The following is in response to the letter, ‘Let the Middle East fight its own wars’. I can understand the writer’s concern about not wanting to start a war with Iraq. However, if Saddam Hussein poses a threat to the whole world—be it nuclear or germ warfare—shouldn’t we Americans take it upon ourselves to help protect the world? Or should we sit back and wait until Saddam is triumphant in developing his nuclear arsenal? Our intervention is considered necessary for all the present turmoil that’s been taking place in the Middle East. We are the most intelligent and developed country in the world. We owe it to the lesser developed countries to be peacekeepers. “I ask the writer this: Where would the world be today if the United States had sat back and watched as Adolf Hitler rained terror on Europe?” [Letter to the editor, Buffalo News, November 29, 2002]