Iraq:

We Broke It, We Should Fix It

To the Editor:

In response to Martin Blanco [Letter Hive, January 26, 2007, “Lessons Of History”]:

While some of your points were valid, you did little to counter the assertions made in Stan Rajczewski Jr’s letter of January 12 [“Withdrawal From Iraq Won’t ‘Stop The Dying’”]. What Mr Rajczewski’s letter lacked in decorum, yours made up for in partisan rant. Your dislike of President Bush is obvious, every sentence written flows from it; substantive debate has little chance under such conditions.

As you duly noted, many people do believe this war to be a colossal foreign policy blunder. Many of these same people believe as well that a rapid, untimely withdrawal will result in chaos politically, militarily, and socially, with the net result being a slaughter of genocidal magnitude. Like it or not America broke Iraq, we are now obligated to fix it. This was the thrust of Mr Rajczewski’s letter, and I would agree with him.

Further, your rhetoric toward FDR was somewhat hagiographic in nature. While your overview of  his leadership qualities were generally accurate, FDR enacted wartime policies that would have sent today’s left into an apoplectic rage: not the least being the internment of Japanese Americans, the imprisonment of some 40,000 war dissidents, and the censoring of US citizens’ mail. Of particular note was your assertion that he “compelled American Industry to contribute to the war effort, not profit by it.” In fact, profiteering was so rampant that the Truman Commission was established specifically to curb this omnipotent wartime practice, giving Truman a public reputation for honesty and integrity that was well earned.

Your assertion that the 9/11 attacks were successful because “The Bush administration was asleep at the wheel” is an acute example of my opening paragraph and further, a complete exoneration of the Clinton administration’s considerable role in not putting forth measures that might have prevented 9/11.

In conclusion, while the season for beating up on liberals has ended, iIt is apparently still open season on conservatives, as the ignorant and belligerent of our ilk will readily testify.

James E. Swift

11 Cedarhurst Trail, Sandy Hook                           January 31, 2007