Apr 14, 2008

Letters

The war in Iraq

Dear Editor: I am happy to agree with Stephen Fisher (Letters, April 7) that we should stay in Iraq until the real mission is accomplished. Clearly we should remain there until the oil wells run dry, which may approach the 100 years suggested by Sen. John McCain.

Those who believe the reasons for invasion given by the Bush-Cheney administration should listen to Alan Greenspan. The ex-Fed chairman is one of the best-informed persons on this planet and famous for the gravitas of his pronouncements. He stated recently that "the Iraq war seems to be mostly about oil," and we should believe him.

This is not to say the decision to invade was wrong, since oil is essential to our superpower economy, but our government should have told the truth from the start. It is time for taxpayers to know what they are paying for and, especially, for our soldiers to know what they are being asked to die for.

Michael Barton,

Sunnyvale



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Dear Editor: President Bush is delusional. In a day when rockets fall in the Green Zone in Iraq and the U.S. military orders that all personnel of the U.S. embassy avoid leaving the embassy compound, stay away of windows, sleep in cots in the reinforced rooms and wear body armor and helmets when needed to go out of the building, he makes a speech on the "remarkable progress that is being made in Iraq." The man is unbelievable, bordering on the insane. And our Congress members, especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just watch this surreal figure say the most outrageous and irrational things without doing or even saying anything except blaming China for the killings in Tibet, forgetting the hundreds killed daily in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fausto Araujo,

Palo Alto



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Dear Editor: The hearings in Congress featuring Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker show that most congressional Republicans are in denial about the futility of the continued occupation of Iraq.

Testimony showed that there is no political reconciliation. The surge has not helped to heal the nation or rebuild it. The Iraq government keeps a $40 billion dollar reserve in banks and chooses not to use it to rebuild the country. There is great corruption in the government. They would rather keep taking more billions from U.S. taxpayers, who cannot afford such largesse and foolishness. Muqtada al-Sadr came out of the Iraqi government's offensive with greater power than before. Deaths of civilians and soldiers continue for no purpose.

Our economy and our people are suffering and there is no money to help them because of the war, except for Wall Street bailouts by our government. The $3 trillion war in Iraq has not made us safer at home from terrorism.

According to Senator Joe Biden 4 1/2 million Iraqis have been displaced by Bush's war of choice. A thousand Iraqi troops deserted in the recent battle against the Mahdi army. What does that show about the wasted billions training Iraqis as an army?

The U.S. can't take on the terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan with the quagmire in Iraq. The administration has set up a co-dependent relationship with the Iraqi government.

Edith Groner,

Palo Alto



Alcoholism's toll

Dear Editor: I read with dismay about the death of Mary Ann Morgan in a lonely alley near University Avenue in Palo Alto. I felt I knew her a bit because her photo and story were one of 16 featured in the Downtown Streets Team display I designed for the corridor to the city council chambers. To quote her "My name is Mary Ann, and I'm 60 years old. I am the mother of two. My goal is to retire someday and have a large garden for myself to keep. I hope and pray that one of my children make me a grandmother soon." Her life just highlights the problems of dealing with alcoholism. As a recovering alcoholic who lost her 45-year-old brother and 34-year-old niece to this disease, I believe that it is miracle that anyone gets out of that bottomless pit.

I think that Palo Alto is very fortunate to have the Downtown Streets Team, a nonprofit that has placed 42 people in jobs, and the Opportunity Center to provide training, support and housing for people who just need a door to open for them to find a way to function in a very difficult world. Accolades to Eileen Richardson and the others who work tirelessly to bring meaning to the lives of less fortunate people.

Carroll Harrington,

Palo Alto