Iraq Inspections

* I read and reread “Iraq Inspections a Must” (editorial, Sept. 3) four times. And, I agree, eating humble pie is sometimes a prerequisite for finding a solution to a stalemated problem. However, handing Neville Chamberlain’s umbrella to an American emissary for negotiations with Saddam Hussein, as you suggest, is to learn nothing from our disastrous experience with this misanthrope.

Of course it is critical that we curtail Iraq’s capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction. But we relinquish all leverage when we allow the unrestricted flow of funds into Saddam’s blood-covered hands. He has made a science of evasion. More money would give him more tools to camouflage his deceit.

NORMAN M. ROSENFELD

Los Angeles