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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels August 23, 2004 Renewed questions about the 'War' Now that the American experiment in democratic civil liberty has descended into being just one more of history's ruthless and brutal empires, complete with officially sanctioned torture of prisoners of war, it is time for citizens to try to figure out what went wrong, or right, if you prefer. How is it that we have invaded and occupied a basically defenseless nation when we were supposed to be fighting a "war against terror" involving basically a small group of malefactors who in another day would be called simple rebel bandits? Why did we invade Iraq, a step that only magnified exponentially the power of the "terrorists" we were supposed to be attacking? Why is it not clear to Americans that, in order to justify vast increases in military spending, we must invent, concoct, and manufacture enemies out of pitifully weak opponents? If "terrorists" are the enemy - shadowy, invisible, elusive, foes, we are told - why do we need the enormously expensive F-22 fighter plane, designed 10 years ago to do battle with a possible next-generation Soviet fighter that was never built? Why do we need five nuclear powered aircraft carriers, when no other nation has even one? Why do we need more than 800 military bases throughout the world? Why is this administration pushing for the construction of heavy combat ships and attack submarines that were originally designed to counter Soviet naval ships that are today rusting hulks? Why are we pushing a $300 billion "missile defense system" which will not work and cannot defend us, especially against an enemy that does not exist? My personal short answer is that the government has been taken over by henchmen of the military-industrial complex, madmen lusting after weapons of mass destruction. The long answer is that most of the leaders of the country have gone wacko. If this is a "war" that we must pay dearly to support, why are we cutting taxes on corporations (like those that outsource jobs) and on the very rich (which groups, by the way, are richer than ever and pay less in taxes than ever) ? If this is a war, why does our non-elected president tell us to go out and spend our money on unnecessary travel and other frivolities? If we are all to be "patriots," why are we told to spy on our neighbors and report their suspicious behavior to the authorities? If we must "Endure Freedom," why are people being "disappeared" and why are free citizens who dare to voice dissent told to shut up and follow orders? By what right do we unilaterally decide whether or not to observe the requirements of international treaties to which we are signatories? If this is a "war," why is it business as usual in Washington, with voracious corporations skimming off billions of dollars in corporate welfare, while workers and their families must endure unemployment, no health care, and the loss of their savings? Why is it business as usual and worse in terms of continuing to ravage and despoil our environment, of refusing to mandate conservation and higher gasoline mileage requirements for automobiles, of refusing to fund public mass transit and alternative fuels and low-pollution automobile engines? Why are our schools laying off teachers? If our Founding Fathers believed that a "decent respect for the opinion of mankind" required America to explain its actions to the world, why have we in effect simply said to our allies and all others, "It's our way or the highway?" Why are we supposed to believe that all foreign criticism of our actions and attitudes is simply the anti-American reflex of envious and irrelevant critics. By what right does our president unilaterally declare who is and who is not a "terrorist" or "terrorist-supporting" nation or people? Finally, why have thousands of our young men and women been killed or terribly wounded in an unnecessary military adventure? Americans must wake up and see that there is no enemy out there that is a threat to our existence as a nation. But there is a growing rottenness within, and that is our only enemy. Gerald Cavanaugh Ashland O'Reilly insults rather than debates As a new subscriber to the Tidings, I have to say that I generally like your editorial page, including letters to the editor. You include opinion writers from various points of view, and your guest editorial columns, by readers, shows a great diversity of points of view. However, I have to confess that I am at a loss as to why you carry the writing of Bill O'Reilly on Mondays. I have read his commentary for the past four weeks since subscribing, and I find that he is full of malice. He is not writing well thought opinion, but spouting jargon, slogans, and he seems intent on lying. Isn't it enough that he has his show on Fox "News" where he can tell his guests to "Shut up!" when he disagrees with them? I notice in monday's column, he makes sweeping allegations that the cause of smoking pot was the antiwar movement during Vietnam. Or was it that smoking pot caused the anti-war movement? He doesn't clarify, and goes on to make absurd, sweeping allegations about marijuana and young people. I remember a column a couple of weeks ago, when he talked about what he called the "misguided" son of a Port Authority of New York worker who died on September 11 in the World Trade Center. The son was against the War in Iraq, and Mr. O'Reilly called his patriotism into question in the commentary piece and tried to diminish his point of view through name calling. I have since seen the footage of his "interview" with this individual where he deliberately tried to intimidate the man with exclamations of "Shut up!" and "Your mother must be ashamed of you!" and would not allow him to state his case at all, even though it was purported to be an "interview." Any one can view this exchange in the DVD "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism." Why poison your newspaper with the poorly structured arguments of someone who is more interested in intimidation and untruths? There are eloquent conservative columnists who can do the job without vitriolic commentary. Paul Rerucha Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams