Steven Reed’s letter to the editor, published Sept. 16, was partially right when he wrote “President Bush presented a clear line to Congress only after the United Nations voted on sanctions against Iraq.”

Bush presented a clear line of deception. There were no weapons of mass destruction. None, nada, zero. It was only by that deception, presented to the U.N. (and the world), that the U.S. could strike Iraq.

A trillion dollars later, and damage to the nation’s credibility that has crippled U.S. efforts for peace in Syria, it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who now leads the peace dance.

Hazen Kenney, Norway