Negotiations to Settle Mideast Crisis
My wise old father has often commented that of the four major American wars he has lived through in this century, the only one worth fighting was World War II, where we were physically attacked by an enemy.
The others not only involved huge expenditures of American blood and treasure, but also had a number of unintended side effects that were detrimental to the United States.
Today, Bush, a decent, honorable man who truly means well, has squared off against Hussein, a despicable marauding plug-ugly, who happens for the moment to be the chief snake in a nest of vipers.
President Bush would do well to remember the advice of some other fathers--our country’s libertarian Founding Fathers. George Washington admonished us to avoid foreign entanglements, but it was John Adams who perhaps said it best: “We are friends of freedom everywhere, but guardians only of our own.”
JOHN MURPHY
San Diego
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