Babes in Warland

Children in the U.S. are as divided as their parents over whether Iraq should be bombed, at least according to the letters they sent to TIME for Kids. Although the magazine's recent online poll of its readers, typically aged 9-11, showed 69.3 percent of approximately 50,000 respondents in favor of military action, with 30.3 percent opposed, the magazine's mailbag offers more eloquent insights into the thinking of those on whose behalf the politicians are always promising to make the world safe.

The ambiguous feeling of most correspondents was summed up by Elyse, 11, of Ohio: "If Iraq is not letting inspectors from the U.N. search for illegal weapons, I think the U.N. needs to do something about it, but I also don't like violence and I don't want any wars to start!"