I can understand the concern of President Bush about Saddam Hussein, who apparently continues to manufacture arms of mass destruction and has probably increased his actions of late now that Osama bin Laden has taken over center stage. I find it ironic that there was little protest over the dismissal of Australian, Richard Butler, chairman of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM), which was created after the Gulf War and charged with the task of destroying Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and its biological program.

Saddam, recognizing that UNSCOM, with Butler at its head, were being too successful in their task of bringing out in the open the true figures of his operations to increase his manufacture of arms of mass destruction and germ warfare, was able to initiate a series of crises against UNSCOM. This caused their termination with very little protest from the United Nations. If the Iraqi leader is allowed to continue unchecked the likelihood that he will make use of them at an opportune time remains high.

Lloyd I. Farnham

St. Stephen,

New Brunswick