Imposing values on others puts all of us at risk

To the editor:

In our certainty of the inherent worth of democracy and free enterprise, we often forget that not everyone holds these ideals in such high esteem. And while I firmly believe that the freedom of American democracy, when executed responsibly, is potentially the most life-affirming system in existence, it ceases to be such when enforced rather than won. Every time we speak of ideas such as a pre-emptive strike or a independent war to remove Saddam Hussein and free the Iraqi people, we inch closer to the path traveled by all those who would make their values everyone's values.

Is Saddam a monster? Certainly. But we become no better when we unilaterally decide to silence his voice, no matter how oppressive it is. Without indisputable U.N. evidence, approval and assistance, further American action puts us all at great risk. Just as nations responded to Hitler's atrocities against the many voices of the world, so too have others already begun to take action against us in the only way they can: by flying planes into buildings.

ADAM COX

Cape Girardeau