U.S. Values at Stake in Iraq

Re “The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values,” Commentary, April 7: I find it ironic that it takes a foreigner -- German Nobel Prize winner Gunter Grass -- to remind Americans that we betrayed our core values by ignoring the United Nations and attacking Iraq preemptively. But doesn’t looking back at our history prove him right? John Quincy Adams warned in his 1821 Fourth of July speech: “Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will [America’s] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”

Haven’t we become the self-appointed vindicators of the Iraqis with our Operation Iraqi Freedom? But since when were we so interested in the fate of the Iraqi people? Not when the U.S. was supporting Saddam Hussein and looked the other way as the Kurds were being gassed. Not in the last Gulf War when American forces ignored the plight of the Shiites who were massacred in Basra.

Is this war simply about securing freedom for the Iraqi people and the so-called search for weapons of mass destruction, as the administration states, or more ominously, as Grass implies, an ill-advised flexing of newly discovered American might in violation of democratic and international norms? Rejecting Adams’ admonition, in 2003 we have gone in search of monsters to destroy -- and may be destroying our democratic values in the process. If Germans have been burdened by the question of whether they are proud of their country, let us hope that Americans will not be put in the same position.

Norm Pizzuti

Granada Hills

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Thank you, Gunter Grass. Now more than ever I understand why I cherish the wisdom and depth of your stories, message and words in “The Tin Drum” and “Too Far Afield,” which I have read and reread many times with great pleasure.

Yours is indeed a quiet voice of wisdom in the cacophony of the war-torn and war-obsessed world in which we live. I pray that your words will speak to and open the eyes of a well-intentioned people whose goals are noble, even if the means are not.

Pam Ross

Mission Viejo

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After reading a couple of readers’ responses to Grass’ inspired column (letters, April 9), I’m a little at a loss. Why are so many of us venting such spleen at Germany and France? Why don’t we simply calmly explain why we’re right and they’re wrong on the subject of the war on Iraq? Why the anger?

Oh, yeah. We already explained ourselves and they didn’t buy the administration’s flimsy con job any more than some of us Americans did. But as long as we’ve persuaded Iceland, Estonia, Bulgaria and Latvia of the rightness of our cause, I guess we’re doing fine.

Russ Perkins

Brentwood

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Many people are quick to dismiss Germany’s criticism of the Iraqi war because of its past, but I believe there has been enough time for the Germans to recognize their horrible past and learn from it, and they can and should stand for peace. I also believe that after rebuilding Iraq, the U.S. needs to focus on the U.N. and our relations with the world, which have been damaged. Because of our globalized society, international relations must be given special care.

Juan Maranesi

Irvine

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While I respect Grass, I hope the governments of Germany, France and Russia, all of which claim moral superiority here, choke on their unpaid state-of-the-art weapons sales to the Iraqi regime, in violation of international law and U.N. resolutions. Hypocrisy abounds in the midst of this unfolding tragedy.

Nancy J. Rigg

Los Angeles

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Many thanks to Grass for his clearly articulated column. I wholeheartedly concur with every word. The current leadership does not embrace the values of the United States I learned about in civics class.

And though the Bush administration behaves with reckless hubris, the real shame lies with our so-called “liberal” leaders, who remain largely silent during this pivotal period. True Americans speak out against injustice even when it isn’t popular.

How ironic that a German national would recognize this basic tenet of democracy when too many Americans do not.

Philip Hitchcock

Venice