Did Saddam Exist?
To the Editor:
To imply, as your recent editorial did (June 19th issue), that there may have never been weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is no different from claiming that since Saddam Hussein has yet to be found, he may never have existed. We know that Saddam has had WMD because he used chemical weapons against Iran and against his own people. What do you think he gassed the Kurds with? Harsh language?
Practically every nation on earth — including Iraq — has documented these weapons. In the mid-1990s, after Saddam’s son-in-law Kamal defected, Iraq was forced to admit that it had produced 5,000 gallons of botulism, 2,000 gallons of anthrax, and 25 biologically armed scud missiles. President Bush didn’t make this claim. Iraq did.
Economic sanctions were leveled against Iraq for not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors. To follow your “logic,” we have to assume that after the weapons inspectors were barred from re-entry into Iraq in 1998, Saddam then decided to destroy these weapons and simply failed to mention it to the international organizations in charge of the economic sanctions leveled at Iraq. Your editorial assumes that Saddam Hussein would be willing to give up hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue for no reason at all.
While it is legitimate to ask, “Where Are They, Mr. Bush?,” it is wrong to mislead your readers the way you did in this editorial.
Chris Leek
Memphis
“Real” Negative
To the Editor:
This is in response to the very negative article titled “‘Real’ Memphis” (Viewpoint, June 19th issue) by Mary Cashiola. Although Chip, Trenyce, and Robin are not perfect, who on a reality show is? Trenyce’s record was expunged because she was found not guilty. And, yes, Robin is a diva, yet she had the guts to go for it. People who sit on the sidelines have the luxury of chastising those who go out and get what they want.
Shame on Mary Cashiola. I pray that she holds herself to the same standards she holds everyone else to. Then maybe she can be the beacon of light that all Memphians should follow. But somehow I doubt it!
Sheila Clark
Memphis
To the Editor:
Your article “Radioactive Future” (June 26th issue) was full of socialist, liberal, junk-science drivel. But after looking at the byline — Charles Sheehan-Miles of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute — I understood. The NPRI is affiliated with the World Policy Institute, a socialist, one-world government and arm of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The reason the terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center towers instead of the Indian Point nuclear reactor is because they knew that they would not be able to penetrate the concrete-reinforced cooling tower. They also knew that New York City passed a law forbidding the use of asbestos during the building of the WTC. Asbestos was not used above the 64th floor, which is why the terrorists flew into higher floors (87 and 96). They knew the floors would burn and collapse.
The author continues to try to scare us with Three Mile Island, at which no one lost their life. Nuclear energy is the answer to a true environmentalist’s dream. There is no other mass-produced energy source that is safer, cleaner, or as reliable and cost-efficient.
James B. “Mickey” White
Rossville, Tennessee
The Frist Amendment?
To the Editor:
Senator Bill Frist backs a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, or, as he puts it, reserving the sacrament of marriage for a union between man and woman. [Mean]while, veterans and active-duty service members have their benefits slashed, Medicare is sold to the highest bidder, [and] the Bush administration borrows money to give to millionaires. Funny, I don’t remember the word “sacrament” being a part of constitutional law.
Jeff Crook
Memphis
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