Bush on Gulf War

* The editorial, “When the Fighting Stops Too Soon” (Jan. 16), asks more questions than it answers and I am certain my doubts of former President’s Bush’s explanations have occurred to others. For example:

How much influence did big oil play in Bush’s decision not to pursue Saddam Hussein’s troops into Baghdad? One must recall Hussein’s threat to torch the Iraq oil wells as he did the Kuwaiti wells, aside from dumping 100,000 barrels of Kuwaiti oil into the Persian Gulf.

One is also given to wondering why Bush’s last act as president was to pardon the Irangate principals, including Caspar Weinberger, whose roles in both Iran and Iraq come into question.

And then why did the ex-president visit Kuwait after his reelection defeat? Was there a “reward” to be claimed? Venality is a hallmark of statesmanship among our ex-presidents.

HARRY L. WEISS

Beverly Hills

* As we continue to reflect upon the justification of the Gulf War’s quick end, the war to me has not ended. The poor and the meek in Iraq and its neighbors continue to suffer. The guns have been silenced, but the pen is at work in the United Nations.

Iraq’s noncompliance with the U.N. resolutions continues to kill and malnourish over a half-million Iraqi children; the middle-class Iraqi population continues to sell everything, even their honor, to survive. The Iraqi dinar is worth 3 cents while it used to be worth $3 before the Gulf War. What can the Iraqi people buy? The West continues to prosper with cheap Kuwati and Saudi oil. This war has not ended.

NISAR HAI, Vice President

Southern California Chapter

United Muslims of America