July 19, 2006
Wednesday

First, let me says thanks to Perry for her courage and convictions in being part of the 4th of July parade and calling for an end to this ridiculous war.

I don't normally respond to letters and commentary in Sitnews that I don't agree with. I have always believed it's pointless as it changes no one's mind and I don't have time for the banter that often ensues. But I just couldn't resist this one regarding the VW bug in the 4th of July parade. And I, like Charlotte Tanner, greatly appreciate hearing from those who appreciate our freedoms, understand what that means and have chosen to write letters in response.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble ..


Censor
To suppress that which is objectionable .


Based on the "protest" letters I've seen here ..folks are all for the freedoms our soldiers have died and continue to do die for as long as those freedoms are limited to the ones they agree with and are done only in certain times and places. That's called censorship.

Wow what part of American history did you all miss???

As to the immature argument that if folks don't agree with the war, we don't support the troops - I whole-heartedly support our troops, I just despise the war and the false pretenses that got us into it, unlike the war giving us our independence... and so should you, we all should.

The reasons for our involvement in this war had nothing to do with creating independence for Iraqi's citizens and if you believe that, as Mr. Watson suggests in his letter, then you are naïve about the world of politics, money, oil and power. When it became clear that going to war with Iraq for the reasons publicly given weren't valid, then saving Iraqi's citizens from Hussein and creating an arena for independence became the tidy and acceptable explanation in the hope that, U.S. citizens, like lemurs that blindly follow each other to their death from steep cliffs, would take up the banner of "freedom for Iraqi's" . War should never have to be the answer for anything, but it will be, because we are a violent culture and we've learned to get our way by being bullies. But when it is used as such, the best way I know to support the troops is to do whatever can be done to end the war and bring them home. If given the choice to be home in peace, or risk their lives every day in war, I would suspect the troops would choose to be home with their families and loved ones in peace. Will they do their jobs willingly and without question? Yes. Would they rather not have to do their jobs in a war? I would think so.

If this administration truly wanted the U.S. to espouse war for the sake of saving the people of a country, and "protecting our freedoms", then let's also start discussing here No. Korea and their people's plight at the hands of Kim Jong-il oh but wait, they really are more of a threat to us because they really are in the process of building weapons of mass destruction, but I don't see this administration charging in there. Or the horror of Sudan, which has been identified as the "worst humanitarian crisis facing the world today" and which we Americans seem fairly comfortable ignoring because our leadership seems fairly comfortable ignoring it. I don't see us rushing down there to do anything about the fact that people are dying by the millions in a horrible political arena that makes our involvement in Iraq only more clearly about politics, money, oil and power.

Shame on those of you who posture belief in our freedoms yet condone and encourage censorship with your misguided "patriotism". Those of us who protest the war can, and will, support our troops while we also call for an end to this war for everyone's sake, especially our soldiers and their families.

Lou Ann Richardson
Ketchikan, AK - USA

About: "Long time Ketchikan resident."

 

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