Re: “Watts: Do the right thing,” Letters, The Leader, Oct. 6.
I believe Mayor Dianne Watts is doing the right thing. George W. Bush was in power when 9/11 happened. He did what he believed was the right thing to do. When he found out Iraq was supplying the Taliban with weapons, he attacked them.
I would suggest that people should read the book, “Saddam’s Secrets,” written by Georges Sadda, who was a top adviser to Saddam Hussein. He says there were indeed weapons of mass destruction.
Hussein told Sadda to load the weapons of mass destruction onto a passenger plane and fly them to Syria, which he did. I think so much happens during a war that we know nothing about and therefore we should not criticize leaders who try to do the best they can. I am sure we all could learn much from these leaders.
L. Enns, Surrey
A lawful war
All of the points raised in this letter appear to be completely erroneous. From personal experience I can attest to the fact that 50 years ago the Canadian military used interrogation techniques involving sleep deprivation, water-based harassment (aka waterboarding ) and others very similar to those authorized by George W. Bush. In fact all NATO countries used these techniques and from what I can gather they still do.
It should also be noted that many Canadian officers were subjected to these techniques as part of their training – just as thousands of U.S. military personnel have been subjected to waterboarding.
To say that Mr. Bush is a war criminal is absurd in the extreme. The war with Iraq was neither illegal nor based on lies. It was formally declared and supported by Congress.
Also, Saddam Hussein was given several months to step down and hence avoid any war, a civility that is utterly incompatible with an “illegal war.”
Finally, the Iraq war has turned out to be a success in many ways.
The freedom given to the Iraqi people by Mr. Bush has been witnessed by many others in the Middle East and is probably in no small way responsible for the “Arab Spring.”
Mr Bush may go down in history as the man who brought freedom to the Arab people, and hence peace to the Middle East.
If Mr. Bush was invited by Mayor Dianne Watts I applaud her for a wise choice.
J. Irwin, Surrey