Where are we going in Iraq?

Your gut-wrenching Sept. 14 front-page image, and the headline “Death Toll Soars in Baghdad,” made me wonder: Were those poor Iraqis really worse off before being liberated?

JACK YAGHOUBIAN

Toluca Lake

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Re “Iraqi Prime Minister Reaches Cooperation Deal With Iran,” Sept. 13

President Bush and his administration are out justifying their policies with the same old rhetoric that they used in the run-up to the war, despite the fact that those claims have been proved wrong. When the rare interviewer actually challenges them, they fall back on the “Saddam was a bad man, and the world is a better place with him gone.” Yes, Saddam Hussein was a bad man, but the world is not a better place.

Under Hussein’s regime, Iraq and Iran were bitter enemies. Under the Bush-sponsored Iraqi government, Iraq and Iran are becoming partners. Militant Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, who supports Hezbollah, has one of the political blocs in the new Iraqi coalition government. Iraq itself is now a training ground for terrorist recruits. What the Bush doctrine has succeeded in doing is fuel terrorism. Staying the course will only make the fire grow.

CATHRINE TAKAZAKI

Los Angeles