Patriotic Opposition…
A letter to the editor in The Tennessean , Sunday, July 22, 2007, caught my attention, not because it was unique (it was not), not because I agree with it (I do), but because the writer had an efficiency of words that I have not found on the topics of Iraq, terrorists, and the war. Those who read here regularly know that when dealing with these subjects, or indeed, anything Bush related, my tendency is to go on an emotional rant with a long glide path. Here is the letter in its entirety:
Letter writers make a common error in equating opposition to the war in Iraq with opposition to the war against terrorism. What they fail to understand is that most of us believe that immersing U.S. forces in a power stuggle between religious/political sects diverts human, material, and enormous financial resources.
These resources could be used to develop meaningful security at home. Oh, and we could also deploy troops to destroy the real targets.
Think of what we might accomplish with 150,000 additional troops looking for Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan. That’s a military action I, and a majority of the nation, could support.
Please don’t impugn my patriotism or my commitment to the safety of future generations.
Steve Entman
Nashville, 37205
What a great couple of concepts! (1) Spend on real security here at home to replace the joke and hassle that beefed up border patrols have become. So far these efforts have created problems primarily for law abiding U.S., Canadian, and Mexican citizens — families on vacation and people engaged in legitimate business. (2) And why didn’t somebody think of this before? Attack the enemy where he is. Wow! Quick, somebody tell the generals at the Pentagon…
12 Comments so far
I think from what I’ve read, that what Steve says is really true - if you oppose the war in Iraq, you’re somehow un-American (doesn’t really matter to me as a Canadian, but it might smart were I American). There’s too much black and white (you’re with us or against us type of attitudes) when it comes to this mess in Iraq that has been grey and dirty long before the US ever became involved.
Thanks for sharing this letter, Winston. It shows a focus on the issue at hand, the distinctions to be made regarding that issue, that makes one wish our political betters also possessed that same focus–or employed it, if they do have it.
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Good letter but I have come to realize that the leaders of this country didn’t want bin Laden gone. He served their purposes. We need to get our act together as citizens if we want to be more than peons which is where that group sees the majority belonging. Scary times and I’m afraid a lot of Americans are asleep at the switch.
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Yes, it’s a simple and clear letter and makes good points. However it doesn’t question the morality of the war in Iraq. It suggests that the objection is much more about resources than motives.
I’m not a political animal so shouldn’t really enter this debate as I will soon be argued down!
But, yes, war on terror has to go on - but how it goes on in my name is another point altogether.
Interesting comments by all. Thank you…
Liz, the war was started and is being perpetuated by people without morals, and we have learned over 4 years they are not concerned with moral arguments, and that they feel it none of our business to question motives. So perhaps the letter writer is ignoring the motives and morality issues of the situation by presenting a couple of cold, hard, logical perspectives. Of course, the chance that Bush and company will understand anything logical is also nil…
Let me start off by saying that I voted for Bush. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I must say that I initially thought going into Iraq was a necessary step, given the information we were told at the time (the “Intelligence”). Now that we know the intelligence is flawed, and we have known for some time now, I do think the entry-into and exit-out-of Iraq was ill-conceived. Also, some of the “advisors” didn’t know enough about the Islamic religion to predict that Shia and Sunni would both be against us because we are “infidels”.
I do believe that we should get Iraq to a point that the new government can take over, and we should leave. We have mucked it up, and we should fix it. Then, after we fix it, we should leave Iraq in the hands of its citizens to do what they will.
And like others have said here, we need to continue our fight against bin Laden and get his head on a plate as soon as possible.
But. But. But, Winston - I thought Bush was Mr. Morality President! You mean he’s not? Don’t you know that morality is just about sex, not war or the environment, etc.? When are you going to get that through your head!
Good letter, by the way.
Some person of note whose name escapes me said that the “war” in Iraq is not part of the “war” on terrorism, it is what the government is doing instead of fighting terrorism.
Great letter Winston…thanks. These are frightening times for all Americans….pathetic in fact.
Excellent post with points well-taken fron where I sit! The problem is that ir makes sense and is for the common good, there fore no one among the Congress Critters will see that. Sigh