Byrd’s Senate Address on War With Iraq

Thank you very much for printing the “Words of War and Peace” (Opinion, Feb. 23), quoting British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

As the United States seriously considers the possibility of a preemptive strike and use of nuclear weapons against Iraq, it is valuable to hear perspectives from both sides of the issue. I think it is unfortunate that the need to abridge the two statements resulted in omitting one of Byrd’s most profound and deeply moving comments.

He also said: “I truly must question the judgment of any president who can say that a massive, unprovoked military attack on a nation which is over 50% children is ‘in the highest moral traditions of our country.’ ”

Claire E. Gorfinkel

Altadena

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Sen. Byrd can’t figure out why the Democrats in the Senate are so silent on President Bush’s war on Iraq. But the answer is so cynical and diabolical that no one wants to discuss it. The strategy is to give the president as much rope as he needs to hang himself in the same way that President Johnson did in the Vietnam War.

Sam French

Rancho Palos Verdes