A sampling of recent editorials from Colorado newspapers:
NATIONAL:
The Denver Post, Aug. 20, on last of U.S. troops pulling out of Iraq:
The last U.S. combat brigade serving in Iraq drove out of the country Aug. 19 and into Kuwait, where troops fired up cigars and unfurled American flags to celebrate the exit.
It was a long and bloody tour, and we wish the combat troops godspeed in their return home. Unfortunately, the reality for many of them will be a future deployment to Afghanistan.
While more than 50,000 active U.S. military members will remain in Iraq until the end of next year, their mission is focused on training Iraqi forces. Now it is the Iraqis’ responsibility to handle their own security.
Nearly seven and half years after U.S. troops invaded Iraq under the false belief that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, there is some optimism in Iraq that once seemed impossible.
But there are also many risks and potential pitfalls.
The Obama administration is trying to paint as rosy a picture as possible: “The really big picture that we have seen in Iraq over the last year and a half to two years is this: The number of violent incidents is significantly down, the competence of Iraqi security is significantly up, and politics has emerged as the basic way of doing business in Iraq,” Vice President Joseph Biden’s national security adviser told The New York Times.
Yet Iraq’s government has been significantly stalled for months, and much instability remains in the country. A bombing this week killed 61.
Meanwhile, the U.S. experiment in Iraq will add another novelty that is not without risk. To protect its diplomatic and administrative staff, the State Department will hire an unprecedented small army of private security forces, The New York Times reported Thursday. So as troops leave, as many as 7,000 hired guns arrive to defend five fortified compounds around the country.
It’s expected they will act very much like combat troops. The private guards would scan radar for rocket attacks, fly reconnaissance drones, search for roadside bombs “and even staff quick reaction forces to aid civilians in distress,” The Times notes. That kind of engagement reminds us of the controversial Blackwater employees shooting Iraqi civilians while protecting their State Department clients.
And the private troops will work with much more than rifles and pistols. The State Department is buying 60 mine-resistant vehicles, a fleet of armored cars, three planes and 29 helicopters.
Separately, many reporters are quoting sources who warn that Iraq’s fledgling government might not be as willing to see American troops leave by the end of next year as officials now contend. That’s a subject the Obama administration is loath to discuss publicly, but keeping troops in the country beyond 2011 is a realistic possibility.
Despite these risks and future unknowns, it was satisfying to watch images of troops peacefully rolling out of the country. The price our troops paid in this grueling war was staggering, but we salute their service.
Editorial:
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Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, Aug. 22, on America lagging in innovation as China’s economy rises:
New reports this week declare China is now the world’s second largest economy, bypassing Japan, which held that position behind the United States for 43 years.
A story from the Seattle Times on the same day examined China’s green energy future and how it has surpassed so many nations.
Things aren’t all rosy in China. The nation is beset by pollution, poverty and, recently, protests. China’s per capita income is $3,600. Poor working conditions and paltry pay have combined to cause workers to walk out in protest this summer.
Yet, for two decades, the nation has racked up 9 percent growth annually.
Americans need to not only take notice but be put on notice to re-examine ourselves and react—and not just because economists predict China will overtake the United States next.
For decades, America has given away jobs and production—manufacturing, then technology, now even service sectors, and coming next appears to be green energy.
Where have American ingenuity and drive gone? How do we revive them?
An Asia-based business consultant who advises the Washington state Department of Commerce said in that Seattle Times article, “When the Chinese decide they’re really going to push forward with something, they do it quickly and put a lot of money into it.”
When the United States considers doing something, hearings and politics bog us down.
Somehow, for our future, we must pull together a vision—something we all can gather around, promote and pursue.
We did it in the 1960s as we looked to space.
What can we do now? Government, business and education at all levels certainly can join together for the good of the nation.
Editorial:
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STATE:
The (Greeley) Tribune, Aug. 22, on Colorado lawmakers researching possible immigration laws by visiting Arizona:
Colorado isn’t Arizona, in climate or in our issues with immigration.
However, there could be a few things to learn from the first state that has tackled immigration reform on its own.
Seven Republican lawmakers from Colorado recently traveled to Arizona, on their own dime, to learn more about the controversial immigration law that is now being challenged in the courts. Their intention is to introduce similar legislation in Colorado next year.
In fact, as many as 22 states are pursuing laws that will mimic Arizona’s stand on immigration.
It was bound to happen. With our federal lawmakers seemingly unable or unwilling to pass comprehensive national immigration reform, states are going to take matters into their own hands.
We urge caution and careful consideration for Colorado. One of our state’s most important industries, certainly in Weld County, depends on migrant workers. Agriculture producers would suffer greatly should the flow of workers stop altogether, or even diminish significantly.
But there are certain aspects of the Arizona law that are good, and that most agree should be part of any reform. The bad parts, most of which are being challenged now in the courts, just need to be left out. We don’t need to require every person to carry papers to show they are in this country legally. We don’t need to ask people for their immigration status, because obviously that leads to racial profiling.
But there are many things that most people actually agree on, that could bring some real help to states struggling with large immigration problems.
Employers must be held accountable for hiring illegal immigrants. But along with that must go a reliable system for checking a person’s immigration status. E-Verify is used by many, but the system has some flaws. We need to put resources into a system that checks Social Security numbers and temporary papers to make sure they are valid. Period. And we need to crack down on employers knowingly and carelessly hiring illegal immigrants. There must be some sort of guest-worker program to allow immigrants to come over the border and return without fear of repercussions or deportation. We need a system to let workers into the country, and let them leave when their work is done.
We need a secure border. This is important not only to stem the flow of immigrants, but to keep us safe. The U.S. needs to keep better tabs on who is entering our country and why. Immigrants who have a felony-type crime on their record should not be allowed in.
Immigrants who qualify should be allowed to apply for citizenship.
We do believe there is much we can all agree on when it comes to immigration reform. That’s why it is incredibly frustrating to see no movement on the issue in Washington.
We don’t blame states for taking action. We just hope it is thoughtful, well debated, and takes into account that when we are talking about illegal immigrants, we are talking about human beings.
Editorial:
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Daily Camera, Aug. 22, on how Colorado is in good position to affect national health care policy:
Painting the U.S. of A. with a broad red “warning” brush, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presents a map of the nation, with deep reds showing states where more than 30 percent of the adults are obese; light reds showing states where between 25 and 29 percent of the adults are obese; and yellows showing states with a rate higher than 20 percent.
Like a bright blue beacon in the middle of the country, Colorado is shown to have the lowest rate, with 18.6 percent of our adult population obese. We’ve been the leanest state for 20 years now.
Which sounds good. It really isn’t. In 1990, fewer than 10 percent of Colorado’s adults were obese. And no state had an obesity rate higher than 14 percent. By 1995, about half of the states were where we are now: With between 15 percent and 19 percent of the adults obese. By 2004, no states had a rate lower than 15, and Michigan plus a wide swath of the South—from Texas to West Virginia—having rates of between 25 percent and 29 percent.
Obesity affects our local economy as well—Colorado spends $847 million on obesity-related medical costs annually.
But, despite the fact that we are moving in the wrong direction on obesity and obesity-related diseases, Colorado’s comparatively healthy population deserves a second look. A new health and wellness center aims to do just that. And its executive director hopes not only to improve the health of Coloradans, but to create programs and practices that could have an impact on the entire country.
James O. Hill is the new executive director of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus & Wellness Center. The new $40 million center—with a $15 million contribution from the Anschutz Foundation—has designs on turning Colorado into a national model of health and wellness. But Hill is no extremist—saying things like “if all the soda pop in the world were to disappear tomorrow, there would still be obesity” and “just walking 10 to 15 minutes a day would prevent the one to two pounds you’ll gain this year.”
His hopes for the center, which breaks ground next month, are to create a home where research projects and wellness programs will be all under the same roof. Sort of the Mayo Clinic of nutrition and exercise. Hill thinks the center could reverse Colorado’s wrong-way direction, but also take whatever’s working here and spread it around. Researchers could look into how much investment in sidewalks or bike racks it takes to make a community healthier; programs including one for the faculty and staff at CU Boulder and the lunchrooms at Cherry Creek and Aurora schools will impact individuals’ health.
Colorado must address some major issues. Here’s No. 1 with a bullet: We have the fastest growing childhood poverty in the nation. The next generation of Coloradans is poised to be less healthy, more obese, less productive and more expensive to treat than those that preceded it.
But due to our relatively active lifestyle and choices both simple and complex—low smoking rates, investment in trails and recreational open space—Colorado is in a generally good position to serve as a model of good health.
Editorial:
