General Norman Schwarzkopf, who has had some experience in the Middle East as you may recall, is opposed to going to war with Iraq. So are a great many military experts.

In a recent speech, General Anthony Zinni (ret.) listed many reasons to avoid war in Iraq, stressing that the move would only injure U.S. diplomacy with its allies, while causing a fiery chain reaction throughout the Islamic world. General Zinni, who once commanded the entire U.S. military in the Middle East, says he's not the only former general who opposes it. But the Bush administration doesn't want to hear that. Zinni noted that "all the generals see it the same way, but those who have never fired a shot in anger are hell-bent on going to war."

Suppose Hussein actually does have a functioning nuke or two and he's sitting there gloating over what he might do with them. I can't think of a better way to guarantee that he would use them than to initiate a war with Iraq. On the other hand, even he can't be so stupid as to realize that, were he to use a nuclear weapon, the whole world would come down on him like a ton of bricks. The first one to use a nuclear weapon opens the door for nuclear weapons to be used in retaliation. Lovely! Armageddon! That'll bring joy to the hearts of the millenialists!

The U. S. government has a policy of refusing to talk to people it doesn't like (or can't use). We cut off diplomatic relations, thereby cutting off any possibility of meaningful communication. In the meantime, the disliked person goes his merry way and seems to live a long and fairly productive life not giving diddly-squat whether we like him or not. Castro leaps to mind. And Saddam Hussein looks like another. As a result, other than engendering hostility, we have no chance of exercising any kind of control or influence. This sometimes seems like the policy of a petulant three-year-old. Sure, Hussein's a son-of-bitch and a tin-pot tyrant, but (and I'm sure there are those out there who will say this is painfully naïve of me) other than looming over him and making threats, has anybody actually tried to talk to the man lately?

Don Firth