U.S. snoozes in the face of defeat in Iraq

2/23/2007

The Democrats have tried to liken the war in Iraq to Vietnam. I now concede the point.

Just like Vietnam, Congress is trying to manage a war instead of allowing the generals to do whatever it takes to achieve victory.

Just like Vietnam, Congress is discussing cutting funding of the war to force our defeat.

Just like Vietnam, the left, along with the media, are hell-bent on convincing the American public that our only option is surrender and that victory is not attainable.

Just like Vietnam, the media and Congress fuel the will of our enemies with their anti-American propaganda. We keep hearing that we should learn from history, and that is why we should leave Iraq.

I agree we should learn from history. When we surrendered and pulled back from the enemy in Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, and Lebanon, it was a disaster.

If you think it's horrible to see the terror and violence in Iraq, it is coming to a town near you. If we fail this war, we will see roadside bombs on our own interstate highways, car-bombs at our local grocery store or mall. This level of violence is our future. The terrorists are in the U.S. right now, plotting the death of American men, women, and children. They have the means and the capability to turn Chicago, New York, or Toledo into Baghdad. All they are waiting for is the word go.

After 9/11 you would think the alarm would wake up this country. Unfortunately, we hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.

Kip Brown

Cherry Hill Road

Bush leads us down the road to ruin

The Supreme Court is antiquated and out of touch with the real world. Congress is on life support. The nation is bankrupt and even with Homeland Security we are less safe now than we were 10 or 15 years ago.

President Bush is so preoccupied with Iraq that he is impervious to the fact that the American people are hurting. Mr. Bush is so arrogant that his indomitable pride will not allow him to admit his policies are wrong, so he continues down this dangerous road leading to ruination.

If he doesn't change his course, when this period of history is written, it will tell the story of a man who was so reckless and callous toward humanity that in eight years he humbled a once proud nation and brought it to its knees. He disrupted the tranquility of many families and placed more than 300 million American lives at risk. It's time for a change and a new direction. Give peace a chance, not war. Time is of the essence.

NATE WASHINGTON

Bricker Avenue

President's strategy becoming obvious

Remember when we would get high security alerts from the Homeland Security Department? Remember that these came only when President Bush's ratings had fallen? Remember that these terrorist alerts came to an abrupt end after a new alert caused the head of Homeland Security to run into a TV studio and declare "I didn't know there was an alert!"?

Are these new accusations against Iran more of the same?

Mr. Bush is having trouble getting the country to see that a surge is necessary. His poll numbers are worse than ever. Then come these reports against Iran. They have been received with disbelief and conjecture. Has Mr. Bush screamed "wolf!" once too often?

Adele Federman

Mockingbird Lane

Criticism of coach was unwarranted

Some in the community are condemning Eastwood girls' basketball coach Jim Gracyk for stalling in his team's 15-7 victory over Genoa in a game earlier this season. As a basketball coach myself, I find this [criticism] appalling, to say the least.

First and foremost, if you're going to criticize coaches, Genoa coach Tom Kontak has to take at least half the blame. It takes two to take part in a stall game. I know and respect Coach Kontak, but nobody forced him to stay in his zone defense. Some say that fans were cheated. How much is a ticket to a high school game these days? Five dollars? The critics are missing the bigger picture here.

A quote from Michael Jordan:

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

What Jim Gracyk chose to do was to wait for the roadblock - the Genoa zone defense - to come down. He taught his young ladies a valuable life lesson that night. They learned there is more than one way to go about facing a challenge and that anything is possible. The win was a total team effort and exemplified the ideal of unselfishness at its best.

In the infamous Macomber-St. Francis game in the mid-1980s, Macomber coach Bart Schroeder faced similar criticisms. Bottom line: He got the win! And that Jimmy Jackson guy turned out all right, didn't he?

JEREMY McDONALD

Mason Street

Setting the record straight on Hillary

After reading a letter headlined "Look at Hillary's poor track record," a few comparisons seem appropriate. For instance, Senator Clinton's involvement with Wal-Mart. She was only one of any number of directors and was not the "decider" about employee health care. So why blame her? Why not try the oil companies and their shameless price gouging and the oil men who are temporarily president and vice president? You can really make a case in this area.

And to set the record straight, Ms. Clinton, when she was First Lady, did try to implement a nationwide health care plan for all. But big business and its lobbyists saw to it that the Republican Congress dashed any hopes of her worthwhile plan.

If the earlier letter writer wants to talk about "liars," he has only to look in his own right-wing Republican backyard to find an abundance of world-class prevaricators.

James Falbush

Findlay

Value in exploring the moon and Mars

A recent Blade editorial suggested that NASA should divert money earmarked for the moon/Mars exploration program to weather satellites to keep track of global warming. This kind of thinking has stalled space exploration for years and will guarantee us confinement to our narrow and incredibly tiny part of the universe forever.

This is not a good thing in terms of the long-term survival of humanity. The dangers of confining ourselves to one planet for too long have been well-documented by scientists. For another thing, either the new science involved or the trips themselves could offer future solutions to energy, population, or global warming problems.

As the editorial rightly pointed out, going to Mars would be a complicated and dangerous proposition, but if explorers had let that stop them in the past, this country wouldn't exist, and Europe would be impossibly crowded.

Yes, we need to keep track of global warming, and it's desirable to spend money in a hundred other areas. It always will be. But that shouldn't keep us from exploring, from reaching into that vast area that makes up 99.999999 percent of reality.

We already know that global warming is real, and that keeping track of its progress is important. But it shouldn't be an either-or proposition.

A country that can give failed CEOs $136 million buyouts and spend untold billions on an ill-advised war that has accomplished nothing ought to be able to afford the paltry-by-comparison funds necessary to explore the moon and Mars.

We don't know what all of the payback will be, but it could involve the long-term survival of the species. If nothing else, it will give the U.S. an endeavor to be proud of, and a rallying point for the whole human race.

Richard F. Pratt

Onsted, Mich.

Now that the members of the Toledo Board of Education have chosen a new leader, they need to finish the job by resigning and giving the new guy a fighting chance. How do you think John Foley feels about the situation after he was forced to sit there while his future was decided by people who couldn't agree on what time it was? I think the new slogan for the school system needs to be "five for change."

Walter Faust

Belvoir Drive