Letter to President Bush from University of Chicago Political Science Professors Against War in Iraq

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Political Science Department

February 11, 2003

President George W. Bush

White House

Washington, D.C.

FAX #: 202-456-2461

Dear President Bush,

Shibley Telhami (the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland), Stephen M. Walt (the Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government) and I organized an advertisement that appeared in the New York Times on September 26, 2002, which made the case that a war against Iraq is not in America’s national interest. The advertisement, which I am sending along with this letter, was signed by 33 scholars, all of whom are hard-nosed students of international politics.

Professor Walt and I recently wrote a piece in the New York Times (February 2, 2003), which makes the case for containing Iraq and not launching a preventive war. I am also sending along a copy of that piece, a longer version of which appears in the most recent issue of the magazine Foreign Policy.

We understand that you prefer war to containment, but we would like the opportunity to meet with you and make the case for containing Saddam Hussein. We feel strongly that a preventive war against Iraq would be a strategic mistake of the first order and is not in our national interest. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,

John J. Mearsheimer

R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor