To the editor:

Paul Wellstone was liked and admired by Republicans and Democrats. Called the “soul of the Senate,” he stood up for what he believed in regardless of the popularity of the position or how it would affect his bid for re-election. One of his final acts while in a tight race and with the election looming was voting against Bush’s proposed pre-emptive and unilateral attack on Iraq.

Dictators and renegade countries with weapons of mass destruction have often been a threat during the past half-century. How world leaders handle these threats can restore peace and stability or set off a series of cataclysmic and tragic events. A U.N.-sanctioned, multilateral effort is the only sane approach. Striking first and alone is called terrorism yet that’s what the Bush administration, crouching and ready, has proposed. Of those killed by a U.S. attack, how many will be terrorists? Most will be innocent Iraqis and U.S. service men and women.

Diplomatic options have not been exhausted. An attack now will surely unleash whatever Saddam Hussein has in his storehouses, and inflame many who already have the capacity and the desire to rain terror upon us as did those on Sept. 11.

Wellstone could foresee the dire consequences of such a strike. To honor his memory I will vote only for candidates with the courage to do what is right. I challenge everyone else to do the same.

Christy Kennedy,

Lawrence