ke4roh's Journal: War on Iraq is foolish.

Mr. President,

While I appreciate your concern, we don't need to depose Hussein immediately by force. BBC News reported this morning:

President Bush's legal experts may be right in a narrow sense when they say that he does not need to get a congressional vote to back a war against Iraq.

But whether this makes good political or diplomatic sense is quite another matter.

A war with Iraq is a risky option which America's friends and allies will approach with some trepidation. (Note 1)

The president of Egypt should be familiar with the situation if anyone is. He talks of a seriously destabilized Middle East:

If you strike at the Iraqi people because of one or two individuals and leave the Palestinian issue (unsolved), not a single (Arab) ruler will be able to curb the (rising of) popular sentiments.... There might be repercussions and we fear a state of disorder and chaos may prevail in the region. (Note 2)

The Associated Press reports, "Mubarak said all Arab states are unanimous in the opposition to an attack on Iraq, which would result in the deaths of many Iraqis." (Note 2)

Reuters interviewed an Arab daily newspaper editor, Abdel-Bari Atwan, who says Bin Laden is alive and well. Atwan also said,

My sense is that he will time any new attack to coincide with a U.S. attack on Iraq. He would want to capitalize on this to appeal to the Arab street so he will probably delay any attacks until the United States moves on Iraq.... He will probably want to be seen as the only Arab standing up to the United States when the United States attacks Iraq." (Note 3)

Mubarak and Atwan capture the emotional nature of the Middle East's resentment of American involvement in the region. Let us not respond to emotion with emotion. Let us not fight a war because we THINK there is some risk. Let us examine and fully understand the risk, which Iraq's neighbors have already assessed and determined is not sufficient to warrant our intervention in the matter. Do not get caught up in the drumbeat of those calling for war, but rather consider the underlying message, and balance it against the alternatives.

Not waging war against Iraq is a favorable alternative.