Letters

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The conclusion of your story assessing whether the U.S. can win the war in Iraq noted that in the short term, the country might end up like Afghanistan, plagued by insurgents and with a weak government dependent on U.S. protection. That assessment was accurate. Since it is almost impossible to cobble together a representative government in a country that includes so many different groups with varying objectives, the U.S. should focus on establishing local governing councils in each city. In this way we could cut down on strife in several of these urban centers, promote commercial and industrial growth and minimize the appearance of our presence as an occupying force.
MARC GILMORE
Watertown, Mass.

If Iraq holds free elections in January, whom will Iraqis vote for? Will it be a warlord who pledges to kill every infidel American on Iraqi soil? Does the Administration expect us to believe that the Iraqi people are going to risk their lives to vote for moderates interested in normalized relations with the West? If Bush is re-elected in November, at least those voting against him will be able to take solace in knowing that he has run out of people to blame for this debacle.
JOEL YANOVICH
Los Angeles

Free, democratic elections in Iraq would presumably mean more than one candidate for each position. What is to prevent the insurgents, who hate us, from putting on the ballot candidates who are sympathetic to the insurgents' position and having these sympathizers elected to the new Iraqi parliament? And if that should occur, will we then need to overthrow the parliament?
JANET HERBST
Millersport, Ohio

I left Hungary in 1956 as a 20-year-old refugee. I was escaping a totalitarian regime and the oppressive demagoguery of its political leaders. I could no longer stand to listen to the meaningless platitudes about the great success of the latest Five-Year Plan. I settled in the U.S. to get away from that but I have now been living in Europe for the past several months. The U.S.'s pre-emptive invasion of Iraq was troubling to me. When I see President Bush on TV declaring that Iraq and the world are safer and saying the U.S. economy is recovering, I get an eerie sense of dejà vu. For the first time since I left Hungary, I have a feeling of helpless frustration when listening to the leader of my country. I thought only dictators could afford to shamelessly lie to their people. I thought I had left all that behind 50 years ago.
PETER STANGL
Calvisson, France

What Surveys Show

In "The Trouble With Polls and Focus Groups" [Oct. 4], columnist Joe Klein wonders whether focus groups have outlived their usefulness. They have, if candidates look to polls and focus groups to inform themselves about the right thing to do. But Klein shouldn't conclude that getting the public's opinion is no longer useful. When a candidate wants to persuade voters, a focused group discussion (the original name for the technique) can be quite potent. Asking a candidate to run a campaign without a focus group is like asking a physician to practice without a stethoscope.
GARY BLACKTON
Portland, Ore.