Iraq Conflict

* Re “Iraq Agrees to U.S. Inspectors on Arms Teams,” Nov. 20:

I get the distinct impression that the U.S. really wanted conflict with the Iraqis, and that the efforts of the Russian negotiators have put a dent in the egos of their American jingoistic counterparts. Maybe we the people should be grateful to Yevgeny Primakov and company for possibly saving us a few billion dollars replacing all those spent missiles and smart bombs, which may be part of the reason why America was shying away from a diplomatic solution in the first place.

NIK GREEN

Isla Vista

* Nineteen eighty-four has come 13 years too late. You publish a cartoon (Nov. 11) by Michael Ramirez showing Saddam Hussein as an au pair saying, “Relax, the baby’s fine,” as he flings a helpless infant around. What’s amazing is that the baby is labeled “U.N. Sanctions.”

In the real world, the sanctions are killing babies. The U.N. International Children’s Fund estimates that 4,500 Iraqi children are dying every month--one every 10 minutes--from starvation and preventable disease.

The sanctions prohibit items including pencils, sewing machines, agricultural pesticides and chlorine to purify the water. The “food for oil” deal only gives Iraqis one-quarter of the caloric intake needed for survival. Yet you portray the sanctions as the victim. The fact that the real victims, the Iraqi people, especially young children, are invisible in this cartoon and in virtually every article on Iraq speaks volumes about the implicit racism against Arabs. It’s as though their lives count for nothing.

SAM HUSSEINI

Media Director, American-Arab

Anti-Discrimination Committee

Washington

* Well, ol’ Saddam is acting up again and it appears that the U.N. coalition is going to have to set him straight, again! The man is an obvious threat to all of his neighbors, and we should help them out. Americans in general, and I in particular, are beginning to tire of these Third World despots who threaten everyone around them with deadly force. Is it time for the world to put its collective foot down on this guy? I think so, because if he gets away with this, any ideas as to how long Saddam will behave? Probably not for very long.

JEFFREY T. HAPP

Pasadena