Dose of humility might offer hope

To the editor:

We're in Iraq. No doubt about it. In similar circumstances, the American attitude has often been, "We're in it, let's win it." However, it may serve us well to consider how we got there.

There is little doubt that the unilateralism and smug arrogance of the Cheney-Rove-Rumsfeld-Bush combination intensified the ugly American image to some of the rest of the world. Remember that America is still testing "whether a nation so conceived can long endure." It is reasonable to hope that a massive dose of humility in the American psyche can afford some wiggle room as we work to somehow extricate ourselves from the present morass.

Determination, nevertheless with humility. Let's bring that on.

GILBERT DEGENHARDT

Cape Girardeau