War With Iraq

Assuming Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that war with Iraq is justified (“Why Go After Hussein? It’s Easy as A-B-C,” Column Right, Commentary, Nov. 26), I ask the old question: What price victory?

Once Saddam Hussein is out and his military machine is destroyed, what do we do?

We could occupy Iraq and police its 50 million inhabitants for an indefinite period of time; we could attempt to reconstruct the Iraqi economic and social systems in a Western/Christian mold; we could abandon the defeated Iraqis to their fate or we could partition Iraq among its neighbors: the Iranians, Turks and Syrians. There appears to be no other viable option. None of the ones described so far appear to be possible or satisfactory.

Is it possible that Krauthammer overstated the Iraqi threat to obscure the price of victory?

NICK P. MAGINNIS

Topanga Canyon