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--> --> A war with Iraq is a terrible idea The Bush administration is planning a war against Iraq in October, right before the election. According to Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, and, incidentally, an ex-Marine, veteran of the Gulf War, and a card-carrying Republican, this war is totally unnecessary. Ritter spent seven years in Iraq with the UNSCOM weapons inspection teams and his experience leads him to report, against his political inclinations, that Iraq simply does not have weapons of mass destruction. And yet our government is planning a ground war to be fought with our children. Have we learned nothing from Viet Nam? Isn't it time that Americans speak out against unnecessary war? A ground war in Iraq will surely cost many American lives, to say nothing of the Iraqi civilians caught in the crossfire and beneath our bombs. I am grateful that my son and nephews are too old to go to war. But many of us have children who are not too old and may already be in the armed services. It is wrong to sacrifice them for a drummed-up, politically motivated war. We must not be misled by any propaganda implying that this is a patriotic war or question the Joint Chiefs of Staff is unpatriotic. Patriotism involves standing up for what we know is right, regardless of the politicians' rhetoric. We have a patriotic duty to let our elected representatives know that this war is a terrible idea that we will not stand for. Alice S. Hardesty Ashland Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing