The Iraq question.

• Position: Letters to the Editor

Faleh A. Jabar approached a profound policy proposal ("Opposing War Is Good, But Not Good Enough," January issue), but he left this reader hanging because he wasn't specific enough.

Jabar proposed splintering the "class-clan" in Iraq, but he didn't say who they are or what positions they hold.

He also proposed a "mini-Marshall Plan" but he didn't say what it would accomplish or who would do the work.

But I think he's correct that something along those lines would depose totalitarianism and move Iraq toward democracy more effectively than an invasion would.

Iraq is precisely why the international community needs to focus within sovereign nations in order to prevent genocide. Jabar came tantalizingly close to delineating a method. Strong general proposals, which Jabar suggests, cry out for details.

Robert Covelli Santa Fe, New Mexico I felt compelled to express some ideas after reading Faleh A. Jabar's article. The reality of our world is that there is no justification for any preemptive act of war.

The argument that the United States should attack Iraq for its possession of weapons of mass destruction doesn't hold up, for obvious reasons. If Saddam lost his privilege of possessing weapons of mass destruction for his act of violence against...