Letter Of The Day

Having six siblings who completed tours of military duty, including during the Vietnam war, I understand and appreciate the service and sacrifice Ryan Heithoff has given for our country.

However, I cannot agree with his opinion, "I believe the statement, 'I support the troops . . . but not the war,' to be an ugly oxymoron. They go hand in hand." (Letter, "Support Troops and Democracy in Middle East," April 17)

It bears repeating that the war in Iraq was both unjust and illegal. We launched a war of aggression against a country that did not attack us, did not have the means to attack us and had never expressed an intention of attacking us. With our preemptive strike against Iraq, we said to the world that might makes right, and, as a result, many countries now consider the United States to be a rogue nation and a threat to world peace.

The sad part is how many American people have become sheep-like. They believed the lie about weapons of mass destruction and the claims that Iraq's tiny drone airplanes could attack the United States. When those lies were exposed, they believed that the war was justified by Saddam Hussein's cruelty, no matter that the United States has been cozy with many bloody dictators, including Saddam. And now they believe that we went there to spread democracy.

The British Broadcasting Corp. recently interviewed a number of Iraqis, and not one of them mentioned wanting democracy. What they wanted was a strong government that can end corruption and provide security.

A report to the U.N. human rights commission in Geneva has concluded that Iraqi children were actually better off under Saddam than they are now. Can we honestly believe that all Iraqis are better off now that we have dropped bombs on them, destroyed their cities and blew up their hospitals, schools and power stations?

Had it been "the troops" who initiated the Iraq war, I would not support them. But the troops in this and all wars are merely expendable cannon fodder, and so for these reasons, yes, I support the troops but not the war.

-Carolyn Reinhold,
Collins.

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