To the Editor:
Paul Krugman (column, June 3) suggests that the United States government was disingenuous about the intelligence available regarding Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Clearly, he prefers placing his trust in Saddam Hussein rather than in United States officials who acted in good faith on the best information available.
Before the war, critics maintained that United Nations inspectors would need months to years to search for evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Yet less than two months after the war, these same critics rush to judgment, unwilling to give coalition forces time to find weapons that Saddam Hussein had years to hide.
The threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction is a documented fact. It is far too early to make any judgments. We have an extensive effort under way. Let's allow our team to finish the job before drawing conclusions.
VICTORIA CLARKE
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
Washington, June 4, 2003
On Tuesday, June 10th, I submitted this response:
To the Editor:
Victoria Clarke (Letters, June 8) complains that U.S. search teams are being unfairly criticized for not yet finding evidence of Iraqi WMD. She notes that critics argued before the war that the search by U.N. inspectors could take months or years to complete, and the U.S. has only had two months.
This is absurd. The U.N. inspectors were working in the face of a hostile and non-cooperative Iraqi regime; the U.S. experts have free run of the country and the assistance of a presumably cooperative and grateful Iraqi citizenry.
If we had sufficient intelligence to support a preemptive war then surely that intelligence should have enabled us to find these supposed weapons by now. Try again, Ms. Clarke; we're not buying it.
Jerry Callen
Cambridge, MA