Today's Letters: Bush's war on terror comes up empty

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published July 13, 2007

Al-Qaida thrives, U.S. says July 12, story 

How utterly refreshing to get an honest assessment from the Bush administration. After billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been wasted and tens of thousands of human lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration's own intelligence analysts declare failure in the war against al-Qaida. As the most recent report concludes: "Al-Qaida is considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001."

So the Bush regime has totally failed the American people when it comes to diminishing the threat from al-Qaida - Bush's only remaining justification for the war in Iraq. And Bush has blown up so many diplomatic bridges that now he will be "negotiating" with Iran for help in the region. The failed Bush policies and White House corruption have dragged the U.S. foreign and domestic practices to the sewer while our credibility abroad is sleazy at best.

Rather than generating more and more fear among Americans (as this al-Qaida report was intended to do), Bush has sawed the legs off of his own throne. His only course of action now will be to blame the Iraqis for all of the Bush blunders. Impeachment? No. He and Dick Cheney are war criminals who have impeached their own credibility as well as the honor of the United States.

Doran Cushing, St. Petersburg

Competence is in doubt all around 

Al-Qaida thrives, U.S. says July 12, story

What a headline! After almost six years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, we have managed to lose almost 4,000 American lives, tens of thousands of wounded, and $600-billion. And now the latest intelligence reports are saying that al-Qaida has recovered to its pre-9/11 strength and has established a stable training ground in Pakistan, our "ally."

We supposedly have the greatest military force in the world and the greatest intelligence gathering community, and this is what it has gotten us?

Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats are fighting each other in partisan wars instead of working together on what would be in the interests of the United States. No wonder the country is going down the drain.

The question is one of competence. That applies to our "leaders" in both parties and our military. God bless America, because we need it now more than ever!

David Beaven, Clearwater

Afraid for our country 

A great nation loses its way July 11, Froma Harrop column

Thank you for printing Froma Harrop's opinion piece. She expressed my thoughts and feelings so much more effectively and powerfully than I could have done.

Having to watch the train wreck that is the Bush administration crash its way through the Constitution, destroying civil liberties and ruining the Department of Justice while disdaining any attempt by Congress to conduct oversight, leaves me feeling angry, concerned about the future of our country, and helpless to effect any substantative change.

My 401(k) and IRA look great today, but will they be worth anything in 20 years when I need them? Will the underlying health of our economy be such that a loaf of bread will be $100 in 20 years?

Will the next president, or next three presidents, be able to dig us out of this hole? Will our citizens stop shopping and wake up in time to elect conscientious, intelligent leaders who can get us back on course?

What will be the real legacy of George Bush and who will be the biggest beneficiaries of that legacy? Since my family is not among those well-connected people Harrop mentioned, I watch, I worry and I fear for my country if we don't stop this disaster soon.

Wanda R. Schwerer, Belleair Beach

It's no joke 

A great nation loses its way July 11, Froma Harrop column

For the best example of why most Americans are growing sour about our future, Froma Harrop should carefully read the tripe by Garrison Keillor, which appeared to the left of her own article.

When a major newspaper allows prime space for someone to make a joke out of a failed terrorist attempt to kill lots of people, you can pretty well rest assured that it's much too late to bring back what we remember as such a great country.

I can tell that the fool who tries to get even a snicker out of anyone over such an incident never has had his neck on the line to save his country from harm.

Guy Nash, St. Petersburg

Lobbyists rule 

A great nation loses its way July 11, Froma Harrop column

Froma Harrop's column looked at what's wrong with America, something that has been eating many of us up inside. Harrop's clear and eloquent list includes leadership that doesn't care about the communal big picture, noisy religiosity and fear distractions, the powerful grabbing the loot while millions of the working class slip into poverty, rising debt, a disregard for science, politicians lining corporate coffers, and waging an unnecessary war on the cheap.

I would add that the key underlying factor behind many of these ills is lobbying. Corporations contribute millions to politicians if politicians do whatever the corporations say.

Washington, Jefferson and Franklin are turning over in their graves at their democracy that is no longer "one man, one vote," but rather, one corporate lobbyist contribution, one more bunch of rich old white guys robbing us blind. Corporate lobbying has hijacked our democracy; it is ours no longer.

Amy Sauers, St. Petersburg

Iraq pullout

Cowards in Congress

What the Democrats are doing and saying today is just a repeat of what I saw on my third tour in Vietnam in 1970 and '71. Hell, the cowards cannot even come up with new lines.

I remember turning over some of our bases to the RVN (Republic of Vietnam) and knowing that they were too weak, too undertrained, and had too poor of a command to hold them long.

I remember all too well seeing what it did to a unit out in the field hearing all the talk from Democrats about "cutting and running," that we had lost, Charlie had won, that we were bleeding the land for nothing.

They can call it redeployment, withdrawal or any bloody thing they want. To me, and to others who served and still serve, it's surrender and it's treason.

If we think the "killing fields" of Cambodia were something, hang on to your hat: Iraq will make Cambodia look like a Sunday school picnic if we pull out too soon.

I never thought I would live long enough to see another Congress full of cowards again.

Michael Moss, Tampa

There's no winning

President Bush thinks he can make a buzzword out of "al- Qaida" and use it to get Americans to line up behind his latest half-baked solution to Iraq's problems. He says the United States must have "enough troops there to make sure al-Qaida doesn't gain safe haven."

It's too late to talk about denying al-Qaida a safe haven in Iraq. They already have one. So do the insurgents. There is a civil war going on there that U.S. troops are unable to contain. U.S. troops currently control only small a fraction of Iraq.

And doesn't he read the newspapers? Most of the violence going on in Iraq is the result of conflicts between religious groups. Al-Qaida may applaud this civil war, but they didn't cause it. It bloomed when the United States invaded Iraq and managed to leave a power vacuum.

President Bush must, at this point, realize there is no "winning" in Iraq. It's just a matter of when, not if, American troops will leave Iraq to the Iraqis. He would just prefer to stall things a bit more and leave the admission of failure to someone else.

Alan Reeder-Camponi, St. Petersburg

Voting against troops

The Webb-Hagel amendment to the Defense Department Appropriations Bill would have allowed combat troops the same length of time at home as in country while giving reservists and Guardsmen a 3 to 1 ratio in their deployment.

Both Sen Chuck Hagel, R-Neb, and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., are combat veterans and they stood together on this even though they're on opposite sides of the floor in the Senate. The amendment came to the floor for a cloture vote on Wednesday. Florida's Sen. Bill Nelson voted for it and Sen. Mel Martinez voted against it along with most other Republican senators.

Now we can actually see who supports the troops.

Andrew Foertsch, St. Petersburg

[Last modified July 12, 2007, 21:28:02]