Adar/Adar II 5763
March 2003

Dear Friends,

Our country may be at war by the time you read this letter. I’m writing to you on the evening before Hans Blix delivers his report about arms inspection in Iraq to the United Nations. I sense that no less than the fate of the world as we know it may be at stake, that the world may already have changed radically at your reading.

At present little appears certain. What is clear to me, is the following: (1) Sadaam Hussein is a monstrous dictator cut from the cloth of Joseph Stalin. He is a terrorist to his own people and a threat to the 'stability' of the Middle East. (2) Things are not what they appear to be in Washington. Our president’s cry for military action against Iraq while leaving North Korea to its own (nuclear) devices belies the stated policy of his administration. More than political concerns seem to fuel those policies. (3) Despite these unstated concerns, America may have legitimate cause to go to war with Iraq.

What is also certain to me is that America cannot go to war now. It is as foolish for the United States to risk the stability of the Western Alliance by an action that is precipitous by perhaps as little as a couple of weeks, as it will be foolish for the French, the Chinese and the Russians not to join forces with the U.S. if an attack proves to be necessary. But for now common sense must prevail over bluster. Just because we have dispatched tens of thousands of troops to the Persian Gulf region doesn’t mean we have to use them. Our country’s hawks must realize that it does matter what our allies think, and that the United Nations, which has returned arms inspectors to Iraq, cannot be ignored. At the same time, our allies must come to understand that there can be no peaceful solution to the present crisis unless the Bully of Baghdad is faced with a credible, united front. Whatever else is to be said about the present situation, it is clear that Blix would not be talking at the U.N. had not the U.S. posed a significant threat to Iraq.

Still there is too much at stake for America to wage this war on its own, or with just “a coalition of the willing.” If a war is to be fought, it must be an international endeavor, one that is approved by the United Nations and supported by NATO. I hope by the time this letter is read, that the United Nations has issued a new resolution that authorizes its members states to take action against Iraq after a reasonable deadline if Baghdad fails to meet its demands. I hope that France, among others, will understand that containing Iraq is as important as containing the United States. But I pray that diplomacy will win over military action and that our troops will be on their way home none the worse for their journey.

With hope, I am,

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