Ben Egolf ("Don't fault president for protecting citizens," Thursday letter) and the rest of the American public should answer the following questions before committing so wholeheartedly to war with Iraq:

Isn't is true that the U.S. supported Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war with biological weapons? Aren't these the same weapons that killed hundreds of Iraqi Kurds, which the United States refused to prevent during the Gulf War? How exactly are Americans here on the mainland and our possessions threatened by Iraq currently? Israel is breaking dozens of U.N. resolutions; so are we going to invade them?

Aren't the real threats right now to American security CEOs and corporate greed that sucks up billions in dollars (more than petty theft and other minor crimes involving money combined), crooked politicians, and thousands of disadvantaged children receiving a lackluster education?

Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday, during a public committee hearing on Capitol Hill, said, "the U.S. didn't force U.N. weapons inspectors out of Iraq;" this is not exactly accurate according to a CNN reporter: the U.S. told U.N. inspectors it would begin bombing Iraq regardless of whether they were there or not back in 1998. So should the U.N. inspectors have stayed there under a hail of U.S. and British bombs?

Thousands of Gulf War veterans are suffering from unknown ailments that doctors acknowledge but cannot cure.

So are we willing to send our sisters, brothers, and other family members there so that they are either killed or come back suffering for life for a cause there are so many questions about?