Abuse and Terrorists

Date: September 13th 2004
Sent to but not published by the Boston Globe

I am truly appalled by the words reportedly (Boston Globe, September 11, 2004) uttered by Donald Rumsfeld: that our treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was better than the way the terrorists had treated their captives - death.

We will lose the war on terrorism if we select their behavior as the standard against which we judge our own. In the past, we have judged our behavior against the ideals set forth by our founders: a beacon set upon a hill, a country of laws not men.

Our judgements about the propriety of those actions should be based on their relation to the laws we swore to uphold: the Geneva Convention on prisoners' rights, the anti-torture treaties that the US has signed. That should be the standard, not the behavior of the terrorists.

In 2002 Secretary of State Powell justified the US's failure to sign the International Criminal Court Treaty because "We have the highest standards of accountability of any nation on earth." Today how hollow this statement sounds after the prison abuses of this past year and their consequences of courts martial being arranged for soldiers and wrist slaps for officers involved with the abuse; to say nothing of the lack of accountability for those in the higher echelons of government.

Forgetfulness of McCain and Collins

Date: September 9. 2004
Sent to but not published in the Boston Globe

Ben DeLorio had it right about Senator Susan Collins (Boston Globe, Sept 1.) and David Claffey (Boston Globe, Sept 2.) had it right about John McCain. Frankly I had expected better from these two moderate Republicans.
Collins forgot to mention that from October 2001 until June of 2002, President Bush soundly resisted the call for a Department of Homeland Security. It was only through pressure from the Democrats and especially from the families of those who perished in the 9/11 attacks that President Bush reluctantly adopted the idea in June of 2002.
McCain forgot to mention, in his exuberant defence of the Iraq war, that Saddam was in fact highly constrained because of the UN Sanctions on Iraq; the inspectors on the ground; and allied air patrols in the air
It just goes to show that in an election year, being Republican trumps everything; even the whole truth!

Recall George W. Bush to the Colors

Date: September 8, 2004
Sent to but not published by the Boston Globe

If G.W. Bush did, as your story (September 11, 2004) suggests, break his contract with the United States to undertake service in the National Guard; and if the consequence of breaking that contract are a recall to active duty; then I have a suggestion.
I understand that there is a shortage of troops in Iraq. Recalling G.W. Bush to the colors would seem to be poetic justice.
I understand he is a dab hand at food service. There is a Mess Hall in Iraq that could use his services.

Convention Truths

Date: September 3 2004
Sent to but not published by Washington Post

The Republican party Convention is becoming the convention of the big lie. So far the top performer has been erstwhile Democrat, Zell Miller. His list of weapons systems that John Kerry voted against were, in the main, weapons systems that Dick Cheney was also opposed to.

Never mind, the great American public will not notice that Cheney and Kerry were united on those issues. Only the lie that Kerry was soft on defence will be remembered

Close behind in the absurdity of his support for war was moderate republican Senator John McCain. He effused that we had to go to war because "We couldn't afford the risk posed by an unconstrained Saddam in these dangerous times." Unfortunately, Senator McCain overlooked the constraints imposed upon Saddam by the UN Sanctions, the arms inspectors who were on the ground (and finding nothing), and the allies who were patrolling Iraqi air space. Some freedom! With those constraints the necessity of war becomes quite questionable.

Our final example comes not from the convention itself but from some pre-convention advice given to the President by Senator Susan Collins writing in the Boston Globe. She claims that President Bush “called for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.” (Boston Globe, August 29, 2004). She conveniently forgets that from October 2001 until June of 2002, President Bush soundly resisted the call for a Department of Homeland Security. It was only through pressure from the Democrats and especially from the families of those who perished in the 9/11 attacks that President Bush reluctantly adopted the idea in June of 2002.

Really even a Massachusetts Democrat expects better of these distinguished Senators. In politics, as in war, the first casualty is the whole truth.

The hollowness of George W. Bush's values

Date: September 2, 2004
Sent to but not published in the Philadelphia Inquirer

The hollowness of George W. Bush's values.

A person who really acted on the values he espouses would long ago have disavowed the scurrilous slurs of the Swifties.
This is just one more disconnect between what George Bush says and what George Bush does. He promised us compassion; he delivered the most divisive administration in recent history with its opening up of the class war by stiffing the working stiff while giving untold wealth to the rich – yes a tax cut of $58,000 appears to be untold wealth to the working poor making an income of $15,000 a year; that is a tax cut of $58,000, not an income of $58,000!
He extols the sacrifices of the troops in the field while failing to fund the necessary Veterans' programs to support them in their post-battlefield traumas. He speaks with his hand on his heart of our debt to the first responders who are in the front line of our defenses against terrorism while he ruthlessly cuts transfer payments to states and cities who are unable to afford the cost of strengthening that security.
He talks of "no child left behind" but fails to provide adequate funding for the programs that would make that slogan a reality. For the first time in history, he wants to amend our constitution -- a document rich with the symbols of liberalism and freedom -- to discriminate against our fellow citizens. He talks of strengthening medicare but enacts legislation that allows the drug companies to enjoy excessive profits.
He talks about conservatism (which to me means conservation) but presides over an administration that repudiated the Kyoto accords, that has weakened clean air laws and that is opening up areas of the wilderness to being trampled on by off-road vehicles and oil and gas drilling rigs.
He talks about law and order but his legal advisors suggest repudiating the Geneva convention – a convention designed to protect American prisoners of war – and his agents abuse prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He talks a good game, but I implore Americans to judge him by his actions and those of his administration.