When Dr. James Johnson spoke this week in Selma, he told us that bio-terrorism could reach Selma, even if an attack were launched in Paris.

He said if terrorists could deliver smallpox as an aerosol in an airport then it is conceivable the germ could travel through airports and spread throughout the world.

Because smallpox can kill 60 percent of the people it infects, that’s a scary thought.

Smallpox should not be a concern of ours. The disease was eradicated 20 years ago. It exists in labs in the United States and the Soviet Union. But it could exist in other places, namely Iraq.

That is a problem because Iraq supports terrorism.

With Saddam Hussein at the controls, Iraq is not a stable nation. It is a nation that is a threat to others and a nation that has been involved in wars with its neighbors, Iran and Kuwait, in recent times.

If Iraq has smallpox or nuclear weapons it will use them. It has already used poisonous gasses as a military weapon.

To ignore Iraq and the threat is represents is unwise. This is not a situation that will get better on its own. This is not a situation that the United Nations, as it has operated since Desert Storm, can manage. This has been proven.

A change is needed.

We support the Bush administration’s hard-line stance as it relates to Iraq. This administration realizes the threat Iraq brings to the world.

We hope others will see the threat and we are glad to see that Congress is now supporting the President as it relates to disarming Iraq.

We hope that the United Nations will see Iraq for what it is – a time bomb. The United Nations needs to pass resolutions that call for tough arms inspections. Then the UN must do whatever it takes to make sure those inspections are carried out and Iraq is without nuclear and biological weapons.

If the UN cannot do this, then it needs to step aside and the United States and its coalition handle what has become a rogue nation that is a threat to world peace.