Dear Representative Evans,

I write to express my opposition to a preemptive war against Iraq. No doubt Saddam Hussien is evil; has done terrible things to innocent people (including gassing them); is not to be trusted; covets weapons of mass destruction and, perhaps, meditates upon their use. But, Saddam Hussein has not attacked us. Nor has he attacked Israel; nor Saudi Arabia; nor any of our allies in the region. The War Powers Act allows the president to commit troops in the case of a national emergency (last September was one such), but we are no longer in a state of emergency. The president has no need to send troops; nor does have need to ask for your imprimatur. Don’t give it to him. The power to declare war is in the hands of Congress and for good reason. It ought to be difficult, very difficult, to bring the world’s most powerful nation into war. The United States ought not to get in the habit of preemptive war. Why can’t China invade Taiwan on a similar pretense? Why can’t Russia invade Georgia for the same reason? Nuclear armed India make war upon nuclear armed Pakistan? I have no doubts that if we do attack Iraq that will win the war. But, shall we lose the peace? How long are we prepared to stay in Iraq? Can we afford to rebuild both Iraq and Afghanistan? What happens if we are succesful in Iraq but find Saudi Arabia plunged into civil war—will we intervene? The proposed war has been estimated to cost 200 billion dollars. That would money would be better spent rebuilding Afghanistan AND investing in alternative fuels and energy sources to lessen our dependence on Mideast oil.

Thank you for your time and consideration