To the Editor:

I always look forward to reading Tom Dunn’s columns in the Miami Valley Today newspaper. Have to say that I agree with his opinions and insights 99.9% of the time. Ran into Tom recently on the street and told him how much I enjoy his efforts. He looked at me and said, “You must be old like me!” I agreed with his comment wholeheartedly and we both had a good laugh.

However, I have to disagree with him in regards to a comment he made in a recent column entitled “What are we to believe?” The topic of his article was regarding politicians and how we have come to understand that lying is part of their make-up. He listed Republicans and Democrats, national, state and local elected officials and it was hard for me to argue about any of the folks he listed — except one. President George W. Bush.

Tom stated that President Bush lied to the American people regarding Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and that Mr. Bush used those weapons as one of the reasons to go to war with Iraq.

In my opinion President Bush did not lie, but had inaccurate information from his intelligence people on the ground in Iraq, or did he? We all know Saddam Hussein had used chemical warfare to murder thousands of Kurds and many other of his own citizens. So weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were in Hussein’s arsenal. The US government intelligence community reported such over the years. That is the information that the President used when asking Congress for their approval to attack Iraq. Now, what Hussein did with those weapons from the time the intelligence folks saw them on the ground in Iraq and we attacked Iraq, is anybody’s guess. How about a quick movement of those weapons of mass destruction across the northern border of Iraq to Syria?

Those intelligence reports were studied by the members of Congress and then the House and Senate voted 296-133 and 77-23, respectively, to declare war on Iraq. Several influential Democratic Senators supported President Bush, a Republican, by voting in favor of military action. They were Harry Reid, Birch Bayh, Hilary Clinton, Tom Daschle, John Kerry and Diane Feinstein.

Many might question President Bush taking us to war with Iraq but I do not feel that he lied to the American people regarding WMD.

— Larry Wilberding

Piqua