Dear editors, reporters and columnists:
For everyone who is in support of war with Iraq there are a variety of reasons why war outweighs diplomacy in their minds. For some, it is to once-and-for all establish a friendly state with 110 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, for others it is the desire to establish a Middle East outpost for the American Legion in the new American Empire. I believe President Bush may share some part of those ideas, but a big weight on the scale of war in his mind is the belief that Saddam Hussein "tried to kill my dad," as he put it last week.
If you did not know, Seymour Hersh investigated those charges over the several months after they supposedly occurred in early 1993 and wrote his findings in a long article for the New Yorker, November 1, 1993: "A Case Not Closed." I've urged my contacts at the White House to show the President the article and have also sent it through channels to Kennebunkport. Until now, it has only been available at library archives, but the editors of the magazine have now posted it online for all interested parties -- <http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020930fr_archive02>http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020930fr_archive02
As the American people would understand this personal motivation on the part of the President, and perhaps share it in their weighing of war over diplomacy, it would be helpful if they read "A Case Not Closed." As it is now available to the public on the Internet, you may refer to the link in any stories you right on the topic. It is a different way of communicating with the public, but the print media can only benefit by moving in this direction. Of course, if you read the piece and not find it as persuasive as I have, that's another story.
Jude Wanniski