Peace Vigils Are Newsworthy

To the Editor:

I wanted to thank Stuart Alexander, who wrote to The Bee last week, for his military service to our country. I must respectfully remind him, however, that a newspaper is expected to report on news. While I’ve only lived in Newtown for one year, I’m reasonably certain that peace vigils in front of town hall are infrequent enough to qualify as newsworthy.

Pamela Meister also took the time to write to The Bee criticizing those who chose to protest in peace. She made the oft repeated but absurd argument that protesting the war demoralizes the troops. All I can say is that an ill-advised war of political opportunity conducted with criminal incompetence can’t possibly be good for the morale of the troops let alone their physical well being. This is still, though barely, the United States of America and we have the right to peacefully assemble and protest anything we want. You don’t have to be a foreign policy expert to speak your mind and thank goodness because we now know how ill-served we were by the “experts.”

I applaud Cindy Sheehan for having the courage to hold our President accountable for the nightmare he created in Iraq, and withstanding the vilification that societies insist on heaping on people who preach peace (Mel Gibson recently made a movie about one of those no-good peaceniks who was tortured and murdered). Unfortunately, I fear Americans are confronted with an authentic Hobson’s Choice and bringing the troops home now may be ultimately as disastrous as conducting the war with such colossal incompetence.

If candlelight vigils offend the patriotic sensibilities of some, let me suggest a compromise that can unite us in a moral and constructive purpose. Let’s all write to Congresswoman Johnson and President Bush and demand the following:

1. Mr President, be an adult and a courageous leader by admitting your mistakes, apologizing, and demonstrating that you learned from them.

2. Fire Donald Rumsfeld first — then fire Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, John Bolton, and everyone else in your administration that contributed to this mess.

3. For God’s sakes get the proper armor for our soldiers. They’ve been waiting for more than two years.

4. Initiate an investigation into the missing eight billion dollars worth of American money (paid by our tax dollars) earmarked for the reconstruction of Iraq, and punish all war profiteering.

6. Appeal to our allies for help.

Let’s not delude ourselves any longer. If these things don’t happen, we will never succeed in Iraq. Our children will continue to suffer and die, and Islamic terrorism will flourish. It’s not a pretty picture, and it challenges all of us to admit to disturbing things about our leadership. I think we owe the Iraqis and the world as much. More important, we owe it to the brave soldiers who we committed to fighting this war.

With All Due Respect,

Martin Blanco

8 Pheasant Ridge Road, Newtown                            August 31, 2005