Libya headed in the right direction

1/6/2004

It appears to me that The Blade wants it both ways when the United States is dealing with rogue nations. First it complains about pre-emptive war and not exhausting all diplomacy options. The U.S. didn t get U.N. support, it didn t get European support. The unilateralist approach is going to create chaos.

Unilateralist approach?

What about the other members of the coalition of the willing?

Now that we have reached a deal with Libyan dictator Muammar Kaddafi, the Bush Administration hasn t done enough fast enough. The paper screams about the lack of a demand for democracy in Libya.

What exactly does The Blade want this administration to do, get results or pound sand? Shouldn t we be a little excited about this development, or at the least pleased in the direction that Libya is going?

These types of negotiations take time. Also Libya knows that the U.S. carries a big stick and, under President Bush, is not afraid to use it. Kaddafi told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that he was scared that his country was next after we invaded Iraq.

It s quite obvious that President Bush s foreign policy plan is working quite well, especially when a dictator like Kaddafi is willing to give up weapons of mass destruction.

JOSH PALMER

Findlay

In her Dec. 27 column Mona Charen charged that Howard Dean “is a liar.” The cause of her angst is an erroneous statement by Mr. Dean to an Iowa newspaper questionnaire asking who his “closest living relative in the armed services is ...” Mr. Dean referred to his late brother, a civilian, as a POW/MIA.

In fairness, why don t we balance Ms. Charen s one-sided passion for truth about Governor Dean with a small sample of President Bush s lies.

1. Mr. Bush falsely stated that his tax reductions primarily went to the middle class rather than the rich.

2. Mr. Bush claimed his “clean air” proposals would reduce pollution when they are actually a source of even dirtier air because his bill left any air pollution clean-up to voluntary action by the polluters themselves for the first few years.

3. Mr. Bush s “leave-no-child-behind” education bill imposed unfunded mandates on the states and appropriated less money than he had promised the bill s sponsors.

4. Early this year Mr. Bush promised that “we will not pass along our problems ... to other generations.” But his budget message revealed that in the first two years $600 billion in debt would pass over to the next generation.

5. And more recently he has had to backpedal on his duplicitous claims about Iraq.

Mr. Bush s lies are all about public policy affecting millions of people.

Such lies are destructive of the trust between voters and candidates and without such trust representative democracy may eventually die.

DENNIS M. ANDERSON

Glenbrier Road

Naughty, not nice

The Ohio Supreme Court s 2003 Christmas gift went to Toledo s lawyers. The court fined a title agency for practicing law without a license in that it prepared a deed without the supervision of an attorney. The Toledo Bar Association had filed the complaint.

The fine was small ($1,000) and the subject was of little interest to the average citizen, but the stench of lawyers protecting the jobs of lawyers at the expense of the rest of us by using the coercion of government simply spoils the holiday season.

PETER S. MILLER

Marin Drive