Letters: May 5, 2003

Saddam's Last Stand

"I remain against the war, but I congratulate the soldiers of the U.S. and its allies for freeing the Iraqis from a terrible dictatorship." ABDOU RAZAC AMBALI New York City

Your cover photo was remarkable for its contrasts [April 14]. At first glance, I saw the face of a man sharing a ribald joke or perhaps preparing to engage in impish folly. On second glance, however, as I looked carefully at Saddam Hussein's eyes, I could see the jagged edge of a gangrenous soul. JAMES H. HYDE Stowe, Vt.

I may not always agree with President Bush's sometimes arrogant rhetoric, and I may not feel he is the most diplomatic man in the world, but he got the job in Iraq done with relatively few casualties and freed the Iraqi people from a cruel, long-standing dictatorship. So I ask anyone critical of Bush and how he has handled the war, Could you have done it any better? LEIGH GERNERT Los Angeles

Congratulations to Iraq on its freedom from a brutal dictator. We Afghans share the feelings of Iraqis. We have suffered similar hardships at the hands of the Taliban and terrorists in our country. We feel great sorrow for Iraqi civilian casualties, but one cannot obtain freedom without sacrifice. We hope the U.S. and others in the world community will fulfill the commitments they made to the Afghans and Iraqis and will bring peace, stability and prosperity to both countries. BASHAAR KHAN Jalalabad, Afghanistan

The U.S. has certainly mastered the technology to design and build amazing weapons of war. But how much greater a nation we would be if we put more of our talents and resources toward benefiting humanity rather than toward killing. HARRY FARINA Coral Springs, Fla.

Old Rivals Square Off

Re "Clash Of The Administration Titans," your story on the foreign-policy feud between Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell over how to rebuild a post-Saddam Iraq [THE RECONSTRUCTION, April 14]: What are the frothing-at-the-mouth military hawks going to say next? That Powell is an unpatriotic traitor for wanting the State Department and the U.N. to have a role in Iraq? The world view espoused by neoconservatives such as Rumsfeld--in which the Pentagon would slam the door on the U.N., Britain, the State Department and anyone else who has a problem with their messianic aspirations--will lead us down a path to chaos and ruin. More moderate voices must be allowed to emerge in what has become a frightening American landscape of bellicosity and flag waving, with the media acting as ringleaders. THOMAS STARKY New York City

You characterized those who oppose U.N. involvement in postwar Iraq as believing "If you weren't with us on the takeoff, you don't deserve to be there for the landing." I thought we were trying to make the world a better place. It is the world community that will be affected by the results of Iraq's reconstruction for a long time. It is the world community, then, that should participate in the establishment of a new Iraq. Isn't that the democratic way? DAMON REGAN Orlando, Fla.