The Bush Administration Wants a War With Iraq

President Bush’s U.N. speech Thursday had the impact of “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” It also told Congress, “Get on board or lose your positions in November.” We have a president who says what he means and whom we can trust to mean what he says.

Willis Price

Blythe, Calif.

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Sept. 11: Bush at his best, leading the nation in Washington, Pennsylvania and New York. Sept. 12: Bush at his worst, saber-rattling as he mouthed the opinions of his Cabinet war hawks. All in a week’s work.

John D. Andrews

Palos Verdes Peninsula

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If Bush moves forward with his attack on Iraq he will invite the rage of every Muslim fanatic around the world--and every day will be Sept. 11. Any weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein might have, have already found their way to his international followers.

Rae Tauber

San Diego

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Hussein is a brutal, secular dictator who controls the second-largest crude oil reserves in the world. It’s obvious that he would want to protect his power by limiting personal freedoms, eliminating opposition, squashing separatists and defending his territory from Iraq’s zealot neighbors. But what does he stand to gain in launching any kind of attack on the U.S.--or, for that matter, Israel--as the administration seems to think he might? Were he to so much as sneeze across his borders again, he would be utterly annihilated.

Jack Cooper

Van Nuys

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“Congress Balks at Rushing Vote,” Sept. 11: The cowardice of those senators who refuse to bring the question of war against Iraq to the floor for a vote stands as a disgraceful contrast to the bravery of the heroes of Sept. 11. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and other, mostly Democratic, senators are holding up this crucial vote because they are afraid to vote no and face angry voters. Their spineless fear is appalling.

Gretchen Hoad

Sunset Beach

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It outrages me to hear that Bush is putting pressure on Congress to approve an attack on Iraq without giving it sufficient evidence and more time to make a well-thought-out decision. I agree with Daschle when he states, “It’s so important that we do this right, not rush to some judgment.”

One wonders if there are ulterior motives behind Bush’s urgency to go to war.

Holly Schoenfeld

Los Angeles