Editor:

In his Dec. 3 column, “Remember 1991? It’s Back and Worse Than Ever,” Jeremy Voros was right about some things in 1991. The early 1990s were bad for music. That much we agree on (Led Zeppelin was my refuge from the trashy music of the time, as Counting Crows are now).

However, on foreign policy, Voros reminds me very much of my international relations professor. At the beginning of the term, he, along with many in the class, talked of the United States going into Iraq alone as though it had already happened.

I told everyone then, as I still say now, those who underestimate Bush and his foreign policy team do so at the risk of being proven clueless. Unworried by those hitting the panic button, crying about “unilateral” pre-emption, I had trust that Bush would gather a coalition from the United Nations to disarm and perhaps, if necessary, change the Iraqi regime.

We’ve got our coalition. Now it’s simply a waiting game. Will Hussein comply with the U.N. resolution, or won’t he? Even the Arab leaders of the Middle East are beginning to line up behind the U.N. resolution, and some will provide support if Saddam does not comply. They won’t miss a man who represents such a threat to their security.

As for other nations like Iran and North Korea, we cannot afford to overextend our military. Iran’s government is gradually moving away from Islamic fundamentalism. To make sure of our relationship with Russia, we cannot afford to intervene around their turf too often, or we risk our very young friendship. And the Chinese and Russians are dealing with North Korea, as the United States takes care of another member of the axis of evil.

Voros compared this situation to Vietnam, but this is not the same, and George W. Bush is not his father. He is presiding over an economy that is on the upswing: Economists say we are beginning to experience growth. This is not the classic sign of a continuing recession. It is a sign of recovery.

As Karl Rove said when he visited the university, “I don’t know why people continue to underestimate Bush. I just hope they continue, so that we can have this visionary man as our leader until 2009.”

Brian Maxwell

Sophomore, Political Science