Questioning the opposition to the Iraq war
Re: “Price of freedom is high,” March 2 guest commentary.
Jeff Crank sadly takes the low road by characterizing opponents of the Iraq war as political opportunists. But his biggest misstatement is to say that it was not the president who committed us to war, but Congress. This is so ridiculous that it is hard to believe it was not written in jest.
When Congress authorized President Bush to use force, it was because he claimed that he needed the diplomatic leverage to force Saddam Hussein to live up to his commitments. He said he would pursue diplomacy and that war would be a last resort. Congress gave the president the benefit of the doubt, only to see him stain the honor of our country by rushing into a pre-emptive war on a country that was not a threat and had not attacked us. Now we are reaping the bitter fruits of that misplaced trust.
It is true that the price of freedom is high. But the price of arrogance and stupidity can be higher yet.
James J. Amato, Woodland Park
. . .
Jeff Crank was right on target and his column should be required reading for every member of Congress.
The threats to this country posed by all previous wars pale in comparison to the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorists, who have blatantly declared their determination to destroy our country and our culture, simply because we are “non- believers” in Islam. Make no mistake, this is the greatest threat ever to our country, and it will not be resolved for decades to come.
The greatest danger to our very survival in this conflict of cultures lies not only in an uncomprehending and short-sighted citizenry, but in our very Congress, which is infested with weak-kneed politicians. In lieu of living up to their fiduciary duty to support the Constitution and the welfare of the country first and foremost, we are seeing all too many members of both houses take positions and make decisions based solely on their respective party line on how to win the 2008 election.
Political posturing by members of Congress to limit or hamstring our commander in chief’s decisions are ill-advised, to put it mildly. This constant quibbling by congressional armchair commanders greatly encourages our Islamic enemies. All of this is detrimental to the welfare and morale of our troops, who put their lives on the line for this country.
Sadly, the majority of the Colorado congressional delegation, and many in our state legislature, fit this despicable political mold.
David Laird, Montrose
. . .
Jeff Crank is representative of many Bush-Cheney loyalists who have simply lost touch with reality in their partisan zeal to explain away the Iraq fiasco. His argument that Sens. Chuck Hagel and John Warner ought to be good Republicans, whether the war is “right or wrong,” places politics over what is best for our nation.
Like Crank, I also know a soldier who spent two tours in Iraq. He scoffs at the notion that “freedom” had anything to do with the invasion and occupation of a country that, contrary to Crank’s outlandish allegation, did not bring terror to our doorstep.
Robert Ellis, Aurora
Elk hunt in Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is a national treasure as well as an important state icon. We all have a responsibility to ensure its long-term protection and preservation.
A public hunt of the park’s burgeoning elk population would compromise the park’s values, as The Post’s editorial page has opined. Instead, we should wait for the National Park Service’s Environmental Impact Statement to implement a long-term management solution to this serious problem.
All park stakeholders, including adjacent communities, park visitors and others, should participate in this solution, a process that is consistent with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s philosophy.
David Nimkin, Salt Lake City
The writer is a regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Ideas and funding for improving Interstate 70
Re: “I-70 ideas going nowhere fast,” Feb. 27 Diane Carman column.
In her pitch for more mass transit, Diane Carman also mentioned some “mundane, short-term measures” that could ease weekend congestion along the Interstate 70 corridor – things like tougher chain laws and encouraging weekday skiing. Here’s one simple measure she overlooked: leaving our highway funding alone. The General Assembly has developed a habit in the past few sessions of diverting revenue destined for highways to a wide range of supposedly more pressing programs.
Just one bill alone that passed the state Senate last month, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald’s Senate Bill 97, would siphon off $35 million in tobacco settlement proceeds each year. The result will be to lower the amount of funding available for highways. Some of the money appropriated by SB 97 is going to finance the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center while the rest goes to a number of social-welfare programs. Those expenditures obviously have their constituencies, but they come at a cost to our state’s basic transportation grid.
If anyone thinks $35 million couldn’t put a dent in the woes of I-70, consider this: The bill allocates $2.9 million of that money next year to mental health counseling for felons. Maybe that’s a worthy cause, but just last week, state highway officials pledged $1.2 million to improve chain-up areas along I-70. That could save a life. A little highway money can go a long way – if we actually spend it on highways.
Andy McElhany, Senate Minority Leader, Colorado Springs
Deaths at Denver Zoo
I was troubled by Sarah Kaczka’s letter (March 1 Open Forum) in which she chides The Denver Post for printing contributions from readers who expressed compassion for the jaguar that was recently killed at the Denver Zoo. I don’t believe anyone was attempting to devalue, disrespect or diminish the tragedy of the zoo worker’s death, as she suggests. However, many feel, as I do, that zoos unethically cage wild animals in artificial habitats with the ludicrous expectation that they are to act in an unnaturally docile and “cute” manner for the amusement of people. When one of these beasts behaves aggressively from fear or instinctual reactivity and harms a human, it is summarily executed.
In my opinion, there were two victims in this unnecessary incident, and I am offended by the simplistic logic of individuals who so readily label anyone voicing a modicum of sensitivity toward our fellow creatures as “extreme animal- rights folks.”
Gary Ranch, Fort Collins
What is important?
What is going on with this country? There were plenty of helicopters in the air showing the funeral caravan going to the Florida airport last week with Anna Nicole Smith’s hearse. It reminded me of the slow chase of O.J. Simpson’s white SUV on the California interstate.
I keep forgetting the importance of this country. Obama, Hillary, Pelosi, O.J. Simpson, McCain, Anna Nicole Smith, Romney, “macaca,” Dubya Bush, Britney Spears are all becoming one big cauldron of confusion. What is really important to the people in this country?
Gary McMurtrey, Grand Junction
Criminals and ethnicity
Re: “Infant allegedly sold found; mother held,” Feb. 28 news story.
I am very disappointed in The Denver Post for allowing the ethnic background of Nicole Uribe into a story about her selling her baby. If a white American woman had committed the same crime, I doubt The Post would identify her as such. Considering this information pertinent to the story is unnecessary and highly biased. As a multicultural nation, we need to start identifying people as people and criminals as criminals, regardless of ethnicity.
Erica Grundin, Arvada
To send a letter
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