Dear Mr. Friedman,
Your January 22 Op-Ed column "Thinking About Iraq (I)" described a desirable goal, but your suggestion for how to achieve it was off the mark. Don't you think it's just a little bit silly (and stupid) to go to war to oust the tyrants we have supported and aided in the past (Saddam) and continue to aid now (in Saudia Arabia, Egypt and probably every other Arab country in the mid-east). How about this for a more sensible solution: stop supporting the tyrants now. Of course this will not happen because we need mid-east oil.
Furthermore it's clear to me from our past history that given the choice between a dictator that does our bidding versus a democracy that does not, we prefer the former. Do you remember Allende in Chile?