If the issue really is the elimination of weapns of mass destruction, and if we really would prefer diplomatic solutions, it could be relatively easy to break the current deadlock with Iraq. But we’d have to resort to something more creative than the gunboat diplomacy in which we currently are engaged.

Unilateral military intervention is unlikely to achieve stated objectives. It is guaranteed to complicate, once again, important relationships in the Middle East, including those with Turkey and Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Jordan. And airstrikes against biological or chemical weapons storage sites could expose Iraqi civilians to the hideous materials whose use we seek to prevent.

The Turks, the Arab League and others who have been in touch with Iraq in the last few days seem confident the Iraqis are ready to comply with the pertinent United Nations resolutions, if only we will allow them a little room for face-saving. The key, no doubt, is in the composition of the inspection teams. Surely the president’s public relations folk can find a way to explain to the American people that discretion is the better part of valor, and that such is the only sensible way of getting on with the important work of those inspection teams.

Ironically it seems our secretary of defense is more interested in diplomatic solutions than is our “chief diplomat,” Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. But we Mainers have a sense of Bill Cohen’s personal values. The current crisis surely confronts our widely respected former senator with his greatest philosophical challenge since joining the Clinton team. Robert Sargent Sargentville

It’s with increasing concern that I have been watching the news regarding the buildup of military force in the Middle East, and the likelihood of bombing Iraq. Such actions can only lead to tragic loss of human life on both sides of the conflict, and an inevitable escalation of tensions and warfare in the Middle East and perhaps the world. These are terrible consequences considering the slim likliehood of succeeding in the difficult task of locating and destroying Iraq’s arsenal of weapons.

Voices that oppose this source of action appear to be relatively quiet, and the buildup is proceeding with little opposition. If you have concerns about this course of action, please consider contacting your representatives or call the White House comment line to give your opinion. The number is 202-456-1111. Susan Shershow Belfast