On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country . . . . -- But to recite such at Rotary, come on Rep. Isakson, spare us please

Many of you no doubt know the Boy Scouts oath that begins "On my honor I will . . . ." .

Well, in Rotary we have something known as the four-way test. It consists of four questions:

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build good will and better relationships?

Will it be beneficial to all involved?

Laugh if you like, but I like the four-way test.

But do I like what I read today in Albany Herald? Let's just say that I am glad I wasn't there "making up" (attending another club's meeting to make up for missing one in our home club, for me, the Douglas Rotary Club).

I would have thought, Johnny, Johnny, spare us please.

Thursday in Albany Isakson talked with the Albany Rotary Club about the war in Iraq, and used Rotary's four-way test to justify it. Excerpts from the Albany Herald article:

Isakson said "yes" can be the answer to all of the [Rotary four-way test] questions concerning the war.

"We have found 400,000 Iraqi bodies in eight graves in Iraq. We have found canisters redesigned to carry ... chemical weapons. In the Euphrates River we have found the precursors to sarin gas. We have found buried Scud missiles. We have found the engines to those Scuds in Jordan," he said, supporting the argument that the war was to protect the United States and Iraq's neighbors and citizens.

In the long run, he said, the war will build goodwill and better relationships.

"Right now, no, it's not. But did the dropping of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately build good relations? Now (Japan) is one of our strongest partners," he said.

And, he said, ridding the world of dictators and extremists and their weapons will benefit the world.