Since the pre-emptive war in Iraq began, I have read many letters to the editors in a number of newspapers that sadden me.

They justify the killing and brutality, as well as the privatizing of industries in Iraq, as "payback" for what happened to us on the infamous 9-11. One World War II veteran's letter surprised me, saying that for what happened in America that day, "somebody has to pay," and it might as well be Iraq!

After horrendous photos of naked, tortured Iraqi prisoners were released in early May, rather than offering regrets and a prayer for both the abused and the abusers, another writer fumed, "After I think about the horrific deaths of 3,000 people on 9-11, I have no sympathy for the Iraqi prisoners being interrogated by the American and British soldiers."

What has happened to our humanity and sense of justice? And is this what Americans are like - as inhumane and brutal as we label those we are fighting?

Actually, the real question is more chilling: "What does war do to people?"

I've asked this question over and over the past two years after doing heavy research for a book I wrote on World War I at the request of the publisher, "Facts on File." As soon as America entered that war in 1917, as the New Republic reported, "the patriotic hysteria that swept the nation....demanded unquestioned support of government policies from all segments of the community, on pain of ostracism, and in some cases, even loss of a job."

President Theodore Roosevelt was particularly vehement in his support of the war, which he said many times was "a war for the vital interests of America." He labeled pacifists "the evil enemies of their country." He demanded that anyone of foreign descent had to declare undying allegiance to the United States, which he called "the crucible, the melting pot of life in this free land....The crucible must melt all who are cast in it; it must turn them out in one American mold."

This view took root and became a hysteria that launched hate and injustice against thousands of Germans, Austrians and Hungarians living in the United States, sending them to prison without trial or evidence at Ellis Island.

I think history proves that this judgment in wartime from officials in power set the pattern for the "those who aren't with us are against us" mantra that I see repeated in letters justifying the war in Iraq that sound so hateful. War makes the hatred for "the other, the enemy," intensify.

In a thoughtful article, Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, NY, bravely wrote that part of our mission in the 21st century is to gain greater knowledge of ourselves and expanded understanding of others.

"We in the United States," he said, "would do ourselves a favor by....recognizing that we cannot (or at least should not) act like some colonial power that seeks to embrace other less enlightened people and to make them as happy as we are. Too often, that embrace will become a fatal squeeze, and those other people, fighting for their lives, will strike back."

Bravo to the bishop for being brave enough to express his hope "that we in the United States and in the church will ponder seriously the lessons of cultural pluralism and religious tolerance, which I believe, need to be drawn from the current conflict in Iraq."

The bishop's way, I believe, is the only one that could begin to end "man's inhumanity to man," which is war's long-term legacy.

Antoinette Bosco is a syndicated columnist with Catholic News Service.