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Our military families need some relief

Re: Our troop tank is empty, Sept. 19.

This op-ed piece by Lawrence Korb and Peter Ogden was accompanied by a photo of Michael Shacklee hugging his daughter prior to deploying to Iraq from Fort Hood, Texas. This photo pulls at the hearts of all those who have witnessed this scene many times over and pulls together the central message of this article.

However, how many readers will only glimpse and forget the magnitude of sacrifice that military families are making minute by minute, day by day, month by month and year by year! Not only with one deployment but with multiple deployments, multiple separations.

I have a ringside seat to the situation that military families face: My daughter and son-in-law are now stationed at Fort Hood, between past deployments and future ones that will most certainly become effective soon. Marriage, family life and the all-American dream for those at Fort Hood (along with military installations throughout the United States) are on permanent hold and until a solution is found for money and human replacements.

Can we as a nation close our eyes to the enduring sadness as witnessed in this photo? Somehow, some way the burden needs to be lifted from the shoulders of those who have labored far too long at freeing Iraq and searching for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The answer lies somewhere among those of us who will never forget the heart-wrenching feeling that separation brings. Hopefully we will find it, before it is too late!

Norma McCulliss, Palm Harbor

Where are those willing to fight?

While our troops are giving their best efforts in the Iraqi war, and I know there are Republicans in the armed forces too, the dismal reports of troop scarcity in our military make me wonder how such a lack could actually be occurring. It was clearly a majority of voters who voted for Bush and his extravagant war.

Where are you voters now? Why haven't you younger Republican voters, so loyal to our president's convictions, been bearing up and supporting his war by enlisting in the military? Perhaps you have other priorities? Or perhaps you are just doing the decent thing and not encumbering the government with your educational needs by joining the military right now. Right?

In only two years, our country's leadership will be changing hands. What on earth are you going to do if our present situation still exists or worsens and a new administration decides to reinstate the military draft? Horrible thought, isn't it? Let's hope that by then we either cannot afford that move, or you have the emotional wherewithal to face such a fate or that you have a country picked out to flee to so you don't have to join a war that you or your parents voted for.

Anne Marie Jorgensen, St. Petersburg

This is no way to support our troops

The president and Republican-controlled Congress are on the verge of showing their support for U.S. troops in 2007. They're doing that by proposing a 2.2 percent pay raise. The raise will not keep pace with inflation, which is 3.8 percent so far this year and is the smallest pay raise in 13 years.

Isn't it ironic that the Republican-controlled White House and Congress like to proclaim their support for the military and our "fight against terrorism" but refuse to show their support with a reasonable pay raise? It's quite despicable considering members of Congress have given themselves raises totaling $15,200 over the last four years and have thrown billions toward Afghanistan and Iraq, but can't find the money to back up those "support the troops" slogans.

When it gets right down to it, Republican leaders' actions speak louder than their words. I'm one registered voter who will show my support for them this year by voting for a Democrat.

Catherine Evans, St. Petersburg

Needed words of leadership

The 2008 elections for president of the United States are just two years away, but where is the leadership we the people deserve? Who, from either party, is standing up to say:

"The Iraq war may or may not be a distraction from the real war on terrorist hot spots, still we are firmly committed to success there. Since we are already committed to success in Iraq, let's give our troops the ability to actually finish the job: Let's give the generals everything they need to do their job.

"At the same time, let us fight a sophisticated, allied, war on terror. Let us not only bomb, but infiltrate ideas. Let us introduce Arab teens to rational influences. Let us not only invade, but channel economic incentives and pressures to align with our goals. Let us rebuild strong ties with the free world again and stop funding terrorism through buying terrorists' oil."

Where is this politician? Who is this leader that will unite America again? And when can we meet this next president?

Amy Sauers, St. Petersburg

The pope's miscalculation

The speech delivered by Pope Benedict XVI in his last visit to the University of Regensburg, in Germany, was simply a huge miscalculation on his part.

Our Holy Father has been a distinguished scholar and professor in different universities in Europe for more than 20 years, and is respected as one of the most brilliant theologians in the Catholic Church.

As he went to visit his native Germany earlier this month, he received an invitation from his previous alma mater, and chose the relationship between faith and science as the topic for his address to the faculty. The speech was exceptionally dense and profound, geared to a minority of scholars, and never meant to be the normal homily that pilgrim popes give in their visits to foreign countries. As he was touching on a number of philosophers and theologians of different periods of history, he decided to make reference to an obscure medieval Byzantine text that contains a less than complimentary statement regarding the contributions of Islam to the culture in the world.

The Holy Father thought that he could step out of his role as a pope and become just a scholar addressing a selective audience. Had he been successful in this role change, his comments on Islam would not have gone beyond a footnote in the local paper. What he failed to realize was that the ears of the world were open, not to the former professor, but to the head of the Catholic Church. That was the miscalculation that regrettably will haunt his pontificate for many years to come.

Gerardo Suarez, North Redington Beach

Respecting religious differences

The recent exchange profiled in the news regarding Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on Islam - and the outrage and injury felt by the Islamic community - are but one example of how religious differences can divide humanity. At worst, such misstatements, misunderstandings, and counterreactions can inflame centuries-old conflicts and lead to violence.

It is indeed unfortunate that all of this should happen on the heels of a momentous gathering of 2,000 representatives of the Vatican, the Islamic community and other world religions at the Religions for Peace World Summit in Kyoto, Japan. At the summit, members of diverse faiths pledged to confront violence and build "shared security," acknowledging that each religious tradition had its variation on the Golden Rule: to treat another as oneself, surely a most sensible approach to human relations.

While it is regrettable that the pope's remarks deeply offended so many Muslims, it is positive that an apology has been issued. The recent exchange highlights the need for sustained efforts among all religious communities to respect difference and work together based on deeply held and widely shared moral concerns. And it needs to happen locally.

The Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, Safety Harbor

Our nation remains insecure

Your Sept. 19 article on the debate between Phyllis Busansky and Gus Bilirakis on the current state of homeland security in the United States, coupled with your thoughtful editorial on port security (Our ports are still vulnerable) was telling.

The vast majority of Americans understand that we are currently engaged in a historic and vigorous war on terrorism, and that part of that war is creating the world's highest quality system of homeland security. Sadly, it seems to be that the party line for Bilirakis is to act like an ostrich and stick his head in the ground when it comes to our security deficit. Bilirakis seems to forget that the 9/11 commission gave this administration 5 Fs and 12 Ds on implementing its recommendations for security.

Indeed, on the homeland, Americans see insecure borders, and a Congress intent on doing next to nothing to make sure those who wish to bring harm to our nation are unable to cross over. We see that only 4 to 6 percent of the 11-million containers shipped to the United States each year are fully inspected. We see a system of port security that is vastly underfunded. We see a group of heroic Americans - first responders - who are still not given the tools for success and respect that they deserve from the Congress.

And we see a candidate, Gus Bilirakis, who, despite these security deficits, still wants more of the same.

Luis Viera, Tampa

MacDill's security failure

Re: Teens crash gate at MacDill, Sept. 21.

Ladies and gentlemen, please mark your calendars: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006, at approximately 2:30 a.m. the war on terror was lost. A couple of kids in a stolen car penetrated the nerve center of the war on terror, and not a shot was fired.

Well, I guess one of them was Tasered. Whoopee. Why didn't steel plates fly up from the ground? Why didn't the gate guards open fire? Why was it that Tampa police had the final encounter with these guys and not base security? Perhaps we need to outsource base security to the Syrian troops who defended our embassy last week against a similar attack.

I can only guess that the gate guards had a moment's hesitation when all this was going down. Are these guards even armed? What are their rules of engagement? Are they mentally ready to shoot to kill at an impending threat? I only know the answer to the last question. We cannot have just a show of force if we are not prepared to use it!

As a gate guard at a naval base housing top secret communications facilities back in 1968 (pre 9/11, it was called the Vietnam War) I was not issued weapons of any kind. But then again we guards were not expecting a car full of Vietnamese terrorists to come barreling down a rural Florida Panhandle road either.

John Elliott, Palm Harbor

Greater concern is warranted

Re: Teens crash gate at MacDill.

When interviewed about the two teenaged boys who crashed through the gate, the spokesperson at MacDill Air Force Base is quoted as saying, "They really did not pose a danger to the base."

I find that to be a rather unconcerned statement. At the time of the breaching of the security gate, no one knew what was in the car, nor the intentions of the unknown drivers. And in this day of suicide car bombings, everyone acting so irrationally should be suspect.

Fortunately, the situation did not escalate to a shooting which could have resulted in death or injury, and investigation of the shooter, etc. The charges of grand theft auto, fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery of an officer of the law, resisting arrest with violence, plus possible federal charges appear to be sufficient enough for any court to justify punishment to fit the crimes.

But, alas, I wait with bated breath for someone to come forth with that stale argument citing the tender age of the boys in the car, and how awful it would be for them to spend time in a penal institution.

Joanne Gatto, Seminole

Further evidence of Mideast failure

Re: Iraq's leader seeks aid in Iran, Sept. 13.

Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made an official visit, where he was warmly greeted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two leaders agreed to cooperate in processing and trading petroleum products. Iran also promised to help Iraq establish complete security.

This visit to Iran by the Iraqi prime minister represents a huge failure of President Bush in his conduct of foreign policy and the war in Iraq. What a mess Bush has created in the Middle East!

William A. Crutchfield, New Port Richey

Cutting and running is never good

Re: Taking a cue from history, letter, Sept. 20.

The letter writer attempts to make some comparison between the British attempt to keep the American colonies and the Bush administration's attempt to free another country from a barbaric despot.

There are no comparisons to be made. Britain was an imperialist power that denied fundamental rights to its colonies. America is in no way an imperialist power and is bringing about political freedoms that exist nowhere else in the Middle East.

The letter writer mentions that the prudent course of action for the British was to "cut and run." What he prudently left out is that the British "cut and ran" after eight years and 25,000 casualties. Our casualties in Iraq, though harsh, are minor by comparison.

He asked, "Where would the British be if they had stayed the course?" They probably would have won the war. George Washington's army was on the ropes from 1774 through the end of the war. Britain rarely lost a battle during the entire conflict, but lost its will to fight and endure.

Nothing good comes from "cutting and running" no matter how much you spin it. The British didn't remain strong because they gave up on America; they were strong before, during and after the war. The strength of Britain and America is found, not in our ability to disengage, but in our ability to engage with fortitude and character. "Cut and run" dooms any policy to failure.

Jay Johnson, St. Petersburg

Iraq war parallels Vietnam

The similarities between the Vietnam War and the Iraq war are striking: Both wars were initiated based on false intelligence. In each of these quagmires the American heart was not in it. These were not wars for our freedom, rather wars that the South Vietnamese and Iraqis should have fought themselves.

We underestimated our opponents (Viet Cong and insurgents) and their will to die for what they believe. The enemy was unconventional, using guerrilla warfare, which we now call terrorism. The sunken-cost mentality is what helped Vietnam last eight years and Iraq thus far. If we pull out now it will all have been for naught, is what some say. That's how more than 50,000 young Americans died in Vietnam and how many more will likely die in Iraq. There was a domino theory that if all Vietnam fell to communism, all of Southeast Asia would, too. Now we say if Iraq falls apart after we leave, it will spill over to the rest of the Middle East.

Compared to the Vietnam War, Iraq is in its infancy. We have five more years and 50,000 more soldiers to die. But we are laying the groundwork for another tragedy. The Vietnam War was popular in the beginning. So was Iraq. It took several years for the tide to turn. Perhaps we won't reach the death toll of Vietnam. But more than likely, when we look back, the Iraq war will have been a disaster and thousands of lives will have been lost in vain.

Dan Corson, Tampa

School Board misses opportunities

Re: No easy path to school choice, Sept. 19.

The Pinellas County School Board has missed two more opportunities. It should not be a surprise to the board that the Choice Task Force Report would be too late to be useful. The board has been monitoring the task force activities and should have intervened early on to accelerate its schedule.

As the 22nd largest school district in the nation, Pinellas and its School Board should file briefs with the Supreme Court in the Seattle and Louisville cases that comport with the language of their court granted "unitary status" and choice plan implementation. Sitting by and waiting for an outcome demonstrates a lack of initiative and leadership on both issues.

Sheldon Schwartz, St. Petersburg

Don't let tax cut threaten Tampa services

The Tampa City Council "symbolic vote" to cut taxes does more to harm its citizens than help. I do not support the cut in taxes if it's going to add up to a loss of city services (less code enforcement, reduction of the emergency fund, cuts in parks and recreation).

Mayor Pam Iorio's plan to reinvest our taxes into the city is working. The city is cleaner, safer and more livable than ever. The mayor is right that not all of the citizens of Tampa support symbolic tax cuts. What we support are leaders like Mayor Iorio whose proven record reflects fiscal responsibility and ability to make our tax dollars work as investments for our future.

Al Giraud, Tampa

[Last modified September 23, 2006, 01:17:06]