Bush, Iraq and terrorism
Re: “Bush acknowledges benchmarks unmet but rules out early pullout,” July 13 news story.
In Friday’s paper, President Bush is quoted as saying, “I don’t think Congress ought to be running the war. I think they ought to be funding the
troops.”
Now, I’m a businessman. And in business, one axiom to live by is “Don’t throw good money after bad.” When you consider what Iraq is costing in
precious lives and money versus what we’re gaining from this effort, it only seems logical that an oversight body such as Congress would start asking
questions. It’s their job. Why the president can’t seem to understand that is, well, not surprising for this president.
“Ah,” you say, “but we’re fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here!” But look around you. In the U.S. today, we are less
safe, less free, less influential, less economically stable, less united, and in more danger than we’ve ever been, thanks to Bush and his war.
According to articles in the very same paper, al-Qaeda is back to its former levels and is once again threatening to enter the U.S., and our
soldiers are now being forced to engage Iraqi police. We have accomplished nothing for all of our efforts.
With Bush’s “surge,” yes, we’ve increased the numbers of fingers in the dike, but the dike will fail. The question is, will we be carried away by
the flood? For the sake of our troops, I hope not.
Don Herman, Denver
…
President Bush’s bullheaded stance on the Iraq war, in refusing to “listen” to the American public through its congressional representatives, just
further verifies the unheard-of diminishing of the office of the president of the United States.
Never mind the previous outrage of a personal indiscretion of a president with a blabber-mouthed intern, this current administration has far
exceeded that conduct in gross immorality.
We now have not only a simple- minded president, but an uncontrollable, malevolent vice president who holds every aspect of power in the
administration.
Lillian Norgren, Denver
…
Thank you for the coverage of George Bush’s most recent press conference and intelligence estimates on al-Qaeda. This follows a predictable pattern
of a) low job approval ratings for Mr. Bush (now at 29 percent), followed by b) the usual vague government pronouncements of al-Qaeda activity with repeated
references to “the events of Sept. 11, 2001.” Can you connect the dots?
Frank Ohrtman, Denver
…
To all the detractors of the Patriot Act: I am still waiting patiently for those reports of innocent citizens having federal agents break into
their homes, illegally searching them, tapping their phone lines, or being thrown into prison for no apparent reason. Seems the only people being violated
are criminals, terrorists and the wannabes with similar bad intentions. Who cares about their rights?
Keep up the good work, law enforcement personnel.
Brian Brandfas, Parker
A big waste of energy?
With all the concern these days about energy waste, I’m surprised that I haven’t heard anyone mention the amount of easy-to-prevent, daily waste
generated by grocery stores. All summer, when temperatures blaze at 90-plus degrees, I walk through the giant openings of the super-air-conditioned King
Soopers where there ought to be doors. All winter, when temps have plummeted to well below freezing, I push my cart through the giant openings of the
well-heated King Soopers where there ought to be doors. Unbelievable! Why is it that with the concern that we cut our toilet paper down to one square per
person (thank you, Sheryl Crow), no one has talked about this?
Julie Clark, Centennial
Eggs and bus fares?
On Tuesday, The Post’s front page depicted the headline news of the day: eggs and bus fares evidently were going up.
Page 2 showed a Washington Post story about our attorney general denying to Congress that the FBI had repeatedly violated civil liberties, days
after receiving reports confirming such abuses.
Page 7 carried a story from The New York Times about the Bush administration’s continuing refusal to comply with subpoenas for documents and
blocking aides’ testimony regarding the firing of federal prosecutors.
You’ve got a lot of nerve to think eggs and bus fares rate a front-page headline over the preservation of our constitutional liberties. Get with
the program and exercise your duty as journalists: Choose what is newsworthy and put that on the front page. Bury the eggs and the bus fare on page 17.
Jeez!
Maggie McMahon, Denver
Old-time conventions
Is anyone besides me fed up with these 18 or so would-be presidents running around the country spending all that money trying to get themselves
nominated?
If I were king, I would ban them all from campaigning. I want to smuggle in some Cuban cigars and let the parties nominate candidates in smoke-
filled rooms at their conventions. Those conventions years ago were exciting.
Joe Power, Denver
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