Letters: Aug. 9, 2004

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The Bush campaign attack machine claims that Edwards doesn't have the experience to be Vice President. But it was Cheney's vaunted experience in foreign affairs that helped push Bush over the edge in his pre-emptive attack on Iraq. And today, thanks to Cheney's influence, the U.S. has a dismally low standing in the court of world opinion. I'll take a critical and judicious thinker like Edwards anytime over Cheney. BOB MADGIC Anderson, Calif.

Free to Be Afraid

I wonder whether President Bush has read your article "Living with the Fear," about how a Baghdad family copes with daily terror, violence and suffering [July 19]. I would like the President to understand the kind of "freedom" the war has brought to Iraqis. I was devastated to read how tragically day-to-day life has deteriorated since the fall of Saddam Hussein. JUDY WEINTRAUB New York City

Bush continues to proclaim, without apology, that despite flawed intelligence about Iraq, the world is safer and the Iraqi people are free because of his pre-emptive war. Contrary to Bush's unbridled optimism, not everything is coming up roses. It's more like skunk cabbage. In Baghdad people live in fear in their homes, electricity is available only intermittently, vaccines are in short supply, and kidnapping for ransom happens every day. Yes, Saddam has been captured, and his people are liberated but, sadly, only for a violent free-for-all. CELINE E. RIEDEL Avon Lake, Ohio

Framing the Debate

In "The President's Real Enemy" [July 19], columnist Joe Klein argued that, Kerry's candidacy aside, the true challenge Bush faces in the coming election is the war in Iraq. Bush is well aware of it. In his stump speeches, he claims that we are better off without Saddam. But if we really wanted to rid the world of deadly villains, shouldn't we have concentrated on the perpetrators of genocide in the Sudan? Or on North Korea, which is working to develop nuclear weapons? ED STEINHAUS Westminster, Calif.

Kudos to Klein for identifying the two opponents that Bush is facing in the campaign: John Kerry and reality. Kerry's reasoning on the issues is thoughtful and responsible, but the media rarely provide time or space for his carefully thought-out views. Please stop underestimating Americans' attention span. We can and will listen to reason when it's presented to us. In fact, we're starving for it. PEGGY HARRIS St. James City, Fla.