President Bush Orders More Troops to Iraq
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Golly, what a coincidence! Only two days after the election, President Bush, without the approval of Congress, decides to double the size of our force in the Persian Gulf (front page, Nov. 9). It should take a couple of months to get all the equipment over there, so Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah won’t be spoiled by the sight of body bags coming home. But don’t expect a very happy New Year.
Why do we sit mutely by, watching this unilateral manipulation? After Vietnam we said that never again would we allow our country to be taken unwillingly into a war fought for specious purposes. Yet we, for the most part, stand idly by as President Bush commits huge numbers of soldiers and huge amounts of equipment to the Persian Gulf region.
The War Powers Act was passed to ensure that the United States would not declare war without congressional approval. But President Bush knows that a vote in Congress would not support his aims, and so he builds up our forces in preparation for a war to be fought for the noble purpose of keeping gasoline under $1.35 a gallon.
If we do not call and write our representatives to express our opposition, our silence can only be taken as acquiescence.
JUDITH R. BIRNBERG
Sherman Oaks
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