Letters to the Editor

Peace, welfare not ranked high at GOP
RE: Column “War in Iraq about freedom, not ‘O.I.L.'” Sept. 28

I want to personally thank Adam Fowler for doing an excellent of job of looking after the unfortunate and downtrodden people of Iraq. With infinite compassion, he has dutifully reported to us that our president wishes only to lead the cavalry charge against “the struggles and oppression of others.”

I have only one question: When did the Republican party become a bunch of humanitarians and “bleeding hearts?”

I thought the Republican party believed in using government for minimal purposes. Under the well-defined conservative doctrine, the Republican party thinks accumulating and using tax payer dollars is equivalent to a mortal sin, especially if the money is used to help a group of people out.

That’s the thing Mr. Fowler doesn’t want us to remember: The Republican party has never been based on any brand of humanitarian principles. Republicans recoil at the thought of using the government to help out the poor in our own country. What makes you think they genuinely care about Iraq?

The fact is they don’t. Honest people distrust President Bush’s motives with the war because he’s the leader of a party that opposes the very rhetoric he’s been spouting. The president brought us to war thinking that if we didn’t invade Iraq, then the world would be in grave danger. He told us that Iraq had WMDs and on top of that, had ties to terrorist groups like al Qaeda.

We found out Iraq had neither. Any reasonable person would then ask, well, why did Bush want to go war so bad? Then you just have to start wondering.

Bush would have us believe the reason for the war was to save Iraq from despotism, to spread democracy and to send a message of love. Sounds like Bush ran out of plausible national security stories to feed us. Now he’s trying to portray himself as the next Gandhi, except his novel way of doing things is by spreading peace through war.

Matthew Gallaher is a senior majoring in political science and English.

War does not equal peace, even for Bush
RE: Column “War in Iraq about freedom, not ‘O.I.L.'” Sept. 28

It is clear that Adam Fowler believes “War is Peace.” Perhaps he assumes that Big Brother was the hero-protagonist of 1984?

Fowler claims that making war on the people of Iraq produced a “more peaceful and free world.”

On the contrary: George W. Bush is al Qaeda’s greatest recruiting agent.

And one need only look to the USA PATRIOT Act, Guantanamo, “free speech zones” and Abu Ghraib to see Bush’s twisted vision of a “free” world.

The Iraqi people are not free. They are not sovereign. Donald Rumsfeld admitted that 20 to 25 percent of the country may not be able to take part in the elections because of security issues. This week’s Time magazine reports the CIA’s plans to back certain candidates in Iraq’s “elections.”

There is no free press in Iraq. Newspapers critical of the occupation have been shut down.

There are foreign terrorists operating within Iraq today, thanks to the failure of the Pentagon to maintain security. But to classify the uprising of the Iraqi people against the occupation of their country as an act of terrorists is an oversimplification and ignorance. One U.S. intelligence official quoted in Tuesday’s L.A. Times said, “People try to turn this into the mujahedin, jihad war. It’s not that. How many foreign fighters have been captured and processed? Very few.”

This Sunday, Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, admitted that there are fewer than 1,000 foreign fighters aiding the resistance. Disgruntled Iraqis who want freedom from occupation make up the bulk of the resistance. Just because the cheerleaders for death and destruction at NBC, CNN, The New York Times, Faux News and others misled Americans on the evidence of WMD’s does not mean, as Fowler claims, that they “were believed by most of the world to be in existence.” Corporate America is not the world.

Weapons experts were convinced that inspections would work to either prove that there were no weapons or would continue to find and destroy whatever few remaining weapons there were. Mohamed El Baradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency found in Jan. 2003 that Iraq had not resumed its nuclear program.

Most of the world was not sure if Saddam had WMDs and wanted inspections to continue.

I share George W. Bush’s and Fowler’s optimism. The people of Iraq will be free. But it will only happen when the United States ends its deadly and expensive (over $150 billion so far) military and corporate occupation of Iraq.

Sean Kinane is a Ph.D. candidate in biology.

USF made wrong decision Monday

I understand the views of the University in deciding to remain open Monday. The university was relatively unharmed by Hurricane Jeanne.

However, I find the decision specifically unnerving in that it shows a clear lack of coordination with the decisions and judgment of the local government officials.

While the university was able to handle operations, the surrounding region had sustained heavy damage to power lines. Government officials, understanding this created an unsafe condition for road travel, urged residents to stay at home if possible. The lack of power to key traffic signals creates a dangerous situation for anyone on the roads, and it was clearly important for residents of the Bay Area to allow adequate time for emergency and reconstruction personnel to complete necessary duties.

This is especially important at USF, given the large population of commuters.

By remaining open for classes Monday, the university seems to indicate a lack of consideration toward the safety and wellbeing of its staff, faculty and student population.

Adam Towner is a senior majoring in computer science.

Unattended laundry causes annoyances

When I go to the laundry facilities here on campus, I see what appear to be many washers and dryers that are able to be used. Upon opening the machine, I find a person’s belongings still in the machine after the cycle has finished.

I understand that you may not want to wait in the laundry room (I know I don’t), but please be on time to get your laundry. I have lived on campus for about a year, and this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this. So all in all, please be responsible for your belongings and respect other residents.

Garrett Konrad is a sophomore majoring in geography.