Iraq Sanctions

* Does Saddam Hussein really want sanctions to be lifted? I wonder! Every time it seems we might be closing in on the removal of sanctions, he manages to sabotage the effort by provoking a crisis.

Saddam’s whole power base is now firmly rooted in his adversarial relationship with the U.N. and the United States. To the extent that peace and prosperity would return to Iraq if sanctions were lifted, his power and that of his regime would be diminished. He is not suffering in any way in the present circumstances, and his megalomania is being richly fed. Look at the worldwide uproar he can create with very little effort or expense on his part. Only the Iraqi people, for whom he cares nothing, are doomed to suffer endlessly.

JAYCIE INGERSOLL

Beverly Hills