The threat is over. Or is it? The imminent threat of the United States bombing Iraq is over, thanks to the negotiations of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The U.N. Security Council has passed a resolution accepting the agreement with Saddam Hussein to permit inspections and warning of severest consequences if he should again renege. However, the United States claims those consequences permit us to take military action in that eventuality, even though other countries are saying this is not the intention.

Why do we have to be so willingly quick to let the situation escalate beyond negotiations? Life is precious. Bombing was not and still is not a solution. We would gain very little. We wouldn’t eliminate Saddam Hussein (which isn’t our right anyway), and we wouldn’t eliminate all of his weapons of mass destruction. All we might do is slow production down.

The price is too high. Thousands of people would be killed some our soldiers, probably more of his, but mostly innocent civilians. There would be further destruction in a nation that hasn’t recovered from the last war, primarily because of the severe sanctions that have been imposed. And there would be further enmity for the United States around the world, which sees us once again throwing our weight around.

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How can we possibly justify using our weapons of mass destruction when Saddam has not used his? President Clinton has been telling us the blame would be Saddam’s. If you believe this he made me do it attitude, then you’re siding with any bully who claims provocation was justification for his actions.

Do we have a right to a double standard? We are insisting that Iraq comply unconditionally with weapons inspections, yet in negotiations on the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United States insists President Clinton be allowed to deny requested inspections based on national security interests.

Let’s take the moral high ground. Let’s admit that seven years of sanctions have not weakened Saddam but have caused horrendous suffering more than 1 million Iraqis have died of starvation and treatable illness. And let’s genuinely work with the United Nations, accepting its decisions instead of trying to dominate or ignore it when we disagree.