Saddam Hussein's trial could be better controlled

It seems that Saddam Hussein, rather than the court, is in control of his trial in Baghdad ("Saddam Court Turns Rowdy: Outbursts Threaten to Overshadow Gripping Testimony," Dec. 6).

I can understand a delay if the accused is ill or for other reasons is unable to appear at trial, but Saddam appears to be healthy, and the lack of a clean shirt and a need for cigarettes just don't cut it. His ranting and raving should be suppressed.

I remember when the Nazi butcher Adolf Eichmann was on trial in 1961 in Jerusalem for World War II war crimes; he was seated in a glass-enclosed witness booth with microphones controlled by the judge. Consideration should be given for such a "box" for today's madman.

DICK KRAFT
Bethel Park

---

Not worth it

Winston Churchill put together the country we know as Iraq after World War I by joining hostile groups, the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. He then made a Hashemite leader, Faisal, ruler of this artificial land to which he had no connections.

Then followed a series of bloody uprisings and coups, ending finally with Saddam Hussein. Churchill conceded that Britain was spending millions "for the privilege of living on an ungrateful volcano out of which we are in no circumstances to get anything worth having."

Has anyone ever said it better?

CAROLYN LINDBERG
Mt. Lebanon

---

A recovery plan

Trips to Iraq by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy and Sen. Joe Lieberman report a resolve to stay the course until victory is achieved. Critical examination reveals a disconnect from reality. Mr. Murphy was injured on the most dangerous road in the world, from the Green Zone to the Baghdad airport.

Mr. Lieberman states that he is "disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war ... and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November's elections, than they are concerned about ... progress in Iraq."

What is the mission? Or the course? The neo-con plan to use America's might to establish permanent bases in Iraq and to capture its oil is from the Project for a New American Century document. The intelligence to go to war was fixed (Downing Street memo), claims were all false (no weapons of mass destruction, no links between 9/11 and Iraq, no connection between al-Qaida and Iraq). In fact 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.

Well now, how about a real victory plan to support our troops? Bring them home! Components are: bring in the United Nations for peacekeeping, stabilize the country using security and diplomacy with the Iraqi people and leaders, and open up all contracts for open bidding internationally -- the latter to garner widespread support and long-term strength for this occupied country. Any other course is delusional based on past and current untruths.

I'd like to note that I called Mr. Murphy's office the night his injuries were reported and wished him a speedy recovery. Let's work for a similar result in Iraq.

OLIVER J. DRUMHELLER
Monroeville

---

Murphy in Iraq

I'm writing in regard to U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy's fact-finding trip to Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq, where his "mission" ended when -- riding at what was probably breakneck speed, in a specially designed armored vehicle through Baghdad streets -- he had an accident. Press reports indicate that all visiting VIPs are transported in this way to avoid insurgent attacks.

While I am sorry to hear about Mr. Murphy's injuries, I reserve most of my grief for the brave young Americans who will be maimed, or worse, each day that this misbegotten war continues.

In the course of his fact-finding, did Mr. Murphy wonder why, two years after the "end of major combat operations," he needed to be transported in such a fashion through the streets of the capital of a "blossoming democracy," where -- according to the Bush administration -- the vast majority support us against a weakening insurgency?

I doubt that Mr. Murphy was able to find any weapons of mass destruction or links between Iraq and 9/11, but did he ever wonder, while careening down the streets of Baghdad, how we ever got into this mess? Having voted with this president and having provided no oversight of this president, does he view himself as having any responsibility for it?

THOMAS KOVACH
Venetia
Editor's note: The writer is running for the Democratic nomination in next year's race for Rep. Murphy's 18th Congressional District seat.

---

Restoring balance

Regarding Dennis Roddy's Dec. 3 article about the medical safety zone ordinance ("Clinic Pickets Must Keep a Distance: New Law Proposed for Abortion Sites"): When he wrote about literature being "pressed" on people and quoted protesters as complaining that they would have to stand far away from people unwilling to converse with them, he illustrated the nature of the problems that have made such a law a necessity.

The ordinance, which was approved by City Council yesterday, says absolutely nothing about content. It is expressly written to eliminate conduct that is intimidating, frightening and unwanted. Anyone who chooses to talk to a protester will have the same opportunities as they do now. The protesters will still be able to express their message. They can shout, sing, hold signs, offer literature and so forth. The difference will be where and how they can do these things.

The Supreme Court has upheld such regulations as consistent with the First Amendment. Patients, their companions, clinic personnel and passersby also have First Amendment rights. The medical safety zone ordinance would restore balance to the way those rights are enjoyed in the city of Pittsburgh.

LAURA LUPOVITZ
Squirrel Hill
Editor's note: The writer is a clinic escort at Planned Parenthood and Allegheny Reproductive Health Center.

---

A needed buffer

After reading Dennis Roddy's Dec. 3 article ("Clinic Pickets Must Keep a Distance: New Law Proposed for Abortion Sites"), I felt compelled to write a letter of support of the buffer zone around Planned Parenthood.

As a mother, a friend to Planned Parenthood and an American woman who values her freedom and choices, I am shocked that the idea of a buffer zone around the clinic has taken so long to be introduced into legislation.

The women who are visiting Planned Parenthood are doing so for many reasons, and if they are there for an abortion, I doubt that they came to that decision easily. The last thing they need is to be harassed by religious zealots who have not a care in the world over what will become of a woman and her child if they do deter her from her legal right.

Will they be there through the many long nights of infancy supporting her? Would they be willing to take a woman and her newborn into their home and help her raise the child? I doubt it. The purpose of the protesters is not to help a woman in need of Planned Parenthood's services -- which are much more than providing abortions. It is to use their ugly words and violent propaganda to terrify someone out of a decision that was not easy to make.

Having seen their protests in town and other areas of the city, I was saddened to see an article written about their rights. What about the rights of women in Pittsburgh? What about their right to a choice? Will the PG be publishing something supporting the rights of the patients or relating the many other needed services provided by Planned Parenthood? When did free speech turn into the right to harass, terrify and judge?

TRICIA BRANCOLINI-FOLEY
Squirrel Hill

---

Health consumers are forced to pay for obscene profits and waste

So, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center had a huge profit last quarter ("UPMC Profits More Than Double," Nov. 15) and Highmark has a huge surplus ("Health Insurer Profits Triple," March 24). I am a sole proprietor and my premium for Highmark's Select Blue program went from $250 a month in 2000 to $693.72 a month in July 2005.

Every morning I see UPMC's obscene and obscenely expensive commercials on the morning news, and I am getting angrier and angrier. What an appalling waste of money when so many have no health care and seniors have to choose between food and medicine!

Here's a suggestion for my fellow voters: Next year, when we vote out every state and federal incumbent up for election (can you believe the arrogance of the call-him-up-and-thank-him ads supporting Sen. Rick Santorum?), let us give preference to those running who are willing to rein in the health-care industry, either through increased government regulation or through the introduction of national health insurance.

MARTHA E. BAILOR
South Side