I was quoted in Scott Rank’s Nov. 3 article, “Harkin blasts Bush’s Iraq war policy,” and want to provide a context for what developed at the forum with Sen. Tom Harkin and Professor Shibley Telhami.

I asked the following question of Harkin: “Richard Butler, former U.N. weapons inspector, said on his trips into Iraq and Iran inspecting sites for weapons, he would get the same question over and over from public officials. What about Israel? They have nuclear, chemical and biological weapons! He said he had no answer for them. Sen. Harkin, how would you respond to those Iraqi and Iranian politicians?”

My surprise at Harkin’s answer that its neighbors do not recognize Israel stems from not only the PLO recognition decades ago, but that other neighbors — Egypt, for example — not only recognizes Israel but conducts trade and diplomatic relations. Harkin’s answer, though valid in 1970, is a surprise in 2003.

I do not agree with weapons proliferation, but as long as Israel has these weapons, others will try to acquire them. Currently U.S. policy sells billions of dollars in weapons to Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region. Why not adhere to U.N. Security Council Resolution 687’s demand for a “weapons-free” region? If nothing else, it would benefit those who bury their loved ones, filled with bullets and shrapnel that read “Made in America.”

Jeffrey J. Weiss

Education Director

American Friends Service Committee