To the editors:

Your front page story on March 20 reports that I have “recently come out in favor of war.” (News, “Just Before Attacks, Experts Weigh War’s Costs, Benefits”)

Not true. Last October, I published an op-ed in the Financial Times supporting the use of force to prevent Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction if it were done multilaterally. This is consistent with my book The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone. My view has not changed.

On March 14, I published an op-ed in the Washington Post saying that the use of force to enforce U.N. resolutions 687 and 1441 could be justified, but the Bush administration should take more time to develop a broader coalition than it had assembled. Otherwise, we would be faced with the right war at the wrong time. Now, of course, the policy point is moot, but accuracy in reporting still matters.

Joseph S. Nye, Sr.

March 20, 2003

The writer is dean of the Kennedy School of Government.