U.S. Readiness in Persian Gulf

The official reasons given by the Bush Administration for going to war in the Persian Gulf are not adequate to explain our aggressive posture. Without firing a shot Hussein’s momentum has been halted, no new territory is in imminent danger, the hostage issue has been resolved and effective sanctions are in place. So where is the urgency to go to war come Jan. 15? We have ample time to talk. Talk is cheaper than blood, and backed by sanctions and unified world opinion, negotiations would be far more productive in the long run.

The Administration seems to want war at any cost. If Hussein, the madman, has killed thousands, Bush, the virtuous, would have us kill and be killed by the tens of thousands. The big unanswered question is why? The answer may not be forthcoming because it is too cynical to be uttered aloud: We may be starting a war to rescue the Pentagon budget from the devastation of the “peace dividend.” Sound crazy? Now that the Cold War has ended, the Pentagon budget is scheduled to be cut by $243 billion between 1990 and 1995. That is an incredible amount of money. Can you imagine any bureaucracy taking that kind of cut without a fight? When the bureaucracy in question is the Pentagon, a budget fight can mean war!

DAVID CHANDLER

Montclair