Fears and predictions of war foes have come to pass
March 20 marked the anniversary of our unprovoked invasion of Iraq. In the buildup to war, serious and sensible people argued that there was scant evidence that Iraq posed an imminent threat, that invading Iraq would kill or injure thousands of combatants and innocent civilians, that the surviving Iraqi population would suffer disastrous health consequences and that all of this would trigger massive terrorist retaliation. We were right!

Now Iraq is gripped by terror, innocents are bearing the brunt and the nearly impossible task of rebuilding a torn and resentful nation falls primarily to American soldiers who daily risk their lives far from their families to serve a president who misled them and the world.

RICHARD H. MICHAELS, M.D.
Regent Square

---

More phoniness
In regard to "Bush Thanks 101st for Work in 2 Wars" (March 19): As always, his speech was orchestrated and even complete with applause lines. The cheering and "hoo-ahs" of the soldiers make a nice photo but are as phony as the theatrics of the aircraft carrier landing and the Thanksgiving turkey and, quite possibly, this administration.

George W. Bush takes nice pictures and is a great entertainer but a disastrous president. Two words that he constantly invokes are: "Saddam Hussein." Two words that might describe his future are: "You're fired."

MARTY WEIXEL
McCandless

---

Beyond tasteless
After President Bush's "comedic" slide show of looking for weapons of mass destruction in the Oval Office at this week's dinner of the Radio and Television Correspondents Association, I was left wondering how "hilarious" it would be to show the coffins of the nearly 600 soldiers who have died in Iraq. Maybe Mr. Bush could say, "Oops!"

MARY ANN McQUILLAN
Spring Hill

---

Missing the point
Charles Krauthammer's March 20 column, "Spain Has Chosen the Cowardly Alternative of Appeasement," is way off the mark from start to finish. I suggest that he take off his ideological blinders and see the world as it is.

The Spanish election and incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero's statements were about the war in Iraq being a red herring in the fight against terrorism and about the previous Spanish government's deaf ear to the Spanish people. From the statements I read, I doubt that Zapatero or Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission, would deny the importance of hunting down terrorists and destroying terrorist regimes.

The war in Iraq was a misguided distraction from that goal and, probably worse, a rallying cause for further terrorism.

ALAN HOROWITZ
Ross

---

Of its own making
Before we criticize the Spanish as appeasers or for caving in, I think we need to remember the actions of outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government after the bombing of March 11. His government quickly tried to place blame on ETA, the Basque separatist movement, despite evidence of an al-Qaida connection.

It was the government's attempt to cover up a possible black eye on the eve of an election that cost it, not a lack of fortitude on the part of the Spanish people.

JASON CURRIE
Squirrel Hill

---

Ridiculous Krugman
I have a humble suggestion for the layout of your newspaper. On a regular basis the PG places political columns in the "Entertainment" section, usually at the top of the second page, which are very negative to the Bush administration. I think that they are meant to be humorous.

You might think about switching those columns (which aren't funny) with the hilarious writings by Paul Krugman, which are usually found in the "Perspectives" area, at the end of the A section.

Now, I realize Mr. Krugman's dry humor isn't for everyone, but the "professor of economics," as his byline states, is clearly joking. Knee-slappers like, "It's now clear that . . . Bush did al-Qaida a huge favor" and "Bush . . . has shown consistent reluctance to focus on the terrorists" had me laughing for hours ("The Bush Blunder," March 18)!

Sometimes he even writes about economics, rather than politics, and manages to make even "the dismal science" funny.

He recently displayed a chart where the Bush administration's projections of the economy and the actual economy parted ways . . . in September 2001! Now, some people may not remember anything that happened in the United States, oh, maybe around the 11th, that could have affected the economy, and they wouldn't get the joke. But Krugman, professor of economics at Princeton that he is, well, there's that dry humor again.

So while his jokes may go over some people's heads, please consider putting his columns in the Entertainment section. I'm certain I'm not the only reader who finds him a laugh riot!

DAVID O'BLOCK
Irwin

---

Flood at the border
Isn't it about time the United States did something to halt the flood of illegal immigrants across the southern border, coming under the delusion that this is the land of milk and honey?

Rather than swarming across the border, why don't these people try to straighten out the mess in their own countries?

Naturally many of the politicians welcome these people -- the Democrats for votes and the Republicans for cheap labor. It increases the number of applications for welfare, food stamps and medical attention. Illegal aliens have put the educational system in a crisis. The schools are overpopulated.

No one likes to be cruel, but there does come a time when we have to put our foot down and say, "That's enough!"

RAY F. DIVELY
Baden