‘Rewrite’ Of History Was Accurate

To the Editor:

Well Mr Gibney, this has turned into quite the discussion. My “rewrite” of history is completely accurate. Evidence of the holocaust was not forthcoming before our invasion and you are wrong, the United States did not suddenly realize after Japan attacked that it was in our best interest to get involved with Germany. Actually Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. At that point we could no longer remain solely as interventionists. You say yourself that evidence of Nazi genocide was available. I did not say it was not available, I said it was not forthcoming (definition: frank and cooperative). Sure before US involvement people were telling the stories of human experimentation, torture, starvation, and genocide but people like you didn’t believe the stories. They claimed it was propaganda. Judging from the condescending tone you used with R.P. Gottmeier, I suppose you believe the atrocities reported by numerous sources out of Iraq are propaganda as well.

Yes, I have decided that you are only against the war because you hate President Bush. It makes absolutely no sense to suggest that the United States (or Bush as you put it) wants to gain control over oil reserves and hold military power in the Middle East. The United States has no need to conquer lands in order to get a share of the world’s resources and markets. Not only do we have the resources to be self-contained, if we chose to be isolationists, we also have the largest population of willing and able people to make that possible through sacrifice, hard work, and entrepreneurship. The suspicions, of countries such as Jordan, that the United States has a larger agenda than simply liberating Iraq are well founded. The larger agenda is not oil and world domination as you imagine. It is national security. Peace and stability in the region, ultimately leading to the removal of our military presence, is moreover the goal of the current administration. The United Nations (UN) has failed miserably in this mission.

The UN was formed as an organization to bring long-term peace and security to the world. They have not been functioning with very much foresight in recent years. The world will have to go back to the drawing board to ensure the UN regains its usefulness. Currently the UN does not understand that the threat from militant “Islam” (I use quotations because I see it as a pseudo Islam, I even cringe when using capitalization in reference to these people) is not going to go away without force. The people of Islamic faith need our intervention in order to take back their religion and form governments in their region that will be benevolent.

You have told me that if this were a war to prevent genocide you would support it. I challenge you to read the words of a writer named Nat Hentoff. He is one of your fellow Bush haters yet he, at the very least, understands the plight of the Iraqi peoples. He writes for The Village Voice. Search for his article “Why I Didn’t March This Time” at www.villagevoice.com. Trust me this is no conservative rag. If Nat is too American for you, try Essam Al-Ghalib, he is the Arab News war correspondent. You can find his articles at www.arabnews.com. Neither of these people have any love for the United States or our president, but they both seem to make more sense than you.

Linda Villafano

79 Mt Pleasant Road, Newtown                                       April 1, 2003