Jul 1, 2008

Letters to the Editor

Daily News

Monkey business

Dear Editor: How many times has Congress visited this "no immunity for telecom companies who illegally spied on Americans?" What is it about "no" they don't understand?

The time wasted on trying to save the Bush administration on this issue would have been better spent on investigating Dennis Kucinich's 35 articles of impeachment.

Let's get on with the business of Americans rather than monkey business of this administration.

Ms. Lydia Morales,

Cupertino



Surge debate

Dear Editor: David Brooks wants us to believe that President Bush got it right about the surge, and everyone else was wrong (The president proved skeptics wrong, 6-25-08). Brooks claims it is amazing that Bush decided on the surge. I don't find it amazing at all. In fact, when the Iraq Study Group issued its report, I immediately told friends that not only would Bush not follow the recommendations of the ISG, but he would instead increase the number of troops in Iraq. How could I be so sure of this?

Simple. When one understands that Bush is not just stubborn, but rather is afflicted with a narcissistic personality disorder, the call was simple. Bush could not allow anyone to imply that they had knowledge or wisdom superior to his. Therefore, in order to "show them who was boss," Bush had no recourse but to increase the number of troops. As to whether Bush's call was right, that will have to be left to conjecture. It is equally plausible that with American troop withdrawal from Iraq, the level of violence will decrease and the Iraqis will then go about the business of wiping out any al-Qaida cells.

Richard Sutherland,

Los Altos



Not my son

Dear Editor: William Kristol's criticism of a MoveOn.org ad (see Daily News 6-25) depicting a mother telling Sen. John McCain that he cannot have her son for McCain's 100-year war is disingenuous. Kristol correctly points out that McCain has indicated U.S. troops would have a presence in Iraq much as they do in other parts of the world such as Germany and Japan, rather than anticipating a 100-year war.

This is not realistic, since there is every indication that the United States is seen as a loathsome occupier by the Arab world. Moreover, Kristol totally misses the point in stating that the ad's message demeans those who are willing to join the military in order to guard us against real threats. Iraq was never a threat; Saddam had no navy, no air force and an army that had been decimated by a war with Iran followed by the Persian Gulf War.

Furthermore, Saddam was hemmed in by a 24/7 no-fly zone enforced by the United States and Britain. The United States, in a frenzy to go to war, refused to allow the United Nations to complete its inspection of Iraq. At the time we went to war, Iraq couldn't have harmed a country like Liechtenstein, let alone a superpower like the United States. The mother in the ad is telling McCain that the military cannot have her son to further the imperialistic agenda of neo-cons such as Kristol.

Nick Jaffe,

Sunnyvale