I received this from Michael in Sydney, in response to the email I sent to his son Jack at the start of the war (posted 3/16).

Dear Liz.

I am in tears.

This is so wonderful for you to write this to the youngest member of our family and the one who will be around the longest to live with whatever comes out of this.

This is such a hard time for all of us but so hard for you all in the US.

Please know that you have our love, always, and that our thoughts will be with you through every moment of the coming days.

Let us hope that those of us who have peace in our hearts can win over those who see conflict as inevitable.

Howard (Australian Prime Minister John Howard) has been on television tonight saying that he is waiting for the call from Bush to formally ask for our assistance. There is no doubt that he will say yes though that is so far from the mood of the country. We don't take kindly to being an instrument of American foreign policy and I think that even Howard is no longer comfortable with this but he can't extricate himself. One of our commentators said that we don’t like someone in a cowboy hat invoking the power of the almighty. We don't and I know that you don't either. He calls our PM "Mr Echo."

When I was in the US with you, I told Susie that there was such a strong feeling against war in the America I came into contact with. She asked me then to let people know to shout harder because through all the bluster it is so hard to hear that message. This is such a shout. Pass it on to everyone you know outside the US and it will spread.

With love,

Michael