Letters to the Editor

Support our troops; they fight for you

As our nation seemingly draws closer to a military action with Iraq, we’re reminded that “united we stand” should remain more than a mere motto.

As a mother of six incredible children, I’m terrified for their future. I’m willing to bet the same sentiment prevailed before our active involvement in World War II as well. Pearl Harbor ended that fence-riding and Sept. 11, 2001, ended it in my mind this time.

I’m not a pro-war fanatic. I favor bringing the evil forces behind Sept. 11 to justice and eliminating those who would like to continue to allow their terror to rein.

I’m not a “kill ’em all. Let God sort them out” fanatic. I’m a veteran. I served my country in uniform and stood beside other men and women who willingly sacrifice their lives for me and you.

Take a moment away from blasting our president, insulting our foreign policy and pretending terrorism will disappear if we mind our own business, and remember there are men and women fighting for you and your right to voice your opinion. Not to mention your right to live in a land free of buildings with airplanes blazing inside of them, fields with gigantic holes and a Pentagon with gaping holes in its side.

I haven’t forgotten. Why have so many of you? I’ll continue to pray for a peaceful resolution to this crisis; however, I will also pray for the swift resolution militarily if that is what it takes to end the rein of terrorism.

God bless America, its men and women who fight your battle daily and my president.

President Bush recently outlined an economic package that would bolster economic growth and create millions of jobs for Americans. The plan would immediately give a boost to our economy and facilitate long-term economic growth. As a member of the New York chapter of Citizens for a Sound Economy, I urge you to support the president’s proposal.

Americans will win with a plan that accelerates the tax cuts placed in 2001. Lowering the income tax burden would give Americans more resources to save for their families, invest for their future and spend for their comfort. A growth plan that eliminates the double taxation of dividends is not only fair but would allow individuals to invest more capital into successful companies.

Bush understands a driving force for the American economy is our small, medium and family businesses. By enabling business owners to expend thousands of dollars more per year would provide considerable resources to spend on capital improvements or to hire more employees.

Other features of the plan would contribute to economic growth as well. It would increase the child tax credit and alleviate the marriage tax that affects millions of couples. These provisions should be included in a final bill for the president’s signature. It’s time to enact policies that grow our economy and create more jobs for Americans.

I hope you will fully support the president’s plan.

While the Homeland Se-curity Department issues alerts varying from medium to high danger, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft organizes a multi-agency effort to crush the bong industry in America.

Ashcroft must be high himself if he actually believes he has reduced the number of smoking implements in America. Does he not realize smokers will simply turn to the millions of potters and glass blowers for their products, not to mention every hardware store in the country?

Much like his brethren at the New York Police Department, Ashcroft has learned arresting anyone and anything related to marijuana makes for easy statistics which help perpetuate funding for low-impact law enforcement careers at all levels.

After ridding the nation of Internet bong merchants, the Homeland Security Department decided it could lower the status of the national terror alert.

House impeachment manager turned Drug Enforcement Agency chief turned border czar Asa Hutchinson said, “We can win the war on terrorism, if we show the same fortitude that has led us to a glorious victory in our war on drugs.”

I did not realize we were winning the war on (people who use) drugs. Mr. Hutchinson must mean the million non-violent drug offenders we have behind bars in this country.

We have been fighting a war on (people who use) drugs since President Nixon and use and availability have both gone up. The last government’s statistics say that between 20 and 50 million Americans smoke marijuana. Looks like we are going to need more jails.

Rather than accept letter-writer Gregory DeSylva’s statement that the only way to end terrorism is to eliminate the cause, another writer, Ed Kleinbaum, irrationally translates this to mean support for terrorism. His racist attitude toward the Palestinians is shared by many members of the Bush administration, especially Elliot Abrams, tragically appointed to deal with the Palestinian issue.

Mr. Kleinbaum does not see his similarity to those who deny the Holocaust. He does not know about the endless killing of innocent Palestinians, now bordering on genocide. He does not seek an explanation for the de-pravity of those Israeli soldiers who defecate on rugs in Palestinian homes . He criticizes Palestinian parents, but does not lament that settlers teach their children to hate and harass Palestinians and to destroy their property. He is not alarmed that the Bush administration makes it safe for members of Ariel Sha-ron’s new government to openly advocate the transfer of all Arabs out of Israel and the territories.

We who try to save Iraqis must also demand an international force to protect both Palestinian and Israeli lives.

Let us not forget the Jewish peace workers who document Israeli atrocities and tirelessly work for justice; or the brave young Jewish people who are going to jail rather than serve as reservists.

May love and peace prevail.

Whether we go to war or not, disaster awaits us who live here in America. Long before Sept. 11, 2001, when our high school students were killing each other as — by the way, they continue to do so — it appeared to me at least things were going to get worse, much worse.

Sept. 11 was not only a verification of this idea, but clearly a wake-up call for all Americans. Sept. 11 did not wake us up. So long as we continue to defy God by wantonly killing the least of His brethren, our own brothers and sisters in the human family, as well as continue our fornicating, contraceptive, pleasure-seeking mentality, we will, as His own chosen people found out, suffer dire consequences.

Most of our people, including many so-called Christians, fail to see the connection between the “slaughter of our innocents” in defiance not only of God’s laws but of our own Constitution, which guarantees the protection of our posterity and the problems that are bound to ensue if we fail to do so.

Since we profess that our nation is a government of the people, by the people and for the people, we have to assume responsibility for what it does.

This letter will do nothing to avert the impending disaster, but if it helps a reader or two to expect and prepare for the worst, that’s all we can hope for.

Has anyone noticed that the 108th Congress of the United States has become irrelevant? Do you remember the last time anything done in Congress warranted press coverage?

Have we forgotten that our government was once a representative democracy? Did you expect something else? (Rhetorical questions, both.)

I vote for a recall because they seem to be distracted.