In regards to the Feb. 4 letter, “American push for war focuses on oil,” by Paul Goodman: Paul, did you cash your monthly check from Saddam yet?

For someone who claims to be a Gulf War veteran, you seem to be awfully blind to what Hussein is doing.

Hussein was given carte blanche under your beloved liberal Clintonista regime. He could do anything, including violate every term of cease-fire, without consequence.

Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, and more importantly, a will to use them. He used them on Kurds, Iranians and I honestly believe his use of biochem caused the well-known Gulf War syndrome.

Are you waiting for him to re-initiate his invasion of other oil- rich nations using clouds of poison gas (not troops)? Are you waiting for another Sept. 11?

Sometimes a small bloodshed now is better than a big bloodshed later.

I rarely give credit to Clinton, but he did indeed demonstrate leadership in Kosovo five years ago. He engaged in a small war to prevent a bigger one. Guess what? It worked.

Furthermore, it’s clear the inspections process will never work. You cannot “inspect out” weapons that are hidden. You can only “inspect out” that they have not been destroyed (which, by the way, is the mission of the inspectors). U.N. inspectors already found the banned centrifuge tubes, multiple chem warheads and documentation of a revived nuclear program.

They have found absolutely no proof that the programs have been halted. Iraq is a clear and present danger.

So, you ask about North Korea. North Korea has weapons, no doubt about it. But North Korea has never demonstrated a will to use them, and would gain little from using them. North Korea will not use their weapons, and will eventually trade it away as a bargaining chip. North Korea has nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Iraq, on the other hand, has everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Shane BalmontAlumnus