Letter to the Editor

I shall "Hobble" this one:

It was not George Tenet or any of the analysts at the CIA who initiated the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It was President George W. Bush.

Even if there were no pressure put upon the CIA to tailor intelligence to administration predispositions (which was highly unlikely), it was Bush who rushed this nation to war. He refused to allow the United Nations weapons inspectors to finish their job, which would have demonstrated that there were no weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent security threat to the United States. Further, it is Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, either directly or implicitly, who have insisted that Saddam Hussein is linked to al-Qaida and 9/11. This claim has been proven false over and over again.

The most important quality in a president is judgment. If that judgment is faulty, distorted or rooted in notions that lack a factual basis, this nation is in deep trouble. More than 900 American soldiers are dead, 5,000 have been wounded and there are more dead and wounded to come, given our continued presence in a ravaged and anarchic Iraq. All of that is the result of horrific, disastrous judgment on the part of this president.

The United States has lost the respect of the world. Who will trust us or believe us as long as Bush remains president?

Gerald E. Kerns

Loveland

That is all...