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Letter: First Gulf War was effective

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004 | 9:09 a.m.

Iraq was never a threat to our security. Even if Iraq could get weapons of mass destruction it would never pick a fight with the greatest military power the world has ever known. We destroyed all of their airplanes and three-fourths of their tanks in the first Gulf War, and Saddam is not suicidal.

We controlled the air space over Iraq and wouldn't even allow them to fly over two-thirds of their own country. The people that Saddam gassed, 12 years ago, were people that we encouraged to overthrow him.

The U.N. resolutions that Iraq ignored were pushed through by us to provoke Saddam and justify our attack. We were the only country obsessed with doing away with Saddam. The neighboring countries around the gulf were not afraid of him or they would have joined the war.

Is Iraq better off with Saddam gone? Not if the majority Shiite elect a fundamentalist Islamic president. Five hundred dead and 2,000 wounded Americans are not better off. Gulf War I put an end to Saddam's expansion ambition. Did the guy peeking out of his spider hole look like someone who would attack us?

JIM RILEY

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