Iraqi citizens are still glad to be rid of Saddam Hussein

Iraqi citizens are still gladto be rid of Saddam Hussein
EDITOR:
I noted the results of a CNN/USA Today Gallup poll taken during late March and early April this year of a representative sampling of Iraq's citizens and would like to share the following results and my own observations.
Fifty-seven percent said that getting rid of Saddam was worth any hardship. We should be proud to have toppled one of the most hateful despots in recent history whether or not we find weapons of mass destruction. Fifty-two percent of those polled said that ongoing attacks on U.S. military and other personnel in the country could be justified some or all of the time. Now that Saddam's boot is off their collective neck, Iraqis can stick their chests and chins out with pride. It also helps to know that, unlike Saddam, we won't kill those who do, their families or anyone else for expressing their opinion.
Fifty-one percent said they were better off as a result of the war, and 25 percent felt they were worse off. We might interpret this as meaning that a minority of the country is responsible for killing our sons and daughters who liberated them, and now risk their lives to help that benighted land become a better place for all of its citizens.
What the poll does not reveal is why this war, like all wars, has become the object of rabid political wrangling. I think the fault is in our understanding of war. We talk of technology and surgical strikes and removing the bad guys, but the fact is war is killing people to achieve some political objective. Killing people, regardless of gender, age or innocence is the very nature of war. It is remorseless and untrammeled, and we delude and distract ourselves to think otherwise.
The objective of war is political. Watch the politicians wrap themselves in the flag and proclaim their view, whether for or against our involvement in Iraq, as the patriotic view. Their only purpose in expressing their position is to use the votes of those who agree with them to put themselves in office. Their behavior is not as horrible as the fact of war, but given its consequences it is equally disgusting.
If we win in Iraq, assuming "win" is the applicable term, we will do so when our warriors have filled enough bellies with food, enough hearts with hope and enough heads with lead. It won't be the result of the politicos' making speeches for their own benefit. Keep that in mind, and let your elected officials know that you know it.
JAMES C. CARTWIGHT
Canfield
Leaving children, pets alone in cars is deadly gamble
EDITOR:
Every year we read about them, children who've died because their parents left them alone in a car on a hot day. And yet, I still see them in parking lots. Small children latched in their car seats with no parents in sight, or dogs panting or barking with windows open only a crack, are in great danger.
Cars can heat up to deadly temperatures in less than five minutes. The next time you "run into the store for just a minute," if you leave your kids or pets in the car, a long line at the check out could mean death for these loved ones.
JOYCE CANNON
Leetonia
Bridge is ugly; likely unsafe
EDITOR:
I get teed off at the eyesore that greets me when I approach the bridge spanning Yankee Run Creek on the Warren-Sharon Road in Brookfield.
The rotting bridge is a disgrace.
Does anyone really care?
The concrete pillars for the railings are in such a stage of deterioration as to suggest the bridge decking itself could also be crumbling away.
This bridge, under jurisdiction of Trumbull County, demands a thorough inspection on its underside to determine its condition.
Replacement appears to be needed.
TOM PERJOL
Brookfield