To the editor:

Buried inside several of your recent articles is a flashing warning signal about Iraq. Our Kansas congressional delegation should see it and pay careful attention.

President Bush is trying quietly to create yet another legal justification to keep American forces in Iraq. He wants to lock in U.S. military domination of the country he invaded in 2003. We shouldn’t let this lame duck tie his successor’s hands by preventing smarter, more honest strategic decisions.

To legalize long-term occupation, President Bush is working overtime to pressure Iraq’s government to sign a “SOFA,” a status of forces agreement. This deal would legalize American forces as a permanent army of occupation. It will formalize Iraq’s inferior status as a U.S. protectorate.

Kansans should demand the White House stop trying to fast-track SOFA. Our next president has to have the latitude to make wiser choices about going forward in Iraq.

Our members of Congress have a constitutional duty to insist any U.S.-Iraq SOFA be thoroughly debated by both houses. They should use their judgment to let our new president assess all the Iraq options.

Karl Brooks,

Lawrence