LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Demolition not answer to blight

7/15/2014

With the controversy over blight in Toledo, there appears to be a rush to cure by demolition (“Toledoans urged to join fight as T-Town initiative begins,” July 10). My neighborhood has seen more than its share of demolition, and the underlying problems have not gone away.

Demolition is a shortsighted solution to a multifaceted problem. Each blighted property has its own story. We need to spend the time to determine the cause and cure for each.

Demolition dollars should be saved for structures that pose the worst safety issues. Stable structures should be saved by working with the current owner or transferring them to new owners who will ensure that they are preserved. Our historic neighborhoods are worth the extra effort.

FANNY EFFLER
Collingwood Boulevard

How to tell good people from bad?
I have learned much by reading S. Amjad Hussain’s op-ed columns in The Blade about religion and politics in the Middle East. Much has been written about the millions of peace-loving Muslims throughout the world.

We know that every religion has both good people and trouble-causing radicals.

I had three friends who went down on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and four acquaintances who perished at the World Trade Center on 9/​11.

I hope Dr. Hussain will write a column about how Americans can tell the difference between the many peaceful Muslim Americans and radical Muslims.

FRANK MILLER
Monclova Township

 

From one Cheney to another
With Iraq returning to being the factional country it was before the United States’ 2003 invasion, I hope that President Obama will appoint a committee to return to Iraq as his peace emissaries (“Parliament’s next session up in air as threats loom,” July 9).

That committee should include George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condoleezza Rice. Given their combined knowledge of Iraq, I expect that they could lead Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds to the negotiating table.

I wonder whether most Iraqis would be thrilled to have them back. Fortunately, I am not a relative of Mr. Cheney.

DICK CHENEY
Maumee

 

Those who voted for Obama chided
In response to the June 30 Readers’ Forum letter “Problem with Iraq all on Bush”: People have blamed President George W. Bush for a lot of things.

But I blame the Iraq problem on those who elected the incompetent President Obama — twice.

JOHN JACOBS
Lebanon Street