Letter Of The Day

today's winner comes from the local paper:

On the day of this writing, the number of American dead in this administration's war has reached 1,724. With grief and anger, I implore the reader to reflect on this question: For what are they dying?

Throughout history, wars have been fought for conquest and profit. The feudal lords in the Middle Ages did not themselves participate in war any more than presidents and dictators do now.

Presidents and dictators declare the wars, and their citizens are told it is their patriotic duty to go to war and kill others sent by their rulers to do the same. It has always been this way.

The rulers declare the wars; their subjects fight them. The rulers have all to gain and nothing to lose; the people have nothing to gain and everything to lose — especially their lives.

I find cruel irony in the fact that the most bellicose members of this administration never served their country in wartime. In all of history, no war has ever been declared by the people. I long for the day when a president or dictator calls for war — and no people show up for it.

By HAROLD W. HOPP, Mason City