War With Iraq Is The Worst Move

To the Editor:

I think that a war with Iraq is the worst move our president could make. I think so for many reasons. First, it is immoral to strike first. Although you might quibble about Vietnam where Lyndon Johnson lied to us about the Gulf of Tonkin and no one knows for sure about Lexington (read April Morning, the Newtown Reads book), I believe we have never had a preemptive war. It is un-American.

Secondly, Saddam Hussein and bin Laden dislike each other. There is little or no evidence that Saddam has supported bin Laden’s terrorists. On the other hand, there is a good possibility that such a war as this will excite more moderate Arabs into a more radical position and acts of terrorism.

Third, North Korea is much more dangerous at this juncture to us and to the world than is Iraq.

Fourth, at a time of US recession, Bush is spending billions of dollars on an unjustifiable war and we will have to spend billions more setting up a government when the war is over. Dr Linabury warned at the recent Congregational Church symposium on the impending war that the aftermath will be extremely costly, that Iraq has never had a democracy, and that it will be very difficult to get the three major groups in Iraq to cooperate as all of them hate each other.

Fifth, although I agree that Hussein is a terrible person, I don’t believe he has any nuclear weapons. He does have some chemical weapons and possibly has hidden away biological weapons, but that does not give us the right to go in and destroy the country and kill many innocent Iraqis to boot.

Sixth, much of the western world is against us in this. We are acting the bully trying to impose our way. Long before Christ, the splendid Athenian city-state believed that they were the best city-state and thus all other city-states should be like them. It was an easy step from this point of view to believe that is was Athens’ right to make them toe the line. Does this sound familiar?

Lastly, for all its imperfections and in spite of not rubber stamping all our ideas, the UN is a very useful organization. The president’s insistence that he will war no matter what the UN says, really undercuts this important organization. I have a sinking feeling that the war is a “done deal” but I could not live with myself unless I expressed my views to my good town and to my congressmen.

Sincerely,

Gordon M. Williams

32 Main Street, Newtown                                           March 10, 2003