Bush Is Responsible for His Words

In regard to irresponsibly using false information to justify war, President Bush has declared that he has moved on and believes the American public has too. No, Mr. Bush. Those of us who believe that patriotism is expressed by checking what our government does to us (as opposed to for us) haven’t.

Bush’s method is like the scofflaw telling the judge that his transgressions are a thing of the past and justice should be suspended because it’s time to move on. It’s not your place to say, Mr. Bush. You’ve said many times you believe in accountability. Well, you’re accountable.

Christoph Bull

Los Angeles

*

Much is being made, and justifiably so, of the false claim in the State of the Union address that Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa, which was used by the president as one of the reasons for going to war. However, on June 14 the president offered an equally erroneous justification for the war that seems to have gone unnoticed.

In his remarks at his meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the president asserted that “we gave him [Saddam Hussein] a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And, therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power.... “

Whom should we blame for this mistake? Or do we simply have a president who makes it up as he goes along and then calls anyone who disagrees a revisionist?

John Redmond

Santa Monica

*

Bush lying about weapons of mass destruction? Those weren’t snowflakes that fell on the Kurds of northern Iraq over a decade ago. Those commenting (letters, July 18) about Bush’s supposed lack of integrity seem to have forgotten that one of the conditions for ending Desert Storm was full disclosure of the weapons Hussein was using against his own citizens.

That condition was never met. Fortunately we have a president with the wisdom to realize that as a result of Sept. 11, the rules have changed. Apparently many letter writers seem to think that since Sept. 11 didn’t affect them directly, they’ll continue to ignore the big picture to focus on one paragraph of information shared in a public forum, bury their heads in the sand and then express their outrage that the government didn’t protect our nation when the next major terrorist attack occurs on U.S. soil.

Dick Fischer

Burbank

*

Deja vu? President George Bush spoke six little words -- “Read my lips. No new taxes!” -- and lost his reelection. Dubya uses 16 words

John F. Howard Jr.

Los Angeles