be responsible enough to gather the actual facts of the matter before engaging their mouths, the fact remains that the hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties that the most vocal of the protesters were so sure would be lost during a military action has not come to pass. Their beliefs have proven to be misguided as many of us had suspected.

It would seem that in their transformation from legitimately concerned American citizens to disgruntled obstructionists they have in affect become the very seat of lawlessness that they were so opposed to.

In New York, Chicago and especially San Francisco anti-war/anti-American protesters gathered to voice their discontent with the actions that are liberating Iraq but along the way they lost site of their purpose. Images of smiling and almost festive "protesters”, many of who were obviously high school and college students who elected not to attend classes, were televised as they paraded through the streets in an almost jubilant fashion, some even imbibing in alcoholic beverages as if it were an event sponsored by a collegiate fraternal organization. This public display of discontent ended with the crowd blocking streets, stopping traffic (in some places for hours at a time), damaging property and in arrests as protesters became combative. It should be pointed out that law enforcement in all cities exercised amazing restraint in employing the use of force against the protesters (kudos to the law enforcement community for their sound reasoning).

In Taos, New Mexico, the anti-war/anti-America protesters turned destructive as they vandalized Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s home there. American flags were ripped down and children’s clothes, which they brought to symbolize what would turn out to be the non-existent adolescent casualties, were strewn about the grounds as they lashed out at an individual public figure whose beliefs differed from their own.

In the wake of these acts of public defiance is left the impression that the protesters have either lost focus of their objections or never really understood what it was they were protesting against. It is hard to take seriously a group of people who would use destruction and violence to protest destruction and violence. It is hard to sway popular opinion about how our nation should respect the rights of others when the ones trying to sway that public opinion show contempt for the rights of others within their own nation. Regardless of their motives, the members of the anti-war/anti-America movement this time around have failed so miserably in their attempts to bring about an alternative to the solution at hand that the very beliefs they were proponents of are what suffered at their own hands. In essence, they have become exactly what they have been protesting against, a lawless, misinformed band of close-minded vandals that are demanding their way no matter what the cost and regardless of how it affects their fellow citizens.

It is a sad day when the freedom of speech that so many have died to protect is utilized sans the accompanying responsibility that it so desperately requires.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.