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Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com

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Rush to war

Re An Indictment Of A Rush To War (July 7): As I read the Chilcot report's sad and chilling indictment of the Iraq war, I was filled with gratitude that our then-prime minister, Jean Chrétien, had the clear-eyed foresight to reject Canada's involvement in what turned out to be a sadly misguided, deadly debacle.

Paul Thiessen, Vancouver

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Whether or not he had WMDs, Saddam Hussein was a threat to his own people, as well as to neighbouring states.

In such circumstances, should a precedent have been set that the international community will not tolerate such a threat, and will take the steps needed to put an end to it, including replacing the government? No need to imagine weaponry that does not exist. No rush. Time to negotiate and establish sanctions and constraints.

The Chilcot report's conclusion that the planning and preparation for a post-Hussein Iraq were wholly inadequate is especially cogent. The failure of the United States and its allies to recruit a significant number of former officials and soldiers to the new Iraqi government, with the consequence that Shiites almost completely replaced the Sunnis previously in power, gave rise to most if not all of the subsequent failings, including the formation of Islamic State by Sunnis.

Robert H. Barrigar, Victoria

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If he truly had nothing to hide, why did Saddam Hussein continually play cat-and-mouse games with UN weapons inspectors after the first Gulf War? Just because no WMDs were found after the invasion does not preclude the possibility they existed. While the war and its aftermath tragically resulted in many deaths, how much death and misery would have resulted from leaving Saddam Hussein in power?

Marc Storjohann, Mississauga

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CF-18s: Get on with it

Re Ottawa Changes Course On Fighter Jets (July 7): Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's announcement that the government will consult with industry to help determine the best new aircraft for Canada defies logic. If there is truly a sense of urgency, why squander precious months on this consultative process? Better to launch into an open, fair and transparent competition. Within a year, a winner could be selected.

After all of the consultations that have taken place over the past years, there is nothing new to be learned. Plus, any feedback obtained or commitments made are non-binding. Only through a competitive process can the best aircraft for Canada be determined. This process should be launched with the public disclosure of the "statement of requirements" (SOR) for the new jets. This SOR should reflect the roles and the priorities that the government sees for these jets.

Alan Williams, author, Reinventing Canadian Defence Procurement: A View From the Inside; Ottawa

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The word 'all'

Re Cross-Checking Of Documents Reveals Likely Guest Lists For Cash-for-access Fundraisers (July 7): Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's spokesperson Jennifer Beaudry assures us that "The Premier has always been clear that decisions are always made with the best interests of Ontarians in mind."

This is true – the members of provincial Liberal Party are Ontarians. Those who attend and benefit from the cash-for-access bunfests are Ontarians.

What her statement omits is the critical word "all" – as in, "made with the best interests of all Ontarians in mind."

Ab Dukacz, Mississauga

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Scandal, 'truth'

Re What Scandal? (editorial, July 6): It is easy to dismiss the scandals surrounding Hillary Clinton as the result of fear-mongering Republicans, but to say that the Benghazi controversy was "manufactured" does a huge disservice to the four Americans murdered on the watch of then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

If she wasn't culpable in the death of these Americans in Libya, then at best she was incompetent. The "truth" is that under her watch the ambassador to Libya and three other Americans ended up dead. In both the Benghazi incident and the e-mail scandal, had it been the presumptive Republican nominee involved, I think that the investigations would have turned out very differently. Maybe the system is rigged. Just sayin'…

Karen Fenton, Mississauga

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I was struck by the following passage in your editorial: "The truth is that the e-mails, like the manufactured Benghazi controversy, amount to far less than Hillary haters choose to believe. Has any political family inspired as much irrational, white-hot loathing as the Clintons? Each failure to discover that Ms. Clinton is an international criminal mastermind merely inspires a new witch hunt."

The answer is "yes" and can be found in a Globe editorial of Jan. 7, 1997, one day after the government of Canada and RCMP apologized to former PM Brian Mulroney over Airbus allegations.

That editorial said: "A conspiracy industry has grown up in some of the media and some of the public around Brian Mulroney and his years in office. An emotionally self-indulgent and intellectually lazy climate has been created in which the most ridiculous and unlikely rumours take wing. A man who won two majority terms as prime minister, and who brought controversial, far-seeing changes to Canadian public policy is regularly the object of ignorant, malicious and self-righteous bunk. The adolescent populism that revels in attacking Mr. Mulroney has sustained the rancid theories that somehow got as far as an official Canadian Justice Department letter to Switzerland, humiliating Canada in the eyes of the world. Enough."

Except it wasn't enough.

It took 13 more years, millions of taxpayer dollars, and a public inquiry to arrive at a conclusion that even the most obtuse observer would not have failed to notice: There was nothing there.

Michael O'Shea, Outremont, Que.

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A Canexit?

Re Trudeau Sends Invite For A Royal Visit (July 6): It's an embarrassment in the lead-up to Canada's 150th birthday to invite foreign-based royals, thereby reinforcing our status as a colony.

Surely the Prime Minister of Canada can find Canadians for a photo op to bolster his poll numbers. This special time should be for Canadians to celebrate all that is great about our nation and execute a Canexit from the monarchy.

Mark Gardiner, Toronto

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A Brexit too many

As with the cute combination "Branjolina," I grow tired of "Brexit." Some alternatives: For those who sadden at the prospect of the breakup, I offer "Breave." For anyone who has no feelings one way or the other, I propose the surgical sounding "EUtectomy." Finally, my personal favourite: For those who didn't want the British in the club in the first place, I suggest "UKoff."

Ted Parkinson, Toronto

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