Using Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
Letter to Editor of The Roanoke Times 27 February 2003

Dear Editor:

Before the United States decides to go to war against Iraq, the citizens of the U.S. need to know what kind of war the Bush administration is planning against Iraq.

The first thing the Bush administration plans to do follows the thesis of the book Shock and Awe (read it on-line at http://www.dodccrp.org/shockIndex.html). Basically the plan is to rain twice as many cruise missiles onto Iraq in two days time as were used in all of the Gulf War. The idea is to cause so much death and destruction in a short period of time, mostly of innocent residents and ancient buildings, that the people will be driven crazy. In other words, Bush is planning to use weapons of mass destruction from the very beginning.

The other major component of Bush war plans involves nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Shortly after Bush was put in office he had his warriors "draft contingency plans for the use of nuclear weapons against at least seven countries, naming not only Russia and the 'axis of evil'--Iraq, Iran, and North Korea--but also China, Libya and Syria. In addition, the U.S. Defense Department has been told to prepare for the possibility that nuclear weapons may be required in some future Arab-Israeli crisis. And, it is to develop plans for using nuclear weapons to retaliate against chemical or biological attacks, as well as 'surprising military developments' of an unspecified nature. These and a host of other directives, including calls for developing bunker-busting mini-nukes and nuclear weapons that reduce collateral damage, are contained in a still-classified document called the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which was delivered to Congress on Jan. 8." Read about it at http://www.clw.org/control/nukereview02press2.html. It is assured that there will be "surprising military developments" in any war, especially a war in the Middle East.

Do U.S. citizens want to support a war against Iraq using the worst weapons of mass destruction because Iraq may have a few weapons of mass destruction, or does it want to let the U.N. inspectors stay in Iraq until the world is assured that Iraq has no more weapons of mass destruction?

Yours, L. David Roper and Jeanne Roper