Posted February 6, 2002

Checkered Past

It does this old lefty veteran of the anti-war movement of the '60s good to see the young still willing to question the current wildly popular conflict. Vietnam started out with a lot of support, but many years and dead soldiers later, the worm turned. I had a rueful laugh when they released the Johnson Tapes, showing that he knew full well we couldn't win. The punditocracy was shocked, shocked! I was 18 in 1968 and it was clear to me from the beginning, but of course we were told how naive we were. I've often thought that if you went far enough to the left and to the right, they would converge. We warned of the untrammelled power of the Government, said the FBI was corrupt and cautioned against too much faith in any institution and we were proved right. I applaud your courage and conviction in swimming against the tide. I'm so distressed that there aren't more out there like you, this unaminity on the war is frightening. I am ... pro-choice, pro-drug legalization and agnostic on guns. I was a gun controller, but after realizing the similarities between gun rights and my two other issues, I changed my mind. I'll be urging my state party to put the Libertarianism in Liberalism. We might stand a chance against Bush if we were that bold. I'd be curious if any right-leaning Libertarians would vote Democratic if they put forth ideas like these. My hunch is some would and I bet the campuses would show up in droves. If I didn't have such a checkered past, I'd run myself. I'd say I'm a gun-toting, pot smoking Granny and I welcome all sinners into my camp.

~ Hanna H., Georgia

Brains

Great articles, great work; keep it up and thanks for the link [from Justin Raimondo's column of January 28, "The Tali-boy: Made in the USA"]. You sent around 50 visitors our way this past few days.

~ Professor Tread, BrainsOnFilm.com

Karzai's Kops

Because of the successful defense of their village by fighters loyal to the local shura against the governor/warlord/new Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent to take power there, the situation in Afghanistan could take a very ominous turn for the United States.

You do not have to be a member of your local Mensa to realize that the Karzai government is really a puppet government of the empire. He was put in power not by election, but by a cabal of Afghan elites, some of whom hadn't lived in the country for 20 years or more.

In order to become a stronger government, indeed, for any central authority to exist in this wrecked and divided nation, somebody outside Kabul is going to have to give up power. Also meaning, somebody is going to have to give up their guns. Well, who's going to take this first step, and who's going to make them? Since Karzai has no army to enforce his decrees and since many of his cabinet officials are either former warlords, or loyal to such, some outside force has to step in to give the government some authority, some teeth behind what it says.

U.S. soldiers, instead of hunting for Osama bin Ladin or Mullah Omar, will now become Karzai's Kops, as Kabul tries to extend its authority outwards from the center....

~ Sean Scallon East Ellsworth, Wisconsin

The End of NATO?

If Iran is targeted, what of NATO? The reason I ask is, I seem to recall Greece, Armenia, and Iran signing a kind of mutual protection pact during the height of the war with Serbia. If the US initiated hostilities with Iran, would that not spell the end of NATO?

~ CD

The 17%

One persistent theme that I've failed to notice over the past months is the obvious insanity of George W. Bush and his "advisors" (masters?). Everything that we've been reading about on Antiwar.com points to a lust for power and a bloodlust that can only be described as insane. That Bush & Co. is willing to sacrifice millions of lives, both foreign and domestic, and spend us and our great-grandchildren into bankruptcy can only be attributed to the dreams of a totally amoral sociopath who regards the rest of humanity as inanimate objects to be used and disposed of at his pleasure. Why is no one talking about voting this madman out of office? In less than two years, the American people have the chance to send him back to private life where he can't do nearly as much damage. I read about the "polls" touting his unprecedented approval ratings, but have serious reservations about their validity. It's obvious that they've never polled me. Am I that atypical, do I represent the 17% (or whatever the current figure is) who isn't blindly following the current administration and congress over a cliff, from which only the "elite" will (may?) survive?

~ Carter Mitchell, Gurnee, Illinois