"establishing a secular and modern Iraq"

Editor,

What is most depressing about this statement in your pages August 14:

"The U.S. decision to invade Iraq was justified in part by the goal of establishing a secular and modern Iraq that honors human rights and unites disparate ethnic and religious communities,"

is that the person who made it assumes not only that the monumental social injustices with which our own society is bursting are perfectly OK, but also that Americans are entitled to kill thousands upon thousands of people to impose their will on anyone they choose.

Ultimately it not the killing that people the world over hate about this country. It is Americans' assumption of a God-given license to do it.