President Bush Orders More Troops to Iraq
It’s a good first step: The Times calls on President Bush to give better reasons for his war drive in the gulf (editorial, “Needed: A Clearer ‘Why’ Before America Goes to War,” Nov. 11). In 15 weeks we’ve heard the simplifications of “Hussein is a Hitler,” and that the U.S. military presence is not to defend “our oil.”
The Times calling Bush’s cards is certainly more than the members of Congress have done. Congressional candidates didn’t dare talk of war. It was bad for business--the business of getting reelected.
The Pentagon estimates 20,000 casualties when the war breaks out. There is the possibility of chemical and even nuclear weapons being used. But where is Congress? Under the Constitution it is the only body that can declare war. The silence is deafening.
The next step is for Americans to demand that Congress return to Washington immediately to hold hearings and stop President Bush from starting a war.
If Congress won’t do that, we all have a long road ahead. Just as in the 1960s, when Congress shirked its responsibility to stop the Vietnam War, we’re going to relive the divisiveness that war wreaked on our society. And suffer a societal toll that we have never fully recovered from since the Vietnam War.
ANDREW KAY LIBERMAN
Los Angeles
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