Fear-mongering mustn't override common sense

Re: Raids net 14 supporters of Hussein regime, Aug. 13.

The U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, warns "Every American needs to believe this: that if we fail here in this environment, the next battlefield will be the streets of America."

Sound familiar? It should. It's the very same line that we were fed to justify our venture into Vietnam.

Rather than Dubya and his sycophants, I prefer another George W: Over 200 years ago, in a letter to James Monroe, Aug. 25, 1796, President George Washington wrote, "I have always given it as my decided opinion that no nation has a right to intermeddle in the internal concerns of another."

In his farewell address, he further wrote, "... avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty... ," echoed in 1961 by President Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell address: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

The American people cannot afford to abandon our constitutional liberties, reason and common sense, or to let fear-mongering fostered by this administration, to justify its excesses, become paramount in our thinking. At home and abroad we are under siege, with no end in sight, and precious little is being done to figure out why and what we can do about it.

Above all, our relationships with other nations and other peoples need to be looked at. The arrogant use of superpower military might is not going to solve the problem. Working with other nations, we can fashion a better world for all of us, but alone we cannot and have no right to dictate to others what kind of governments they must have and what kind of weapons they may possess. We need a better image than a Bush doll dressed in flying gear swaggering about on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Build a coalition of the free

Before the Iraq war began, I said that the Iraqi people are very intelligent but are not accustomed to self-rule; that they inherently want to be told what to do. I predicted that if we continue, we will force a war of Muslims against the non-Muslim world.

Now the pattern of sabotage by Iraqi revolutionaries, assisted by Muslim terrorists from other parts of the world, is becoming increasingly clear and foreboding. There is nothing that the United States or the United Nations can do to alter this pattern, regardless of how many troops we send and how much money we provide. Only the Iraqi people themselves can stop this wanton self-destruction. If the people perceive that these acts are counterproductive, if they come forward to identify those responsible, if they see that the United States will leave more quickly if the reconstruction is accomplished - only then will the sabotage cease and the "nation-building" begin.

Our country cannot be the savior of the world. Many of the countries we try to democratize are simply not ready. And in many countries the struggle for the basic elements of survival - food, clothing and shelter - overwhelms any thought of democratic reform.

Why do terrorists pick on us? (1) Because we attempt to impose our will and our style of government throughout the globe and (2) because we continue to support an artificially created country - Israel - to the detriment of its neighbors. We have not been even-handed in our foreign policy.

I would like to see the United States establish a "coalition of the free," a firmly committed group of countries throughout the world that are committed to our basic principles of freedom. We would establish close trade relationships with only those countries, and we would simply let the rest of the world go its own way. Countries of the coalition would tighten their borders and rigidly control immigration. This is a radical concept, but our country can no longer afford the loss of lives, money, and time in pointless efforts to change countries that do not want to be changed.

We could begin using this philosophy in Iraq.

A naive approach in the Middle East

Re: U.S. undermanned, undermined in Iraq, Aug. 14.

Thomas Friedman is a knowledgeable student of the Middle East. He has assessed the problems he believes have contributed to violence and terror. He supported the war even though the means to promote public support were deceptive and unprincipled. Sadly, he has accepted that the end justifies the means. In his ideological fervor he has ignored the basic realities of human behavior.

The Arab world is structured around cultural, religious and ethnic mores that are deeply embedded in the essential fabric of their lives. After more than 50 years, the state of Israel is still not accepted by the Arab masses. We can not alter these basic facts. To assume that shock and awe will enable the United States to impose its paradigm on this area and on these peoples is frighteningly naive.

Friedman must understand these realities. President Bush sought empire and political gain. To suggest that more human and monetary resources be wantonly provided in Iraq is to accelerate the march to folly. Friedman should use his considerable talent to help resolve the human tragedy Bush and the right-wing imperialists around him have visited on this world.

Of power and privacy

Re: Patriot Act.

I'm sorry, but I think John Ashcroft has more than enough power to fight terrorists. I feel that what he wants now is the power to snoop in the private lives of the average citizen. It seems to be okay for great secrecy in Washington but no one else is entitled to privacy. I'm afraid I don't trust Ashcroft any further than I could throw him.

By the way, I don't feel all that much safer now as things are not being guarded much better now than they were pre-9/11. I'm sure the terrorists have taken note of the big power failure and how easy it would be to make mischief there again.

A country of immigrants

Re: Power and overpopulation, letter, Aug. 19.

I couldn't help but be amused by the letter blaming the power failure and "every threat to our quality of life" on mass immigration. I noticed the writer's surname had a distinct Scandinavian spelling. Could it be that the letter writer's family at one time emigrated to our great country? I was under the impression that the Statue of Liberty welcomed the teeming masses and those yearning to be free.

I doubt that any of the modern conveniences we now enjoy were developed or constructed without the help of immigrant labor. Should we now close our borders because we were inconvenienced for a short time? The next Einstein could be passing through immigration as you read this. If things are so bad here, perhaps the writer should check out conditions in Iraq, Liberia, Bosnia, etc.

Be patriotic - ditch your lawn

If the United States were not so dependent on energy from the Middle East, it would not be supporting the Saudi royal family. And it was this support that motivated Osama bin Laden and friends to blow up the World Trade Center.

Our lawns are huge consumers of energy. In Florida, there is little nitrogen inherent in the sandy soil. The fertilizers we put on lawns to green them up contains nitrogen that comes from ammonia and natural gas is the primary ingredient in making ammonia. The pumps that bring water to our lawns use electricity. Lawn-mowing and trimming primarily use engines that consume gasoline and give off lots of air pollution. And then there are all the weed killers and insecticides needed to keep a lawn healthy. All that stuff ends up in the ground water and must be filtered out. And all this because lawns were a status symbol in France and England in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Be patriotic. Plant a hardy ground cover and leave it alone.

Unforgivable lack of oversight

Re: Executives turn their backs on the Piney Point disaster, by Robert Trigaux, Aug. 18.

I'd like to extend a big thank you to Mr. Trigaux and the Times for naming the executives behind the looming disaster at Piney Point. May I please request that the Times also name the state regulators who handled this case and are responsible for allowing these environmental criminals to get away? Unfortunately, it is only through vigorous criminal prosecution and vigilance that crimes of this nature can be avoided in the future.

No, Mr. Trigaux, this is no way for grownups to act. In fact, it is how criminals act.

As a native of the Tampa Bay area, I find this kind of business activity and the lax oversight by the state to be reprehensible and unforgivable.

Poetic justice for corporate criminals

Re: Executives turn their backs on the Piney Point disaster.

Florida's former safety slogan, "Bring 'em back alive" should be called up for active duty by passing and enforcing specific criminal laws to address executives who shirk responsibility for their corporations' environmental disasters. The new law's campaign, "Bring 'em back alive ... to stand trial" will feature hard prison time, seven-figure fines that are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, prohibitions against corporate-paid criminal defense, and "perp walks" for media cameras. Maybe a just term of their sentences would be chain-gang work for cleanup operations, or being cabin boys on a barge slogging toxic ooze into the gulf.

We need living organ donors

Re: As more offer up organs, who's protecting donors? Aug. 10.

This article failed to mention why transplant programs are increasingly looking at live donors for kidney transplants. More than 82,000 men, women and children are listed for organ transplants in the United States, more than 55,000 of whom are listed for kidney transplants. There are not enough deceased donors to meet that demand. And nationally, fewer than 50 percent of families that are requested to donate say yes.

Locally, the LifeLink Transplant Institute physicians and surgeons medically treat kidney patients and perform transplants at Tampa General Hospital - transplants made possible through the generosity of deceased donors whose family said yes to organ donation, and living donors who are equally generous and heroic. Through our program, potential living donors undergo a very thorough screening process. All the potential risks are communicated numerous times with the potential donor and recipient. The surgeries will not occur if there are any problems or concerns.

We encourage your readers to contact LifeLink at (813) 253-2640 for additional information about organ donation, including living kidney donation.

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