Re: As long as it takes, by Colin L. Powell, Sept. 21.
Secretary of State Powell is a man I have long respected for his integrity and willingness to speak his mind even when voicing an unpopular opinion. I was disheartened before the war with Iraq when seemingly overnight he changed his tune from being against the war to trying to sell the president's propaganda to the United Nations in support of it.
I was able to look past this, though, as he is a man in a difficult position trying to do his job under extraordinary circumstances. But his rosy picture of present-day Iraq as a "society on the move, a vibrant land with a hardy people" has left me dumbfounded.
Forget wearing rose-colored glasses. He must have had a blindfold on while in Iraq to not see an entire group of people suffering from vast unemployment, unsanitary living conditions, uncontrollable crime and daily violent deaths perpetrated not just by "Saddam loyalists," but also at the hands of the American occupying forces.
There is no mention of what Amnesty International calls our "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of Iraqi prisoners. No mention of the growing anger caused by our total disrespect for the culture and religious customs of the Iraqi people that fuels the ongoing attacks against our servicemen and women. No mention of the almost 300 U.S. military deaths, or the more than 4,000 wounded troops overflowing our army hospitals. And certainly no mention of the number of Iraqi casualties.
Powell does mention the mass graves of those killed by Hussein's evil regime as he asks us to support the president's "wisdom" in going to war. In the president's "wisdom"-filled selling of the war neither he nor Powell spoke about going to Iraq to save the Iraqis. Why? If our government was so concerned about what Saddam Hussein was doing to his own people why didn't we go in and stop him while he was committing these horrible atrocities? It's not like we didn't know it was happening. Why did the war with Iraq only become about liberating the Iraqis after we couldn't find those weapons of mass destruction?
I agree with Secretary Powell that the Iraqi people must be empowered, but no group of people controlled by an occupying military power will ever feel empowerment. The United States needs to give up the control and authority to the United Nations so that the Iraqi people may go about truly building a new nation appropriate for their lives and culture, not America's.
-- Niki L. Kelly, Gulfport
Sounds familiar
Re: As long as it takes.
Colin Powell writes: "While children died, Hussein was lavishing money on palaces and perks, for himself and his cronies."
What do the people of America think our government is doing?
-- Mavis Viles, Clearwater
9/11 changed everything
Re: Giving away the store, by Robyn Blumner, Sept. 21.
It is not surprising to me that Blumner would write yet another column denouncing President Bush's politics and policies. However, this time, she has risen to new heights (or is it sunk to new depths?) in her declaration of hatred for this president. Her white-hot rage against President Bush colors her vision of the positives that have been accomplished by this administration.
What Blumner has failed to realize is that Sept. 11 changed absolutely everything. We can no longer sit around complacently and hope for no further attacks on our soil and our citizens. The people responsible for 9/11 want us dead - no negotiation, no peaceful coexistence. Their sole goal is to destroy us. President Bush recognized this and acted.
I am grateful to have a commander in chief who can see what needs to be done and then act decisively. The cost of fighting this war will be great, but failure to do it will cost much more. Honest debate is good, but Blumner's words show she is incapable of such. She underscores the Democratic Party's problem that it cannot find a message to deliver to the American people, so the Democrats attack Bush as a person instead. It only underscores their inability to come up with a new idea or better way of doing anything.
-- Denise Browsky, Tarpon Springs
The middle matters
Re: Democrats diverge on way to win, by Adam Smith, Sept. 21.
I enjoyed reading Adam Smith's recent article on the path of the various Democratic candidates toward the nomination. However, I wondered when he was going mention the only Floridian in the race, Sen. Bob Graham. His name is mentioned in the final paragraph.
As to the general premise of the article, I have to side with those who believe the "middle" of the American electorate is the true battleground. There is so much deep dissatisfaction with the Bush administration among the Democratic base that no one need worry about "energizing" them. They are going to get out and vote against George W. Bush next November. Among the Democratic base, there is nothing more important than putting a Democrat in the White House in 2005. The argument is how we are going to get there.
The Democratic Party has nominated liberal Northeasterners, and liberal Midwesterners before. I do not need to recount the results of those efforts. The last two Democratic presidents have been moderate former Southern governors. Bob Graham is the only Democratic candidate who fits that mold. And he is the only Democratic candidate who has won five statewide races in "ground zero," Florida.
-- Gene Smith, St. Petersburg
Counting the votes
This letter refers to the editorial cartoon appearing on your Sept. 21 editorial page, in which Republicans are accused of not counting Democrat votes.
Let me remind you that county supervisors of elections, a group including elected officials from both major parties, are responsible for selecting the voting machines purchased. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, while still the Hillsborough County elections chief, selected an electronic voting system that worked exceptionally well in the last gubernatorial election. Other election supervisors around the state made similar excellent selections of voting equipment. Responsible officials, whether Republican or Democrat, want to count all legal votes. Republicans are not, as the cartoon suggests, engaged in a dark conspiracy to nullify Democrat votes, any more that Democrats wish to quash Republican votes (Al Gore's efforts to exclude absentee votes being a sad exception).
I advise you to refrain from publishing articles or cartoons that wrongly malign or falsely cast suspicions on elected officers or on the election process.
-- Edward W. Walsh, Brandon
Have a plan in place
In last Sunday's editorial, Controlling hurricanes' cost, an issue was presented on whether the state has a "workable plan" to handle evacuations of urban coastal areas. The answer depends on each of us.
After Hurricane Floyd, the Governor's Hurricane Evacuation Task Force identified unnecessary or "shadow evacuations" as an area of concern. The state has since developed plans and successfully rehearsed reverse-lane procedures on six regional routes, including I-4 from Tampa to Orlando, that may be used if a major storm approaches. New flood zone mapping techniques now give local emergency managers better tools to target evacuation areas.
What is still not clear is do we, as individual Floridians, have a workable plan to deal with our own family's needs? This is a matter of personal responsibility. Each resident should be able to answer the following questions.
What are the hazards in my community?
What do they mean to me?
What is my plan of action to deal with these hazards?
For example, if you are living on Treasure Island and directed by local authorities to evacuate, would you plan to drive more than 100 miles to Orlando when suitable shelter exists in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties? The answer is that one cannot wait until a storm approaches to have a plan in place and be prepared to act when advised. Pinellas offers a "Host Home" program to help residents identify local shelter resources.
Yes, many Floridians choose to reside in coastal areas where hurricanes are a fact of life from June through November. And they need to do their part by developing a personal disaster plan. For valuable planning information, please go to: www.FloridaDisaster.org
-- Craig Fugate, director, Florida Division of Emergency Management, Tallahassee
[Last modified September 28, 2003, 01:49:44]
