To the editor:

The Bible’s prescription for peace is: “Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you.” So, to turn enemies into friends we should stop rattling our atom bombs and follow this biblical principle, particularly in our relationships with Iran, Iraq, North Korea and China.

We have alienated the world’s Muslim nations from Morocco to Indonesia by attacking a Muslim state, Iraq. This is especially true because no Iraq weapons of mass destruction have been found, nor has any link been found between Saddam Hussein’s secular regime and the fanatically Islamic al-Qaida. Our NATO ally, Turkey, a Muslim state, refused to allow American troops into her territory to attack Iraq from the north. Furthermore, the Muslim world will generally hate the Untied States for being pro-Israel until a Palestinian state is established.

Nor is the United States admired worldwide. Our own neighbors, Canada and Mexico, did not approve of our war against Iraq. Nor did the United Nations Security Council approve. Important European nations — France, Germany and Russia — opposed Bush’s Iraq war and remain alienated. What a sad foreign policy!

It is regrettable that Congress surrendered its war powers to the president. But, I pray that President Bush will now seek peace instead of war. Iraq remains unpacified (killing and wounding continue), its people are suffering terribly, and reconstruction is costing us billions of dollars thus putting our country deeply in debt.

John A. Bond,

Lawrence