War on Iraq Would Play Into Bin Laden’s Hands

Re “Tape Urges All Muslims to Defend Iraq,” Feb. 12: I listened to the pertinent extracts of the latest Osama bin Laden tape carefully. What I heard was Bin Laden telling the people of Iraq, and all Arabs, that the Baathist government of Iraq, which he has always opposed, was better than occupation by us American “infidels.” What this proves is that in our crazy rush to war, we have done what probably no one else could have done: united previously divided factions against us, worldwide.

We are rushing headlong into a trap. Saddam Hussein may be quickly out, but we now face a protracted war, with few friends, that will see our kids fighting and dying in cities and deserts across the Mideast and Asia for at least 10 years.

Stan Bass

Montrose

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I cannot believe that Secretary of State Colin Powell is playing “I told you so” with Bin Laden’s latest audiotape. For months, opponents of this war have said that attacking Iraq will further anger hostile nations and peoples and thus increase our vulnerability in the world. Bin Laden’s tape testifies to that. His appeals to the Iraqi people are a result of our plans for war, not a cause for pursuing them.

Ellen Ott Marshall

San Dimas

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The release of the Bin Laden tape has unleashed a flurry of “I told you so’s” from the administration and many supportive Americans. But in reality, what person in the world would relish pushing us into war more than Bin Laden -- a war that will result in battlefields littered with the very Muslim and Arab souls he professes to represent?

Think about the afterlife of such an encounter. We could see years of death, destruction and hatred, all based in the belief, by these same followers, that Bin Laden was right all along: The American devils hate us, one and all. Hopefully, we’re smarter than that, but

Gene Olson

Carlsbad

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The alleged audiotape of Bin Laden’s voice encouraging Iraq to fight back against the U.S. doesn’t even come close to being evidence of ties between Hussein and Al Qaeda. At most, it simply reinforces what we already knew about Bin Laden’s views. It tells us absolutely nothing about Hussein’s thoughts on Al Qaeda, which historically have been negative.

Powell pointed out that he believes there is at least one Al Qaeda member in Iraq, and that therefore Iraq is harboring Al Qaeda terrorists. It was also announced that it is believed there are Al Qaeda cells active in the U.S. Does this mean that the U.S. is harboring Al Qaeda terrorists? Of course not. The same is true of Iraq.

Hally Andersen

Riverside

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Thank you, France and Germany, for standing up to the mad rush of President Bush and his keepers toward war with Iraq. Neither Bush nor any of the other administration leaders has made a valid case for war. Inspections and sanctions can keep Hussein in his box without bloodshed -- let’s give them a chance to work.

Jon C. Billigmeier

Santa Barbara

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Re “House of Cards,” Commentary, Feb. 11: Why do Robert Scheer and others continue the incessant drumbeat that America wishes only to gain control over Iraqi oil? Why not in the same cynical breath suggest that the French and Russian opposition to war stems mainly from their desire to keep control over Iraqi oil?

Scott Stoddard

Acton

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The Bush administration and the American people are having a collective temper tantrum because Europe does not support war in Iraq. Baghdad, with a population of 5 million people, could produce a million refugees who will invade Europe, not the U.S. Not our problem, right?

Jack Corkery

San Clemente

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If 9/11 had happened in France, with terrorists crashing an airliner into the Eiffel Tower, President Jacques Chirac and the French people would be singing a different tune. I feel Hussein is the Hitler of this decade. We didn’t stop Hitler when we had the chance. We must stop Hussein before he has his chance.

The missing weapons of mass destruction, chemical and germ-warfare ordnance, are probably buried five stories underground, and everyone involved with hiding that material has been threatened with death if they speak.

Roland Behny

Murrieta, Calif.

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There is another possible consequence of a war with Iraq (“Crucial Prewar Questions,” editorial, Feb. 11). We are told that the administration does not know how much biological or chemical material Iraq has or where it is stored. Suppose an American bomb or missile finds one or more of these storage facilities by accident and blows it up. Hundreds or even thousands of liters of the stuff will be exploded into the atmosphere.

Weather conditions can feasibly spread the material and cause a regional, even a global, catastrophe. For that, and all the other logical reasons, I join with millions of Americans and oppose an attack on Iraq.

Dale Lowery

Los Angeles