DEAR EDITOR:

I agree that it is imperative for us to eliminate Iran’s pursuit of nuclear warfare but the president’s ultimatum to Iran and his comments about “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” serves only to throw fuel on the fire. The president only alienates those Iranian people who want to oust the Iranian regime and tears at the very fabric of our country’s long history of not being an aggressor.

What we do not want to happen is a reversion to the days when the term “ugly Americans” was coined because of our leader’s misguided words or actions. Iran’s close proximity to Europe and the Middle East poses more imminent danger to our Allies than to us. As we need NATO’S support, however, our president’s criticizing NATO members also alienates them.

To achieve a successful end state, our president needs to apply wise diplomacy as that used by his predecessors. President Kennedy expressed caution regarding the use of ultimatums and applied well thought out diplomacy to the Cuban Missile Crisis. During negotiations to avoid what could have been a catastrophic disaster, Kennedy and the Soviet ambassador agreed to treat a U.S. demand for an answer by the next day as a request, not as an ultimatum or threat.

MATT DROZD

Pittsburgh