Soldiers' job is to defend their country

9/16/2004

Reading the Sept. 10 editorial, "A lethal milestone," about the 1,000 military deaths in Iraq, reminds me of something that I have not seen nor heard in the media.

Not to minimize these soldiers' deaths or take away the horror of any war, I wonder why these men signed the papers to serve and protect their country?

My time in service (1953-1961) was a period when all men of 18 were eligible for the draft and had to register. There is no draft today. It is strictly voluntary.

Were none of these men aware that there could come a time when they would be asked to defend and fight, even to the death?

Perhaps we should all wait until this country is invaded and then commence our battles (9/11 comes to mind). This could take us back to the time frame of the Revolution when the battles were fought here.

Would it not be more productive to salute these brave men on a continuing basis rather than make every statement sound as if they died in vain?

Bill Scantlen

Whitehouse

Minnesota and Kansas were handed a blank check. Each filled it in with "Sixty-three and 00/100 points." Each! That's 126 points, one more than was scored against the Rockets in all 11 games of the 2000 season.

Is this our preseason top 25-ranked Rockets? Well, let's at least give some credit for consistency, but its obvious de-fence has been blown over by non-hurricane strength winds.

Should Coach Amstutz consider a new defensive approach?

Once, in a time far, far away (three short seasons ago), lived an 11-1 Rocket team which was third in the nation in both total defense and in fewest points allowed. Their only loss was by seven points. Their average margin of victory was nearly 27.

The credit for that brilliant defense rightfully went to then-defensive coordinator Tom Amstutz, who was promptly promoted to head coach. He has done a whale of a job and installed one of the nation's most exciting offenses. I feel both lucky and honored to be able to take my kids to every home game.

But has he lived up to the potential? Is it a wise choice to promote an exciting offensive attack and ignore the obvious decline of the defense?

I could cite statistics, but they're not needed. Every fan has a feel for the decline of the defense. And every fan knows that if we had the defense of three years ago with the offense of today the Rockets could easily be the strongest MAC team ever.

John Briggs

Grantley Road

I find it amazing that we have a commission investigating the Abu Ghraib prison "abuses." We're talking about people there who want to kill all Americans. You say the American people and the world are "shocked." What would be shocking is if our prison guards were using rubber hoses, cutting off fingers, and threatening to cut off heads like the terrorists did. How you can blame Donald Rumsfeld for Abu Ghraib is a mystery to me.

There are billboards in Florida that state "We Bare All. Couples Welcome." That doesn't seem to shock anyone. We have New Yorkers undressing in the streets as some sort of protest. That isn't shocking. We have strip clubs all over Toledo - the entire country - and that isn't shocking. We abort the unborn, and half of America doesn't care. Turn on your TV, and much of that is filth. All of the premium channels are filthy, and that isn't shocking. It must be all right: We have people paying to see it.

If I used the filthy language that is seen in many movies, you wouldn't print this letter, although I don't believe that it would shock many of your readers. But somehow some Americans find it shocking to undress a few terrorists. And call it abusive. Get real.

What is shocking is that the media published all of those pictures for the world to see. They are the ones who are responsible for giving this information to the radical Islamists to use, as you say, "as vivid recruiting tools for terrorism." That's where the treason lies.

Richard H. Baxter, Sr.

Temperance

I found The Blade's "Recklessness in Iran" editorial a bit disingenuous, even for you. Iran has recently threatened Israel and the United States with retaliation for any assault on its nuclear program. The Blade's best advice for the latter two countries is to sit on their hands and hope for a diplomatic solution.

After all, diplomacy will surely sway the Iranian leadership that calls Israel a "cancerous tumor," an "illegal entity," and vows to campaign until "Israel is completely eradicated."

These are the people we want to have a nuclear program?

If Iran wanted to buy a handgun, I can only imagine the tone of the editorial that would flow from Superior Street.

Iran is a well-documented supporter of terrorist groups throughout the world. Their clients include Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestine Islamic Jihad. Some of the 9/11 hijackers passed though Iran, which purposefully did not stamp their passports, keeping them off of terrorist watchlists.

Israel nipped Iraq's nuclear program in the bud in 1981, but The Blade deems such action unwise. After all, you reason, Iraq could reach Israel with missiles. Would it be more prudent to wait until those missiles are nuclear tipped? The Blade even admits that Iran's declaration of peaceful use of nuclear power is "probably not true." When Iran joins the nuclear club, you can bet the next member of that club will be Hezbollah. If that is allowed to happen, it will be too late for any action, "reckless" or otherwise.

Tim Lester

Eastbrook Drive

Yuval Zaliouk's Aug. 31 commentary, "Propaganda puts Israel's existence at risk," finally offers a reality check to The Blade's usual pro-PLO bias.

I would encourage, as I have done in the past, The Blade to offer such a properly balanced view of Middle East events on a regular basis as it is only just and fair.

Mr. Zaliouk's comments at his conclusion, questioning if Jews must be removed for peace, an ethnic cleansing of areas occupied by Israeli Arabs - the fictitious "Palestinians" - what about all those Arabs who remain within the Jewish homeland?

A former Knesset member, Rabbi Meir Kahane, courageously faced this reality years ago and presented his logical solution to the Israeli Parliament and public. He said, of those who aid and abet the daily call for genocide against the Jews: "They must go!"

As a Christian-Zionist, I agree with an increasing number of others: Rabbi Kahane was correct.

David Ben-Ariel

Kelsey Avenue

On reading your story of the 50th anniversary of the Children's Theatre Workshop, I found it rather unbelievable that the story didn't include the earlier history of the CTW, when it was housed at the Village Players Theatre under the direction of Pat Kennedy.

Beginning in 1973, my son, Jack, worked with the group at the Village for a few years, and I was always impressed by Pat's dedication and determination to make CTW a learning and fulfilling experience for a lot of children. Jack is still a working actor in Chicago.

It's too bad your article didn't give Pat the recognition she deserved.

Linda Tippett

Sylvania

I find it ironic that so many liberals are attacking George W. Bush for his service in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Yet they embraced Bill Clinton, who avoided the draft, and served in nothing during the Vietnam War. Nevertheless they helped elect him to the presidency.

Many may not know or recall that when he became commander in chief of our armed forces, Mr. Clinton had to be taught by some of his staff how to give a military-style salute. This is a matter of record. I say to those who are critical of President Bush's military service that, of our last two presidents, only one reported for duty.

RUDI BEHAM

Holland-Sylvania Road