Unprovoked attack on Iraq is evil

I haven't felt this bad since 9/11. How is this war different from Germany's occupation of Poland, or Iraq attacking Kuwait? Saddam may be a dire threat or he may not be, but how can that justify this unprovoked attack? Saddam is not al-Qaida; he's not even religious.

No country has the right to attack another without international approval and support. If we allow it in this case, then nothing stops any two-bit dictator from attacking their neighbors. I am American, and I love my country dearly. I can't stand to see us do something so clearly evil. It's tearing me up. The world will turn away from us because of this. We have become, by our own definition, a rogue nation. The reasons why we are doing this are immaterial, all that matters is the action itself.

Allen Slea

Preventive war has no legal justification

Bush takes us to war, ostensibly to enforce U.N. resolutions, when he can't even muster a simple majority on the U.N. Security Council in support of such action. So who, exactly, is violating the will of the U.N.? Rather than be further embarrassed, he chooses to opt out of any vote at all -- not to mention that such a vote would make his pathetic attempt to portray this action as having a legal basis an even more impossible task.

There is no legal justification under international law for the slaughter that will be visited upon Iraq by the United States. This cannot even be termed a "pre-emptive" war, which would be the case only if Iraq had troops poised to attack us and we decided to strike first. No, this is a "preventative" war. The United States will attack Iraq because it might, at some future point, present some unspecified threat to us.

The world is about to change. Bush has started a conflagration that will have far-reaching negative consequences.

So wave the flag and try to convince yourself that it's all for the best. Just don't be too surprised when the blowback happens.

Terrance C. Horton
Kapolei

Bush did not "fail"; this is Saddam's doing

I was shocked to read your March 18 editorial "Hardline policies led to failed diplomacy." President Bush is not to blame for any "failed diplomacy"; it is Saddam Hussein who bears responsibility for this war. The Iraqi dictator has responded to 12 years of diplomacy with 12 years of deceit and defiance. In the face of numerous U.N. mandates to disarm, Saddam instead chose to hide and develop weapons of mass destruction.

The United States and the United Kingdom introduced U.N. Resolution 1441, giving Iraq one final opportunity to disarm. How did Saddam respond? He squandered any chance for peace by filing a false weapons declaration, not fully accounting for WMD and sanitizing inspection sites.

Saddam actively subverted the U.N. weapons inspection process and had no intention of disarming. His continued possession of WMD is a direct threat to the United States and our allies. Iraq's refusal to comply makes "regime change" the only viable option left. I do not want war, but the alternative is to trust an Iraqi dictator who slaughtered his own people with chemical weapons, and that is insanity.

Dwight Arakaki
Lombard, Ill.
Punahou 1992

Story erred on some child-abuse data

We appreciate the Star-Bulletin's March 16 article on the pressures and challenges facing the child protection system. In these tough times, it's important to keep the needs of our most vulnerable but voiceless citizens as a priority.

We would like to make the following corrections:

>> The group of children for whom there is little or no residential treatment available, if they are not Felix kids, is juvenile sex offenders. Limited treatment is available for the victims.

>> While it is true that many child sex-abuse victims can develop serious problems from the trauma of abuse, one-third do not go on to become offenders. What is true is that one-third of all cases coming to the center for investigation involve juveniles as the alleged perpetrators, and most of these kids were victims themselves. And most adult sex offenders begin as juvenile offenders. So it's a vicious cycle that we can and must interrupt.

>> While we are supportive of any solutions to the lack of social workers to investigate these serious cases, it is the Department of Human Services that is considering flying workers in to help on the Big Island, not the Justice Centers.

Judy Lind
Director
Children's Justice Centers
Hawaii State Judiciary

Once again, legislators fail the openness test

The Legislature enacted the Sunshine Law in 1989, but exempted itself from its rules. The reason? Some legislators argue that the Legislature already provides for open meetings, open records and participation in the legislative process.

True. But that doesn't mean they can't change their minds and revert to closed-door meetings and back-room dealings.

SB 1233 would have prevented any backsliding to secrecy. It would have made open meetings, accessible government, the prompt posting of hearing notices and other democratic principles state law, not subject to political whims.

It is sad that neither the Senate nor the House saw fit to stand up for the principles contained in the Sunshine Law. Let's hope legislators see the light next year.

Without the Sunshine Law there is no democracy.

Grace Furukawa

Kill the salvinia, but don't hurt the fish

In the newspaper I read that people were trying to help Lake Wilson, but the part I thought about was when my teacher, Mrs. Kamo, said that they were spraying poison on the "green monster." The thing they were doing wrong was that they were spraying poison on the salvinia weed when it was still in the water.

That is when I started to think. When I was finished thinking, I had an idea. My idea was to first take out the "green monster," then spray the poison on the "green monster" when it is in the dump truck because if they spray the poison when it is still in the water, the poison will mix with the water and the fish might die. So that is why they might want to follow my idea.

Micarah Drake
Second grade
Kamiloiki Elementary School

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