Letters

Asking "Do you want this war?" is like saying "Do you want a root canal?" [COVER STORY, March 3]. Most people take care of a problem before it results in severe pain. We can deal with Iraq now or face an even bigger problem later on.
BARRY G. BADGER
Manheim, Pa.

President Bush's big-stick attitude toward Iraq may resonate with a large segment of the U.S. population, but it shows a serious lack of understanding of what international statesmanship should be about. Bush's approach is alienating friend and foe alike. He is causing irreparable damage.
ROSE F. BUSCHMAN
Garden City, Kans.

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Yes, i want this war with iraq. What country besides the U.S. has the ability and the guts to stand up to the dictators of the world? Were it not for Americans' willingness to fight for freedom, the world would be thrown into total chaos. America is the last great hope for freedom around the globe.
WALLACE HALCOMB
Williamsburg, Ky.

Bush should read Barbara Tuchman's book The Guns of August, on the events that led to World War I. He does not realize that a war with Iraq would destabilize the Middle East and, as other countries take sides, set the stage for the possibility of World War III.
ROBERT J. POHL
Lockport, N.Y.

Yes, I want war, and while we're in that awful neighborhood of the Middle East, I want fundamentalist Islam to be crushed and oil profits confiscated as reparation for the Sept. 11 attacks and security costs. Then we Americans should retreat behind our borders absolutely. Those wishing to benefit from the Middle East are welcome to rebuild it themselves.
ROBERT C. RHODES
New York City

I'm sure that Bush wanted a peacefuL solution as much as the rest of the world did, but he is intelligent enough to know that sometimes that is impossible.
PATRICIA MCTAVISH
Nevada, Texas

What i want is a president who will spend as much time on the American economy as he appears to spend on making plans for Iraq. I want a President who will take the bull by the horns and deal with health-care issues.
RICK GILLIS
Houston

I was sure glad to find out that the safety and security of the U.S. are dependent upon the opinions of the leaders of Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Syria, Angola and Bulgaria.
JAMES T. TUCHSCHER
Long Beach, Calif.

--TIME's cover illustration of President Bush as Uncle Sam drew varied reactions. "The cartoon was disrespectful and offensive," wrote a Cincinnati, Ohio, reader. "Belittling our President is inappropriate at this difficult time for our country." Objecting on an entirely different ground was a Maine man who declared, "Bush does not even come close to having the qualities that I have always attributed to Uncle Sam: honesty, integrity and concern for all Americans." And a 9-year-old Kentucky girl saw an unusual resemblance: "The picture looks amazingly like the actor Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory!"

Support for U.S. Soldiers

In your report about the troops near the Iraqi border [WORLD, March 3], you quoted a Marine private who asked, "Are the protesters going to spit on us when we go home?" The answer is a resounding no! I just want you to come home safe and sound, not in a body bag. I am protesting an unprovoked war that may kill thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians.
CONNIE SLEMMER
Menlo Park, Calif.

Your article noted that commanders argue that if you let a 19-year-old sit around too long, "he will start to think about what killing means." Isn't that what all of us should be doing?
JAN HUNT
Sunriver, Ore.

The World Considers Saddam

Because of its Iraq policy, the U.S. has lost the respect it had as an impartial nation [COVER STORY, March 3]. Saddam Hussein is bad, but war is not the way to remove him. It serves only to make him a hero to Muslim nations.
SYED SALMAN KHALIQ
Lahore, Pakistan

Saddam is a threat to the lives of his people, and that alone warrants his immediate removal. If we lived under similar conditions, wouldn't we want someone to come to our rescue? For our children and their future, wouldn't we try our best to give them a chance to be free from terror and persecution? War is never the perfect solution, but sometimes war is the only thing that can lead to peace in the long run.
BRANDON GRANT FABER
Johannesburg

I have always admired U.S. citizens for viewing with extreme skepticism any politician they voted into office. Such skepticism is needed now more than ever. Repression of Saddam will not mean an end to terrorist acts by groups like al-Qaeda that operate out of a number of countries. It will only mean justification of al-Qaeda's claims in the eyes of many who formerly sympathized with the U.S.
JO-MARIE CLAASSEN
Stellenbosch, South Africa

The IRAQI PEOPLE MAY DESERVE A BETTER government, but would they (and the rest of the Islamic world) accept an American protectorate? This would lead to an outbreak of terrorism and could destabilize moderate Islamic countries. How can the Bush Administration be so shortsighted? Iraq may not be the only country that needs a better President.
MORENA NANNETTI
Munich