Letters to the Editor from today's NYTimes

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To the Editor:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's declaration that the United States supports the rule of law was gratifying (excerpts from the Congressional hearing, May 8). It might have been more convincing if we had not repudiated the International Criminal Court and continued to pressure other countries into guaranteeing that no American would ever be sent to The Hague for war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Credibility suffers when we approve international law, but only for others.

BENJAMIN B. FERENCZ
New Rochelle, N.Y., May 8, 2004
The writer was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials.

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To the Editor:

Once again, David Brooks steadfastly approves of a demonstrably failed foreign policy ("Crisis of Confidence," column, May 8). "We've got to reboot," he writes.

Although an amusing metaphor, rebooting foreign policy implies that the policy is essentially sound, with only an operational glitch.

This administration's foreign policy is not computer software; it is dead and wounded American soldiers and civilians, uncounted Iraqi casualties, collapsed international credibility and now, with Abu Ghraib, destruction of American moral values that will not be recovered in the lifetimes of my great-grandchildren.

My father and oldest brother were graduates of West Point. Dad served in World War II. My oldest brother served three tours in Vietnam. Another brother served in the Navy for six years. I served in the Army Reserve. My sons served in Desert Storm. My youngest son is in Afghanistan as I write.

There is no excuse for what just happened.

WILLIAM A. FERRY
Lafayette, La., May 8, 2004

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To the Editor:

David Brooks has it almost right in his analysis of our current national crisis (column, May 8). But when he asserts, "It was U.S. inaction against Al Qaeda that got us into this mess in the first place," he has it all wrong.

What got us into this mess was the unnecessary invasion of Iraq, which played perfectly into the plans of Osama bin Laden.

It has subverted the war against terrorism by diverting military and financial resources and political attention away from that war and directing them toward fighting Saddam Hussein, who, as a secular ruler, was one of Osama bin Laden's main enemies.

It has also produced the greatest boon to recruitment for Al Qaeda worldwide.

Thus it has made us less safe, financially strapped and isolated from the world community.

OWEN C. THOMAS
Berkeley, Calif., May 8, 2004