Letters to the Editor – 10/02/2008

Re: Iraq war cannot be won
The article entitled “The Iraq war is simply a waste of time” was one of the most presumptive, unsubstantiated, and flat out insulting articles I have ever read from the Oracle. Jason Olivero makes broad statements with no attempt to support his ideas with any findings whatsoever.

The first example of this is when he stated, “…Hussein’s regime had ideological differences with terrorists that made cooperation highly unlikely.” It is a commonly known fact that Hussein and almost every other terrorist group in the middle east have nearly the same ideology; for example, the destruction of Israel, the United States, and the construction of a single state under Sharia law. We’ve seen and heard this from terrorist groups and Saddam Hussein alike for years and that information is public domain now. It is apparently too much to ask for evidence that any of these people changed their stances on these issues, as Olivero seems to be insinuating.

Also, Olivero actually has the gall to speak on behalf of the entire United States military, which is incredibly presumptive. He states that American troops don’t understand why they are in Iraq. Though I believe that the great majority of them do, I won’t say that with the same level of ignorant certainty that Olivero did.

The biggest issue is the complete lack of thought that seems to be put into these statements. It appears that Olivero just wrote down random sentences we’ve heard before with nothing to back it up. At one point he states something so ridiculous that my jaw hit the floor. He was discussing the fact that Dick Cheney said that leaving Iraq “…would leave the U.S. threatened and exposed.” His response to the vice president was “The United States must be weak indeed if a crippled people half a world away with no direct interest in engaging us can pose a significant yet undefined threat.”

Are you kidding? I cannot believe he has forgotten Sept. 11th. A day when people from a less developed country than Iraq, who had a completely direct interest in engaging us, murdered about 2,800 innocent people. I find it repulsive that Olivero would completely ignore such an event when he’s making such broad statements.

That article seemed to violate many of the most basic principles of argument and journalism. It actually surprises me that he wanted it published.

Brian Milhoan is a senior majoring in psychology and criminology.