The following refers to Jason Stella?_s Letter entitled ??Columnist misunderstands Iraq situation,?? which appeared in the Tuesday, 11 Feb. edition of the Herald.

Mr. Stella, what you call a ??piece of feminist, left-wing propaganda that ran in the Herald?? is, in all fairness, an ecological view of the impending war between Iraq and the U.S. that was written by a campus activist. What about it was feminist? If anything, the essay was humanist. The essay teems with the importance of respecting human life. To my knowledge, I thought that was something that even a conservative would think important.

You said that ??In the last election in Iraq, Saddam Hussein won 100 percent of the vote. There is a reason for that — no other candidates are allowed to run.?? Tell me, how successful was Ralph Nader in his charge to be allowed to even debate the Republican and Democrat candidates in the last U.S. presidential election?

And when you said that ??We have tried diplomacy with Saddam Hussein for the last ten years. It has gotten us nowhere?? I feel that you are neglecting to mention that the kind of ??diplomacy?? we have employed has cost the lives of 500,000 Iraqi children for lack of medicine and food.

Finally, you said that ??We are dealing with a madman who has weapons that could destroy thousands.?? I agree.

And, I?_ll bet you a WMD that you helped vote ‘him’ and his V.P., Mr. Cheney, into office.

Sam Stinson

Bowling Green senior