Letter: War necessary to stop attacks

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 9:16 a.m.

I don't agree with some of the comments made in the Dec. 6 Sun by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ruth Rosen concerning the Bush administration.

No. 1, we have lived without oil from Iraq since economic sanctions were enacted against Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Desert Storm victory. So much for the oil excuse.

I think the American Civil Liberties Union serves a purpose at times, but in the case of national security I believe they should stay out. We need to toughen our security or we will see more attacks on this country. We found out that being separated by two large oceans is no longer a deterrent to terrorists.

Ruth, maybe if we had been a little more paranoid concerning the security of this nation, the World Trade Center would still be standing and 3,000 people would be alive today. I support President Bush because he faced a larger, more terrible attack than even Pearl Harbor, because during the time of Pearl Harbor our relationship with Japan was already becoming very shaky and unstable. However, we never expected this kind of attack. I am sure that we were not aware that al-Qaida was already at war with us.

I believe that if we are going to war with Iraq then we should get on with it and we should be decisive in our victory. Yes, American soldiers will die on the battlefield, but we have to ask the question: Do we want to wait and risk the possible annihilation of thousands?

Remember, this man Saddam Hussein has already used some of his weapons of mass destruction on his own people.

GALEN J. GOZDAN