Bush Declares Victory Aboard Aircraft Carrier

Re “Bush Hails Victory in Iraq,” May 2: How long will the American people allow the government to lie to them? In declaring an end to major hostilities in Iraq, President Bush cynically played on the emotion of the Sept. 11 attacks by once again citing a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Never mind that Osama bin Laden had encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Hussein and his secular government. If it can be used to manipulate the masses, Bush is not beneath telling the same lie so many times that some people just start to accept it.

Now those in the majority Shiite Muslim community that Hussein kept down with force are rising up to declare their desire for a Muslim government, just as many experts predicted before Bush’s ill-advised war. That’s just what we need, another fundamentalist government in the Middle East that probably will give support and funding to Al Qaeda -- unlike Hussein, who was No. 2 on its hit list, behind us.

Patrick Mallon

San Luis Obispo

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I don’t know if President Bush intended to change American foreign policy or not. We used to always wait till we were attacked before we responded. In Iraq, we became the aggressor. The result is that the Arab world and Iran now fear that America will attack them.

If I were the leader of a dictatorship in the Middle East, I’d say it was time to take out my worry beads. America doesn’t have to be loved by the Arabs, but respect can go a long way. Let’s keep the pressure on Syria and Iran and watch them sweat.

Ed Rasky

West Hills

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Bush hails victory in Iraq -- what did we win? Unimpeded access to search for weapons of mass destruction? We still have not found any. The freedoms that were won for the Iraqi people could have been won through statesmanship rather than war, but that would have required more intelligence and skill than our president has demonstrated.

Larry Stahl

Mission Viejo

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I am so glad I live in a country where our president is elected and not appointed ... oops. I am so glad I live in a country where we use our military might for the good of the world in unison with world leaders ... oops. Well, at least we can all rest easy now, knowing that all of those weapons of mass destruction are taken care of ... oops.

Who are we really? There are huge gaps between who we think we are and who the rest of the world thinks we are and who we really are.

John Pucetti

Ventura