Bush’s admission of mistakes doesn’t cut it

Re “Bush Admits Mistakes but Defends War,” Dec. 15

It’s great that the president is finally coming clean about the Iraq war. It would be equally great if he’d apologize to the soldiers killed and wounded, the 30,000 Iraqis killed as well as those who will be killed in the future, the half of America he made feel unpatriotic for questioning the war, the countries he blasted that turned out to have better intelligence (France, Germany and others) and the world for berating it for not standing up to terrorists.

None of this is likely to happen because in the end, President Bush feels that he did the right thing. Does he really think that Americans would have supported going to war to depose Saddam Hussein if the intelligence were accurate? In Bush’s world, he probably does.

ROBIE BAKER

Diamond Bar

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You hail the Dec. 15 election as “a major step toward getting substantial numbers of U.S. troops out of [Iraq]” (editorial, Dec. 15), and it is. But how many more steps must the Iraqi people take before they are permitted to determine when the occupation of their country ends? Didn’t our forefathers claim the right of self-determination? Didn’t the United States reaffirm this right for all peoples when it signed the United Nations Charter? Who are we to feed democracy to the people of Iraq piecemeal? Let them vote now in a referendum to decide when the occupation will end.

TONY GREEN

Gualala, Calif.

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Bush said Wednesday that the terrorists’ “stated objective is to drive the United States and coalition forces out of the Middle East so they can gain control of Iraq and use that country as a base from which to launch attacks against America.” I’m confused. Is that an argument to invade Iraq, or an argument not to invade Iraq?

TOM NEVILLE

Costa Mesa

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In the three years before our occupation, there were zero American casualties directly related to Iraq. In more than two years since our occupation, 2,150 Americans have been killed (along with 30,000 Iraqis), and the number continues to grow on a daily basis. Yet Bush continues to say we are safer and better off now.

I have to ask, by what measure are we safer and better off? He needs to clarify that statement.

JEFFREY BELLAMAR

Los Angeles

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Mistakes? In yet another public relations ploy, our president takes responsibility for “mistakes” in prewar intelligence. How about taking responsibility for manipulation of intelligence and lying to the American people to lead us into war? Mistakes indeed!

JAYCIE INGERSOLL

Beverly Hills