How not to bring democracy to Iraq: Bush in Iraq has it all wrong as usual.

The Editor

The San Francisco Chronicle,

San Francisco CA

To the Editor:

Your recent front page headline read, "Bush calls on Middle East to open arms to democracy" (The Chronicle, November 7). Below it was a very telling picture of an Iraqi man with his hands tied behind his back and a burlap bag over his head; he was being interogated as a possible "insurgent" and was being guarded by an armed American soldier. Bush will not be able to bring "democracy" to Iraq by bombings, invasion and occupation with barbed wire, bullets, guns and English-only ID cards.

Any child of three who watches television can plainly see that our military presence in Iraq is no longer needed or wanted. Bush and Blair are like a couple of uninvited party crashers who are too oblivious to leave when they are asked to. The American occupation of Iraq so far seems to be mainly a scam to allow Halliburton Corporation to legally extort millions of dollars from American taxpapers to subsidize such dubious activities as charging us $1.50 per gallon to transport gasoline four hundred miles from Kuwait to Baghdad, so that Iraqis can then buy this gasoline for only ten cents per gallon.

Democracy and a respect for human rights in Arab countries will come by the common desire of the people for them. Democracy cannot be created in Iraq at gun-point à la Bush. We should immediately and unconditionally withdraw our military forces from Iraq and let the Iraqis sort out their own political future for themselves.

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

7 November 2003