Topic: Katrina
The reason I wrote this because of a conversation I heard on CNN between two Senators, Joseph Biden D of DE and Jon Kyl R of AZ, talking about how to pay for Hurricane Katrina. The question was asked if we should stop sending money to Iraq, and use that money to pay for Katrina, and both agreed that the mission in Iraq was too important. Republican Sen. Jon Kyl from AZ said we should pay for Katrina like many Municipal Projects, because the buildings and Highways will last as long as 70 years. So if we put it in long range Municipal Bonds then the people 70 years from now will still be using them, therefore should help pay for them.
My question to Sen. Kyl is what about the next disaster? How many generations of the future shall we burden with expenses of projects that no one will remember, just so we can keep paying for a war that never should have happened in the first place?
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I am sick and tired of listening to The Bush Administration and virtually all of the politicians of both parties claiming that, “Maybe we shouldn’t have gone to war in Iraq, but as long as we are there we must stay till it’s over”.
My feelings are that no matter how long we stay, no matter how many lives are needlessly lost, and no matter how much money we spend, as soon as we finally leave there will be a Military Coup and Iraq will become a Dictatorship again. That is the way the people of that part of the world are accustomed to living, and they will not change.
History Tells Us So
Going back over a Century to the Spanish American War when The United States intervened and freed Cuba, Puerto Rico and The Philippine Islands from the domination of Spain, and Puerto and the Philippians became US Territories instead of Spanish Territories. We made Cuba a Free Democracy, even though the government was evil and stealing from the people, (Much like the Bush Administration). Until a Military Coup by Fidel Castro (supported by the US Government), overturned the government. Then Fidel Castro became Dictator and Cuba became a Communist Country and remains so till today.
A good part of WWII was spent to protect the downtrodden country of China from being captured by the Horrible Imperial Japanese, so they would be free from domination and become a free Democracy. But as soon as we left, China became a Communist Country.
The other part of WWII was to free Poland and Czechoslovakia from the domination of Evil Germany, but as soon as the war was over we submitted those countries into the domination of Evil USSR. And it took over 50 years and the downfall of the USSR before they were actually free.
Then we were involved in a conflict (We weren’t supposed to call it a war) to keep Southern Korea from being absorbed by the Evil Communist Northern Korea, and unite both countries into one United Democracy. So after untold millions of dollars and thousands of young American and Korean lives, that one didn’t work either.
Then of course there was the war to prevent the southern part of Viet Nam from being overtaken by the Evil Viet Cong from the northern part of Viet Nam and unite them into a United Democracy. But after fighting an un-winnable war for a Decade, with more millions of dollars and thousands more of young American and Vietnamese lives needlessly wasted, we slithered away, and it remained Communist.
So I wonder why the Bush Administration and many politicians of both parties really think that Iraq is any different? Unless we stay there forever and make that country a territory of the United States, as soon as we leave, no matter how much money we send over there and how many lives are needlessly wasted, the people that live there will form the type of government they want.
Look at Israel, a country that was formed 58 wears ago because everyone in the world believed it was the correct thing to do. The Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting about it ever since. Look at Ireland, a country that has not been at war with any other country since the Second World War, but they continue to fight among themselves. Look at Sudan, Bosnia Herzegovina and other countries that have internal problems, and are fighting civil wars almost constantly. No person that lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue can resolve that the world must live as peaceful Democracies, and have that resolution come to pass.
We should not have gone into a war with Iraq in the first place as Saddam Hussein and Iraq were not a threat to The United States because they had no Long Range Missiles, No Long Range Bombers, and no Navy to speak of, so even if they did have any Weapons of Mass Destruction, they had no way they could have delivered them to the North American Continent. And of course we now know that there were no WMDs in the first place, and the intelligence that indicated that they existed at all was fabricated by the Bush Administration because George wanted to go to war. And we should not continue to be there trying to make it into a democracy. Because whatever we try to do, it will not happen.
History Tells Us So.
R. J. MacLachlan, Manchester, CT
The main body of this letter was written in Nov. 4 2005
