Iraq Study Group report
Your reporting on the Iraq Study Group reveals how pitiful our situation has become in Iraq and the Middle East. The Study Group made 79 recommendations. How pathetic! Just one bold recommendation was needed to salvage the Iraqis and us from our debacle.
By our actions in Iraq, we marginalized our nation and emboldened the rogue states in the region. Oil and terrorism are tools of diplomacy, and these states are the masters of sabotage. In our xenophobic hysteria last year, we blacklisted a moderate United Arab Emirates from our ports, and in doing so, we tightened our own noose. The leaders of the Middle East will look to their own interests, not ours, and they certainly have the resources to do so. It will take a decade and a new set of enlightened U.S. leaders before we overcome this travesty.
Gregory Sullivan, Littleton
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The Baker report reminds us of the lesson we paid for so dearly in the Vietnam War: We cannot run the world.
When we blew the Saddam lid off the Iraqi Pandora’s Box, we unleashed the Shiite/Sunni blood feud that has been going on for more than 1,300 years. We are not going to be able to end that anytime in the foreseeable future.
But we can stop promoting anti- American terrorism, which our presence in Iraq is doing, as our intelligence agencies have repeatedly told President Bush. And we can stop being held hostage in Iraq by the incompetence of Bush and the Iraqi leaders. We can take control of our fate and give the Iraqi leaders a date when we will leave, so they will have a chance to pull themselves together. It is wrong to continue giving Iraq an endless blank check that is written upon the lives of our troops.
There is no way to bring a happy ending to the tragic mess in Iraq. But we can give a happy ending to the families of our troops by bringing their loved ones home soon. We should not sacrifice more lives for unrealistic goals.
Doug Long, Rio Rancho, N.M.
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What is to prevent George W. Bush from taking the Iraq Study Group’s report and placing it on a high shelf in his private study to let it gather dust? His public statements since the release of the report seem to reflect that no change of policy in Iraq is necessary.
Mark Kness, Boulder
Lookout Mountain towers
Re: “Surprise bill may put TV tower on mountain,” Dec. 8 news story.
I’m glad to see Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar are trying to put the good of the greater Denver area ahead of the NIMBY attitude of Golden. Since one senator is a Democrat and the other Republican, which party will Golden be mad at?
It’s a shame Golden has to be the dog-in-the-manger over the TV tower and the road to circle the metro area. Would they be happier if we built a wall around the city?
Larry McLaughlin, Aurora
Judicial appointments
Re: “Owens’ reach exceeds stay,” Dec. 4 news story.
To your report that Gov. Bill Owens has appointed 161 of Colorado’s 275 state-court judges and justices, we’d like to add that each was recommended to the governor by one of 23 local or statewide judicial nominating commissions. These panels of citizens solicit applications through widely distributed vacancy announcements, screen and interview applicants, and recommend two or three names from whom the governor must choose.
Other citizens serve on judicial performance commissions that evaluate the work of all state judges and recommend to voters whether they should be retained on the bench. In addition, the Judicial Discipline Commission investigates serious complaints against judges and can impose various forms of discipline, including removal from the bench.
Colorado citizens adopted merit selection by amending the state constitution in 1966 to ensure that our judges are chosen for their qualifications. In 1988, judicial performance commissions were initiated to evaluate judges to complement merit selection.
Karen Salaz, Office of the State Court Administrator, Denver
Ex-Bronco’s arrest
Re: “Braxton allegedly agreed to pay woman $600 for sex; Ex-Bronco is arrested on cocaine and pot counts,” Dec. 5 news story.
That “fallen hero,” Tyrone Braxton, has made the local news by virtue of being arrested. But wait, just what was it that he was arrested for doing? It is alleged that one of the things (and Braxton denies it) was that he offered to pay money for sex in a private home. Now, just how does that threaten you, me or society in general? It doesn’t, and our “nanny” society, through the force of government, should stop trying to impose its views of acceptable behavior onto otherwise peaceable and consenting adults.
It is also alleged that Braxton had drugs in his possession. Again, how does that threaten you, me or society in general?
How does society, through the force of government, have the moral right to decide what substances any individual can ingest or otherwise introduce into his own body? The concept of freedom seems to be a very elastic thing for most of us.
Jim Muhm, Englewood
Back-to-basics camping
Re: “Forest plans need close look,” Dec. 3 editorial.
I agree that we should keep an eye on our forests. I long for a back-to-basics campground with minimal facilities. I can’t remember a time within the last few years that I’ve stayed in a “Forest Service” campground that wasn’t run by a concessionaire. For some reason, a while back, the higher-ups in the Forest Service thought that its visitors wanted more amenities, such as flushable toilets, running water, trash cans and even paved roads in campgrounds. Thus, they decided to essentially rent out the campsite facilities to concessionaires who “improve” the campgrounds and charge higher fees so that I may camp there.
Folks, this is camping, not the French Riviera. I say let’s get back to the basics. Do I really want to pay $25 for a campsite (yes, for only one night!) that’s been “improved?” This term “improved” is subjective, and I would actually think of it as “ruining” the more rustic camping experience that I seek outside of the city. I can provide my own toilet paper to use in pit toilets, trash bags to collect and bring trash back home with me (or to the nearest dump site), and water for cooking, cleaning, etc. If we do all of this, the Forest Service may be able to hold on to and continue the legacy of camping in our mountains at a relatively inexpensive cost for both the campground visitors and the Forest Service.
Kristyn Econome, Denver
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