Readers Write (Nov. 10): Iran, voter fraud, bald eagles

On Wednesday, we had a warning in Opinion: "Do not be complacent about Iran."

This bit of hysteria is, alas, but one part of a growing litany apparently designed to stampede Americans into joining Israel in a military attack on Iran.

Did we learn nothing from President George W. Bush's fabrications on a similar matter with Iraq?

Hermann Goering in his cell at Nuremberg in 1946 appears to have had it right when he said that "the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked."

LOUIS LAVOIE, PLYMOUTH

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Dan McGrath's Nov. 8 commentary ("Ellison would export loose voting laws") was written by the executive director of the organization that produced the study that he cites -- hardly an unbiased source.

Most of these convictions involved individuals convicted of felonies who had served their time and (mistakenly) believed that they had regained the right to vote.

I'd rather have people taking their voting seriously and attempting to vote than have the voter apathy that characterizes our population.

The occasional case of an invalid vote being cast (which appears to be far lower than the margin of error of our voting system) is something that we can live with. The very rare invalid vote does not constitute a threat to our system.

PAUL BRANDON, MANKATO

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That notion is completely unfounded, and I find it offensive. Minnesota has strong procedures and dedicated, honest election judges who are and should always be our neighbors. We are a national model.

Second, realize that the photo ID issue is very much a partisan issue. Republicans are pushing for this not because of a true belief that the system is dishonest or flawed.

The push for photo IDs and other requirements are calculated to make it harder for people who tend to vote for Democrats to qualify or get to the polls.

Third, Minnesota doesn't have a single conviction for voter impersonation, so a Photo ID requirement would not have prevented any fraud.

JOHN SEVERSON, MINNETONKA

In a Nov. 4 commentary written by a University of Minnesota student and Raptor Center volunteer, an unfortunate choice of words led to confusion regarding the source of lead that is poisoning bald eagles ("An American icon -- and victim").

As scientists researching this issue, we clearly recognize the difference between "lead shot" and other forms of ammunition (slugs and rifle bullets), and there was no intent to imply that lead shot, as is used for upland and small-game hunting, was associated with deer hunting.

The increasingly well-established facts in this matter are:

1) As demonstrated with X-rays, lead fragments, especially from high-powered rifles, disperse widely in deer carcasses -- kill shots properly placed in the lungs and heart region result in minute particles of lead dispersing to the neck region and guts.

2) Such small lead fragments do not pass readily through the digestive tract of birds of prey (including eagles) -- rather, they are dissolved in the strong acids of the stomach and are absorbed.

PATRICK T. REDIG AND JULIA PONDER, ST. PAUL