This is in response to Nico Pitney’s article, “More Moral Mathematics: Hussein Causes Iraqi People Less Trouble Than the U.S.” (Daily Nexus, Feb. 24)Pitney’s article suggests that we shouldn’t go to war because the U.S. and U.N. sanctions are a larger problem than Hussein, and he also suggests ending military sanctions, continuing inspections and allowing the people of Iraq to rise against Saddam. For the sake of the Iraqi people I wish this were a plausible solution, but Pitney’s solution would not work. His argument is entirely criticism – smoke and no substance. As a philosophy major, Pitney should know better than to state facts that don’t contribute to his argument.I can’t verify his facts but let’s assume he is correct. He states that U.S. sanctions have contributed to the deaths of about 50,000 Iraqi children per year and that sanctions are genocidal, destroy Iraq’s civil society and strengthen Saddam’s regime – the sanctions have done more harm than good. The problem with this argument, however, is that the intent of these sanctions was to control Saddam and decrease his popularity during a time when weapons inspections and other diplomatic alternatives were not effective. If Pitney’s facts are correct then obviously Saddam can be considered a brutal and ruthless dictator. Something needs to be done. Even when sanctions are not working and are causing more harm than good, Saddam still needs to be replaced and a democracy must be instituted.Inspections under the current U.N. resolution have been taking place for 12 years and clearly have not worked. Continued inspections will only allow for continued deception by Saddam Hussein, continued secret building of arms, and continued contribution toward the greatest crimes against humanity in my lifetime and since World War II. Hussein tortures his own people, commits acts of genocide, and has a large hand in causing starvation and death among his own people. Sanctions may contribute to the deaths of Iraqis via starvation, but it is Saddam’s policies that ultimately deny welfare and food to the starving Iraqi people who might otherwise be saved under a democracy with today’s U.N. and U.S. pressures.Here is the solution as I see it: A successful war against Saddam Hussein will lift the sanctions that many protest, U.S. aid will help curtail hunger and rising death tolls, Iraq will have a chance at a government that is democratic, and a successful war will provide the Iraqi people with freedoms they do not currently possess such as the freedom to live without fear of their government. Inspections are not working and have no history of working, while lifting sanctions will just provide an unsympathetic Saddam more money to dominate his people and easily stop any Iraqi uprising. The U.S. and U.N. have tried for over a decade to peacefully resolve this situation and remove Iraq’s dictator. War is the only solution available that is guaranteed to work, and for the sake of the Iraqi people and neighboring countries we must not allow any continued repression and suffering to exist in Iraq. This requires removing Saddam immediately.Matthew Lamont Stern is a senior political science major.