All’s Fair in Rove and War When Planning 2004 Election

Re “Karl Rove: Counting Votes While the Bombs Drop,” Commentary, May 7: Has there ever been a better puppeteer than President Bush’s chief political advisor, Karl Rove? The economy’s in the toilet, the environment is threatened as never before, the rest of the world sees us as the hulk without a brain.

No problem for the master manipulator. He demonizes a convenient boogeyman, facilitates an invasion, sells the flag-wrapped Dubya as heroic war leader. It’s the making of the president 2004, the ultimate in “Wag the Dog” reality programming.

Geoffrey Holland

Studio City

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Considering the Bush administration’s shameless record of lying to the American people about most issues, it is not surprising it has lied and continues to lie about reasons for the Iraq war.

Based on its record of lying and deception, it is apparent that the administration has little moral integrity and will do whatever it believes it can get away with to get Bush reelected in 2004 and drive through his radical conservative agenda.

When will the American people recognize this scandalous behavior and demand the president’s impeachment?

Sylvan Gollin

Claremont

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The mere suggestion that Rove is “probably the most powerful unelected person in American history” is an insult to President Bush.

Barry S. Naiditch

El Cajon

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While Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-L.A.) whine about the president’s visit on the Abraham Lincoln (May 7), the rest of us can take pride in the intestinal fortitude of a president we can be proud of.

Having served on a similar Navy ship, I know an arrested landing on an aircraft carrier is always a dangerous business.

I salute our president and I am amused at the hand-wringing by the Democrats. They know that there is no way to counter the power of those pictures of the president with his troops.

Larry Zini

La Quinta

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What is it about the commander in chief’s visit to the troops that is not part of the job description?

Donald A. Sellek

Manhattan Beach

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Will I be asking too much of The Times to print a picture of Bush on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln and the 1988 picture of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in a tank side by side? Both are equally ridiculous.

Mohammed Khursheed

Long Beach

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Re “The Only Law West of the Tigris,” Commentary, May 6: Robert Scheer comes across as being quite stuck in the mud with his one-note tune regarding the Bush administration’s failure, thus far, to find the late Iraqi regime’s purported weapons of mass destruction.

Even if it does emerge that the U.S. reshuffled Iraq’s political deck for the wrong reasons, the result seems eminently right in light of articles such as “Iraqis Seek to Document a Brutal Past” (May 6). This reality overshadows Scheer’s expressed concern and reflects the fact that the Saddam Hussein regime itself was its main WMD, with its murder and torture of perhaps tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Should Americans disagree with the motives or outcomes of our involvement in Iraq, then we can soon elect another president and administration in whom we may have more confidence. Care to join the race, Mr. Scheer?

Ruel Mizrachi

Venice