the U.N. owe them an apology and owe them the decency of committing to an operation to the extent that they're willing to use their own ground forces. Only then will the Kurds pitch in to help.

Many people that support a war argue passionately against a half-hearted war effort. It would be ugly, costly, and pointless. The U.S. may do that anyway, as a 'compromise' between those who want war and those who don't. This course of action will likely have the worst of all possible outcomes.

WHETHER THE ARGUMENT has led you to the conclusion that war is inevitable or not, I at least wanted to give the argument its proper hearing. I don't wish to imply that this decision is clear cut or easy. But the decision must be made, and we can only hope that it is an educated decision. If a catastrophic mistake is made, I hope that it would be made with the best of intentions and the most complete knowledge rather than from selfishness, laziness, and ignorance. And I believe that either the pro-war or the anti-war position could be catastrophic and can be reached from selfishness, laziness, and ignorance, so both options must be considered without bias.

Like a samurai trained in Zen, it is time for decisive action. Either the U.S. and hopefully the U.N. should commit "the forces necessary to ensure success and the resources necessary to rebuild a stable, prosperous Iraq", or it should let Saddam be. If after reading this you choose the second option, then you must do so with understanding and a willingness to accept the potential consequences.

I think that either way many more innocent people will die and much suffering will occur; it seems that war is the lesser of two evils.

Kenneth M. Pollack has functioned as a specialist on Iraq as a member of the National Security Council under President Clinton, as well as a junior military analyst in the CIA during the Iran/Iraq war, the Gulf war, and after. He is currently a director of research in Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute. Check nybooks.com for a good professionally written critique of The Threatening Storm.

This article can be viewed online at www.freshmemes.blogspot.com