Dear Editor,
I am writing with concerns to Will Haun's article 'Iraq: right war, right time.'ÿ Per usual, in reading Mr. Haun's columns, I find myself in utter disappointment at the lack of informed analysis and the distortion of historical evidence.ÿ In approaching the article critically, I feel it best to target one of last portions, denoting the ongoing war as "the fastest and most successful war in American History."ÿMr. Haun would be correct here if we are to take seriously Mr. Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' stunt that declared major military operations over, as fighting on the ground in Iraq seems to intensify daily as the death toll mounts mutually. It seems rather preposterous to praise the efficiency with which the war is progressing so quickly and successfully, given so much talk in the military and elsewhere of a growing civil war.
ÿ ÿ Furthermore, while I would share a critical view of both the United Nations and Mr. Clinton, the idea that the UN, as Mr. Haun likes to refer to as "a corrupted, dictator-run institution" seems to lack self-reflection on the nature of US actions in even just the post-World War II period. Possibly Mr. Haun has forgotten the sustained US support for Diem and Thieu Nguyen Van during the Vietnam war, Augusto Pinochet, Somoza, Slobodan Milosevic and even Mr. Hussein, who had our support until he trampled on US-friendly ground of Kuwait.ÿ Those biological weapons capabilities Mr. Haun speaks of to which have reeked such genocidal havoc on the Kurds, I beg of where they came from, were they not from the CIA under the Reagan administration for use against Iran?ÿ Did the Reagan Administration not stand by while Hussein turned the weapons against those he ruled?ÿ The US support for dictatorial regimes in even just the post-World War II period is disturbing, thus if we suppose the UN is made up of dictators, is it not the US that has kept at least some of them in power?ÿ I will remind Mr. Haun that in its ever embattled quest for democracy, the US stood by as Hussein, with notable murderous fervor and US-supplied weaponry, cracked down on the US-advocated Kurdish and Shiite uprisings after the first Gulf War.
ÿ ÿ I urge Mr. Haun to consult the writings and histories of Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Wolfowitz in considering his approach to the geo-political and historical complications of the ongoing war in Iraq. Shout all you want, Mr. Haun, at uninformed partisan bickering, but turn such criticism first to yourself before railing outwards.
Ian Maley SIS, 2008
Dear Editor,
By telling liberals to "get over" Bush's Supreme Court appointments, William Gibson must think that democracy ended on Nov. 2, 2004. The president is given the right to appoint Supreme Court nominees, in the same paragraph the Senate is given the right of advice and consent, and the confirmation process cannot be a rubber-stamp procedure. Every Senator is obligated to debate each nominee, even by filibuster if necessary.
Mr. Gibson seems to believe that the confirmation process is either a done deal or nonexistant. Our representative democracy says senators of both parties should examine Judge Alito's professional views and record (which should be fully disclosed) in an honest process of debate. Only then can we be certain if Alito would be fit for the laws and people of America or otherwise.
Barnaby Yeh SPA, 2008
