|
|||||||||
Posted September 19, 2002
Progressive Republicans
I would like to like to extend Mr. Stromberg's remarks on the progressive republicans' sacrifice of life, fortune and sacred honour. What red(blue?)-blooded politician wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice his friends and fellow countrymen's lives, liberties and honour to such noble goals? The guy would hardly be worthy of the title of politician.
As for your Marine correspondent, I can only point out that the Roman legions would mutiny if they thought they were pointlessly put at risk for no real gain.
Elusive Targets
I find it hard to believe that the chairman of your Senate's Intelligence Committee has said that "Victory is going to be won (by) going to where the terrorists are and aggressively taking them on." That is simply impossible. Terrorists, like delinquents, are elusive targets because they don't have a degree in terrorism nor do they wear labels. Nothing certifies them as terrorists. They can be perfectly normal people before and after a terrorist attack, like someone can steal or do a drug deal once in his lifetime. The only way to 'defeat' terrorism is to strike at the roots -- hunger, inequality, blatant double standards by those in power, hopelessness -- as has been noted so many times this past year.
As regards your reader DW's letter, I was very happy to see that he called the UN the US lackey. That is so true that sometimes the two names are interchangeable. So much so that UN officials often talk about US policy or US decisions without noticing they are saying US instead of UN.
UN Vehicle
It is interesting that no one (on any media that I have seen) has commented upon the fact that the US of A is using the UN as a vehicle to further its foreign policy in regard to Iraq and Saddam Hussein's weaponry. Especially in view of the fact that the US of A has been notoriously late in making its annual payments to the UN and has only caught up with payments if the UN would meet certain 'conditions'. Maybe the UN is worth the money after all!
Days Not Months
How come the U.N. gets only a few days to decide its course of action while Bush walked around dazed for weeks/months mumbling that he hadn't made up his mind yet?
~ Christopher Snively, St. Louis, Missouri
KFOR
I spent two years in Kosovo, Gnjilane Region, Kacanik Station. You are right on the money when it comes to KFOR supporting NLA. They looked the other way when NLA basically invaded Macedonia in the summer of 2001. We developed information regarding weapons smuggling, the fact that numerous NLA were crossing back and forth at will into Kosovo near Gorance and Hani E Elezit, yet we could get no support from KFOR. The list goes on and on, but the general theme never changed, no proactive targeting of NLA or their supply routes.
The Role of the US
Here is a quote from a recent AP article I thought you would enjoy. Bush has not asked allies to help pay for rebuilding Iraq in a post-Saddam scenario, the president's chief spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said Tuesday. While Bush is demanding "regime change" in Baghdad, "it is not the role of the United States to pick leaders around the world," Fleischer said. "The United States does not impose its will on other nations. The United States does not designate one individual to be the leader of another country."
The Money Trail
I am an ex-soldier. I spent a year and a half in Bosnia. My unit was one of the first to go in. I was on the rapid deployment communications team for the 1st AD in Bad Kreuznach. I saw Halliburton and Brown and Root following the army around. I saw them wasting money as well as some of their business dealings and private communications. It was pretty sick. ...
If you focus an investigation on the money trail as it leaves the taxpayer pockets- flows through Halliburton, the Carlyle Group's holdings etc., and ends up in our president's father's pockets (along with the help of his CIA buddies) then I think you will have hit the nexus of the problem.
~ George N.