September 24, 2005 DC Anti War March

This letter is in regards to your article about local peace activists who went to the anti-war protests in Washington DC on September 24th. The article mentioned that 100,000 protestors were expected in DC. It turned out that over 300,000 people came to Washington to demand that we bring our troops home now. The article also mentions that a pro-war rally was to occur, but doesn’t mention that only 400 people showed up in Washington in support of the war. The article mentions polls that supposedly still show support for the war. What is clear from my reading of the polls is that the public strongly disapproves of the President’s handling of the war. Here are some recent examples: A September 17 New York Times poll found that approval for George W. Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq has dropped from a high of 79% in April 2003 to 36% in mid-September. This decline has helped drive the President’s overall approval level to near-record lows. The same poll indicates that 63% of Americans do not have confidence in Bush’s ability to make the right decisions about the war and 72% do not believe that the President has a clear plan for getting American troops out of Iraq. The New York Times poll also finds that Americans who believe that invading Iraq was the right decision has shrunk from 64% in December 2003 to a low of 44% today. A September 20 USA Today poll confirmed that "a record-high 59% say it was a mistake to invade." A recent CBS/New York Times poll (9/9-9/13) found 52 percent support for leaving Iraq "as soon as possible." A similar Gallup poll (9/16-18) found that 33 percent of the public want some troops withdrawn, with another 30 percent wanting all the troops withdrawn. Only 34 percent wanted to maintain or increase troop levels - positions that could be described as wanting to "stay the course." But these poll numbers have not changed the mind of our Congressman, Frank Lobiondo. It is time for our pro-war cheerleader Congressman Lobiondo to listen to his constituents and do his part to pressure President Bush into developing an exit strategy. One way Lobiondo could do this is by co-sponsoring H.R. 3142, Representative Allen’s bill, which would put Congress on record stating that it is not the policy of the United States to maintain troops in Iraq for the long-term. It is a small step, but if Congressmen like Lobiondo sign on to the bill, it would send a strong message to President Bush. Nearly 2000 American troops have died, over 10,000 have been wounded and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died, all for a war that never should have happened. It is time for Congress to develop some backbone and step up to the plate with a plan to bring our troops home, alive.

NORM COHEN

Linwood

Letter Printed in the Current, September 30, 2005

Stories Unfair on Peace Protests

Regarding the Sept. 15 article, “Military recruiting spawns competing Northfield protests:This is not the first time I have been troubled by The Press' coverage of peace demonstrations. I was involved in a march on the Boardwalk last year, and a number of us were interviewed. But when the article appeared in your paper, the number of marchers was about cut in half, and none of our interviews was printed, other than the one with our leader, Norm Cohen. What was printed were most of the few negative remarks made on the sidelines.What was not stated in the Sept. 15 article is that we are not protesting against the troops, but against the Bush administration's policy of pre-emptive war. We support the troops, support help for their families, support more body and vehicle armor, support better medical care for the returning wounded and for those still suffering from previous wars, and we abhor the government's under-the-radar cuts in services.The statement by the father across the street from us — that it was “horrible that the peace group planned to protest the people who are fighting to protect the peace group's right to protest” — makes it evident that he doesn't understand our mission or our Constitution. None of the signs we carry says anything negative about our fighting men and women. I think I speak for most of us when I say that we supported the invasion of Afghanistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden, but we are opposed to the war in Iraq. We did not believe it was necessary, and all the information that has come out lately merely reinforces that belief. Regrettably, if the media had done their job early on, with some real investigative reporting, things may have turned out differently.

BETTIE J. REINA

Milmay

Letter printed in Press of Atlantic City, September 24, 2005.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/opsed/story/5605869p-5586590c.html

Bush Left Poor Unprotected

The tragedy wrought on New Orleans and the larger region struck by Hurricane Katrina will play out for years. But Katrina also opened raw wounds about a government htat has long placed priority on protection of the private sector over an increasingly vulnerable public. That is the real sory of the 1 million people left stranded by the killer hurricane. These people, who are a minor fraction of all those who have fallen below the poverty level in the United States of America, did not have the means to evacuate the city before it was struck. They couldn't afford transportation out of a city that produces 230,000 barrels a day of Gulf crude oil. And four years, and billions of tax dollars after Sept. 11, 2001, the new Department of Homeland Security was unprepared to help them. The tragedy of 0-11, pales in comparison to this act-of-God. But 9-11 gave the Bush administration its opportunity to secure Iraqi oil, thus assuring "our" way-of-life for a generation or two. But war for oil is a waste because of all Earth's oil will be depleted by 2050, according to some U.S. Geological Survey observations. Implementation of oil-conservation and alternative-energy policies immediately after 9-11, would have softened Katrina's blow.

CHARLES ANDRADE

Galloway

Letter printed in AC Press, September 16, 2005

http://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/opsed/index.html

Sorry, But I Have a Right to Dissent

The writer of the Sept. 1 letter, "We are in Iraq for good reasons,'' says she's tired of liberal gripes about our country, President Bush and the war in Iraq. The writer compares our involvement in Iraq with our involvement in other conflicts such as World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Bosnia, not because we were attacked but because governments were killing their own people.Those of us who oppose the war in Iraq are also tired of the repetitious support for a war that most Americans and the international community consider to be an illegal war.What is most troubling is the writer's choice for us to either support the government or leave the country. Well, I believe there is another choice and that is to exercise our constitutional prerogative of free speech and dissent when we believe our government is wrong. The framers believed that the government had no right to demand support but instead had to earn it, a concept that seems to totally escape President Bush.If the writer really loves this country, she would support the various investigations that look for answers into what intelligence Bush had before Sept. 11, 2001, whether conflict with Iraq was on the agenda before 9-11, and why Bush spent $200 million on an advertising campaign to sell Americans on the war with Iraq in spite of the fact that the government is prohibited by law from engaging in propaganda. Or is it possible that the writer does not really want to know the truth?

NICK REINA

Milmay

Letter printed in Press of Atlantic City, September 10, 2005

http://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/story/5601330p-5579604c.html

Don't Aid Recruiters

This fall, many local students will be surprised to find that the Pentagon has found a new territory to occupy: their school. President Bush's war in Iraq has caused a significant drop in the Pentagon's recruiting ability, creating massive pressure from the top to supply fresh bodies for Iraq. In turn, recruiters have become increasingly crafty in their struggle to meet quotas. Luckily for them, information on our nation's children is readily available. Under Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, schools must turn over students' private records, without the students' consent, to recruiters. The only way parents can prevent this is by special request. Since most parents and students are not aware of this automatic information turnover, most do not bother to ask that the data be kept private. Concerned parents should contact their children's principals and insist that the procedure for telling the Pentagon to butt out of their children's lives be made readily available.

BOB SALSBURG

Northfield

Letter printed in Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 2005

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/2005/09/10/news/editorial/12606855.htm

Qualms On the War Not Unpatriotic

A number of recent letters seem to say that anyone who questions our government and our invasion of Iraq should just leave this country. How disheartening, especially when those writers still choose to ignore the facts. The Nazis taught us that if you want people to believe an untruth, you repeat it over and over, and eventually it becomes believable. Therefore, members of this administration keep saying we must fight in Iraq because they attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001, a statement that is completely false.Most of the 9-11 attackers were Saudis, a nation that funds terrorist organizations, oppresses women, tortures prisoners and supports religious schools that teach nothing other than jihad. Their newspapers print anti-Semitic statements but are prohibited by law from criticizing the royal family or the government, actually one and the same. Our president and vice president continue their long-time friendly ties to the Saudis although they are one of the most corrupt and repressive nations in the world. How can we question why the world sees us as hypocrites?I love my country, and I will continue to question anyone who unnecessarily puts our young men and women in harm's way, especially when they and their families are unwilling to make the same sacrifices.

BETTIE J. REINA

Milmay

Letter printed in AC Press September 8, 2005

http://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/opsed/story/5600480p-5578588c.html

Bush Capitalizes on Another Tragedy

Bush capitalizeson another tragedyOur brilliant president now has a chance to show his bravery doing publicity tours of the hurricane disaster.President Bush really does care - as long as there is something in it for him. And he could not have bought a more effective way to get Iraq off the front pages. Is some deity really on his side after all?Watch how his handlers jump on this disaster as political salvation and capitalize on it - another pile of rubble, another megaphone, another grotesque costume, another flag, another stupid platitude, another bogus "commission," another "disaster act," all the bunkum that dazzles even those who should know better. When you look at the mileage they got out of Sept. 11, 2001, think what they can do with this one. Why the Congress will probably authorize him to invade China because it has WMD - weapons of meteorological destruction - that it got from al Qaida.

DONALD CONNOLLY

Lindwood

Letter printed in AC Press, September 7, 2005

http://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/opsed/story/5600095p-5578017c.html

Chaos Reigns, Bush Vacations

It is now almost four years after liberating Afghanistan, a country divided up by warlords whose main interest is their poppy crop. The president of that country barely controls the capital city of Kabul. Don't even ask about women's rights, because they have few in Kabul and none in the provinces.More than two years after liberating Iraq, the United States finds itself as the proprietor of a country in turmoil and out of control.Here in the United States, we are in the midst of the worst oil crisis in our history. Our government's answer is to give the oil companies more subsidies on top of record profits they are already making.Then we have a Gold Star mother camped outside the president's ranch asking to meet with him so she can ask him why her son had to die in a war that was supported by questionable evidence.And what does President Bush say when asked about taking a five-week vacation while all this is going on? He says, "I think it's also important for me to go on with my life.''

VICTOR A. MAENE

Egg Harbor City

Letter published in Atlantic City Press, September 1, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/opsed/story/5598556p-5575542c.html