Article published September 24, 2007
Hunt oil deal sabotages Bush agenda
So Ray Hunt - Texas oilman, Bush intimate, and a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board - has entered his company into a separate oil deal with the Kurdish provincial government, not only skirting the Iraqi government's intentions but actively sabotaging this very same Bush Administration's benchmark for the Iraqi government to enact legislation on sharing of oil profits.
And, too, apparently taking advantage of an insider's view that the prospect of Iraqi unity is regarded as a phantasm even by the Bushies themselves.
This is an act of chutzpah that seems to border on treason and represents a breathtaking act of disloyalty to Mr. Bush. One wonders how this passed muster with the State Department in the first place. One recalls that, as they say, a fish rots from the head.
What does anyone suppose Mr. Bush will do when this tidbit finally hits the fan? Here's a prediction: Nothing. When was the last time anyone remembers President Bush having a problem with one of the good-ol'-boy members of the petroleum-defense-contractor complex, from Dick Cheney on down, filling their coffers with the odd billion or two while defying American foreign policy or by exploiting high-level connections?
Speaking of reactions, I wonder whether The Blade's resident Bush sycophant, Jack "You-can't-take-the-Marine-out-of-the-boy" Kelly, will share his undoubtedly unique take on this bit of rottenness in the trunk of the "bush" - an act that gives the lie to what is being told to our, and Mr. Kelly's, honored troops about the need to stay and sacrifice. Not that I'll hold my breath in anticipation, but this retired Air Force colonel would sure like to read it.
Howard L. RitterMaumee
Democrats showing courage on Iraq war
I want to congratulate the Democrats in Congress who have the courage to risk political criticism to challenge the Republican consensus that there is only one way to bring peace to Iraq. Iraqi factions will never move toward reconciliation as long as the United States offers to stay "as long as it takes." The threat of withdrawal is the only tool the United States has to create a sense of urgency there. I think it's time to step up the pressure.
No responsible presidential candidate is proposing to "cut and run." We all know we'll be there awhile. But we must remember who got us into this mess, wasted four years and billions of dollars, and lost 4,000 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis. Just because these incompetents have finally found a general who knows what he's doing is no reason to think they're the right people to bring the war to an end.
All honor to our military for their courage in the face of stupidity. Shame on the politicians that put them in this position. Shame to Iraqis who adhere to childish differences while hiding behind U.S. soldiers who are dying to keep factions apart. And shame on Republicans who take potshots at Democrats who dare to consider new weapons in the war against terror.
We will remember you in the voting booth.
Barry Halgrimson
Cheltenham Road
Lessons from 9/11 are not forgotten
A Sept. 13 letter states that we have forgotten the lessons of 9/11. I wake every morning with the events of that horrific day etched in my mind. Our President wants to eradicate the Islamic terrorists responsible from the face of the Earth. That mission started in Afghanistan and is continuing in Iraq
The writer refers to the engagement in Iraq as wretched, shedding more blood and causing greater destruction and spreading more misery. But what he failed to mention was that this chaos is by Muslim extremists on Muslims.
We have not lost our innate humanity, compassion, and empathy. Quite the contrary - 28 million people are free in Afghanistan, millions more in Iraq, elections held, schools open, women treated like human beings, and trade is thriving in markets thanks to the courageous actions of our brave American soldiers. Osama bin Laden is hiding like a rat under some rock in a deep, dark cave.
The writer says that millions are self-interned in domestic refugee camps, unheard of during the reign of Saddam Hussein. That's because he put a bullet in their heads and tossed them in mass graves.
One glowing omission from the letter was the nonreference to the real perpetrators of 9/11 and its aftermath: bin Laden, al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Islamic terrorists.
The writer states that as a Muslim, this 9/11 anniversary has painful ramifications because of the acute fear of Islam, Muslims, and the Arabic language in the hearts and psyches of Americans. If it is so painful, why don't American Muslims condemn bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and all Islamic terrorists publicly to dispel this fear?
The only herd of depressed and fearful weaklings are the silent Muslim populations.
Nothing could be more fatal that this silence.
Gary Stechschulte
Perrysburg
Education needed on cost of Iraq war
The media have done a poor job educating the public on the monetary cost of President Bush's Iraq war. What needs to be done is to frame the cost in terms the public can grasp.
For example a Sept. 15 article on funding National Parks stated an $800 million annual shortfall exists there. In Iraq war cost terms - a war costing more than $400 million per day - that shortfall is two days of spending.
You like our new Veterans' Glass City Skyway bridge? You could build two of these for the cost of one day of Mr. Bush's Iraq war. The U.S. Border Patrol has 11,000 agents. Want to quintuple that to 55,000 to really secure our borders? Cost: 10 days of the Iraq war. Renovate courthouses? You could do 50 for one day's Iraq cost.
If the media really wanted to educate us about the Iraq war's economic cost, every story that discusses a government budget item should be framed in minutes, hours, or days of Iraq war spending.
And if our so-called commander in chief had an ounce of courage and integrity, he would ask Americans to pay for his Iraq war by imposing a 15 percent surcharge on income taxes, instead of passing the bill down to our kids and grandkids.
Carl Hudecek
Perrysburg
Payday-loan report full of inaccuracies
The Blade demonstrates a lack of education concerning payday loans with its Sept. 14 editorial, "Bad money after bad."
In criticizing Goodwill's attempt to loan money at a rate of approximately $10 per hundred borrowed, The Blade announces that "the high annual percentage rate puts it in the same category as the payday lenders, and many of its borrowers keep taking out more loans and slipping further down the path to financial ruin."
What exactly does The Blade define as "high APR"? Does The Blade understand that between an average store's $10,000 monthly expenses and 7 percent default rate, it is barely possible to even make a profit at $10 per hundred? Does The Blade expect payday lenders to charge 36 percent APR that is "more fair" to borrowers, but which puts the lenders out of business, as Oregon has done?
Even Goodwill - a charity - realizes that they can't charge less or the product won't work.
In addition, The Blade's statement that "typically, borrowers can't meet the quick deadlines for repayment so they take out more loans to pay off previous ones and sink out of sight in debt" is patently false. One look at any of the quarterly reports of public payday loan companies will reveal that 93 percent of all lenders pay back on time. In addition, the largest payday lender in the United States, Advance America, does not permit rollovers.
Yes, some people do roll over loans too often, but the solution is to limit rollovers, not interest rates. I urge The Blade to investigate the payday loan industry before editorializing with inaccuracies in the future.
Lawrence Meyers
President, PDL Capital, LLC Santa Monica, Calif.Democrats ambiguous on Iraq
A better headline for your article on the congressional Democrats' reaction to President Bush's Iraq plans would have been: "Dems: Iraq improvements unacceptable." It would have conveyed their ambiguity about events in Iraq.
Joseph McGee
Sylvania
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