Letters: Oct. 16, 2006

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A Chilling Preview of War

As Iran continues to disregard demands that it stop enriching uranium, the U.S. military has issued a "Prepare to Deploy" order and is reviewing plans for blockading Iranian oil ports. Does that mean war? Most readers said, No way, and blamed escalating tensions on a trigger-happy Administration at home

Thank you for producing an intelligent article about the follies of going to war with Iran [Sept. 25]. That is what the media are here for. Otherwise, we might be convinced that we would be greeted in the streets with flowers as liberators, that the war would last scarcely six months and that the cost both financially and in the blood of our sons and daughters--as well as Iran's--would be minimal.

ZIGGY PANTAZIS

Sarnia, Ont.

Your cover story on the possibility of war with Iran was right: there is indeed an out-of-control President hellbent on forcing a war between Iran and the U.S. But that President is George W. Bush. He is the President who started an unprovoked war with Iraq under false pretenses, a war that has cost tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi lives and is sure to cost many more. The media were asleep at the switch during the run-up to that war and appear to be repeating the same mistake. Wake up, America! Don't let it happen again.

TAD HARDEE

Afton, Va.

Every country knows it would be bombed back to the Stone Age if it attacked the U.S. We're supposed to be frightened out of our wits about the threat from Iran, which is still several years away from producing a nuclear weapon? In George Orwell's novel 1984, the state was in a perpetual war with a constantly changing enemy. Does that sound familiar?

ARLEN GROSSMAN

Monterey, Calif.

Americans are embroiled in the Middle East and forced to listen to people like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran because of our need for oil. We cannot expect success in dialogue or negotiation when those people have something we desperately need. The only way to attain objectivity in foreign policy is to eliminate the oil factor. Americans need to make huge lifestyle changes (sell--or junk--the Hummer, and tighten your belt) while we develop oil alternatives. Otherwise, we will have only ourselves to blame for the huge number of young lives that will be sacrificed in the name of a killer oil habit we couldn't break.

GERALD WITTER

Norman, Okla.

The ostensible reason for the current hysteria is that Iran might make a nuclear weapon, but the timing seems convenient. The saber rattling comes as Republicans find themselves hard-pressed to explain why they shouldn't be thrown out of office. Maybe the Bush Administration can save the day for Republicans by selling Americans another war. But who will save the day for the American and Iranian people, who would have to pay for Bush's folly?

JOE HEAPHEY

Greencastle, Ind.

It is a sad indictment of our society that we are already asking questions about "What war with Iran would look like" rather than "What diplomacy with Iran would entail."

MATTHEW D. HINDMAN

Minneapolis, Minn.