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Letter: Want to be rich? Become a politician

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 | 8:36 a.m.

Maybe President Bush invaded Iraq because Karl Rove told him it would get him re-elected, and Ahmed Chalabi assured him that Iraqis would greet us as liberators and the war would be over in a few weeks. "Mission accomplished." If the war had been over, as he expected, when Bush landed on the carrier May 1, 2003, he would be a genius and no questions would ever be asked about justification for the war.

The rationale for the war was that Saddam would attack us if we didn't get him first. The administration knew that after the first Gulf War, Saddam was not a threat to attack. Saddam knew he could never survive another war against us, and he was building palaces, not weapons.

After 9/11, Rove's re-election strategy was to topple Saddam and cut taxes. It's hard to vote against a tax-cutting, wartime commander-in-chief.

Many politicians will rationalize anything and vilify any opponent to get elected because there is so much money in politics these days. Because of the amount of campaign money available, many politicians will back the party line no matter how flawed it may be. If you're set on being a millionaire, become a politician.

Jim Riley, Las Vegas

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