The American Spectator

Reader Mail

GOOD INTENTIONS, BAD RESULTS
Re: Shawn Macomber's Iraq Agonistes:

Once more Shawn Macomber gets to the root of the issue, this time the Iraq problem. I agree with his article in that we have been really screwing up in our Iraq policy. We did not come to liberate a nation, we came to defeat a tyrant who was a threat. For better or worse, the Iraqi people (like the Japanese and Germans) share the same guilt as their leaders in that respect, therefore like the Axis powers in WWII, they too, should suffer the same type of occupation. Like then, when the evil was Nazism and a God-Emperor (who was nothing but a figurehead to the Japanese fascists), Islam is the evil and should be expunged from the national government. Shawn was right there.

Nowadays, however, we have a situation which is different from 1945. Instead of a press who backs the war, we have a press as hostile to this nation as any armed enemy. Instead of jailing dissidents for subversion (which they are doing with their dissent), as then, we are allowing these factions to influence our policy towards that country and that religion. It's amazing that even with the footage of the torture, murder, etc. of the Iraqi people, the fools in this country still resist the fact that we vanquished an evil dictator, who needed to go. No, until the "people" assert themselves on the right side of the issue, we will have a screwy policy that will become more of an attempt to counter the fools in this country rather than help the nation of Iraq regain its place among the nations of the world as a free and independent people.
-- Pete Chagnon

Macomber has one thing right: the majority of Iraqis want nothing to do with the libertarianism he espouses. We want to leave behind in Iraq democracy and the rule of law. We have not gone through this war to implant a culture-busting hyper-individualism abhorrent not only to genuine Islam but any kind of conservatism. At least Macomber realizes that his libertarianism can win only through the use of force.
-- Gary Martin
Platte City, Missouri

I was varied greatly distressed in reading your article regarding the current situation in Iraq. It seems Mr. Macomber you have fallen into the same mental moronic trap that many liberals had been in for a long time. It's the old story of "If you tell a lie long enough people will believe it."

The liberals of in this country have for many years been trying to expunge from the consciousness of Americans the concepts of religion and God. We need to remember the history of America, its foundations and the people who founded this great nation. They were a religious people, a people who believed in God, and were willing to die for the freedom to express that belief in politics as well as in private. Indeed it was that belief that provided the core values out of which sprang the Constitution of the United States.

The 16 congressional proclamations for prayer and fasting throughout the Revolution [i. e., the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ, the quoting of Romans 14:17, etc.] were not unusual considering the prominent role that many ministers played in the Revolution.

One such example is John Peter Muhlenburg. In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation January 21, 1776, he preached from Ecclesiastes 3 which speaks of a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. Arriving at verse 8, there is "a time of war and time of peace," Muhlenburg noted that this surely was not a time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal beneath them the uniform of an officer in the Continental Army! He marched to the back of the church and ordered the drumbeat for recruits. More than 300 men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginian Brigade. Muhlenburg finished the Revolution as a major general.

The spiritual emphasis manifested so often by the Americans during the Revolution caused one Crown-appointed British governor to complain: "If you ask an American who is his master, he'll tell you he has none. And he has no governor but Jesus Christ."

Letters like this, and sermons like those preached by the Rev. Peter Powers, gave rise to the motto of the American Revolution. Most are unaware that the American Revolution even had a motto, but most wars do [e.g., World War II -- "Remember Pearl Harbor;" the Texas war for independence -- "Remember the Alamo;" etc.]. The motto of the American Revolution was directed against King George III who regularly violated, "the laws of nature and of nature's God."

The motto was very simple and very direct: "no King but King Jesus!"

To conclude that being a dedicated and committed Christian is the same thing as being a radical Islamist is ignorance gone to seed. That is the same type of convoluted logic that would conclude that a cow and a cat are near relatives because they both have four legs and like milk when they are young. Please Mr. Macomber, stop hiding from the obvious truth of the Christian religious element that was so very prominent in the founding of this great nation of "The United States of America."
-- Pastor Gary J. Eberts

READY FOR TORTURE?
Re: George Neumayr's An Equal Opportunity to Die:

"Exposing female GIs to the Zarqawis of the world is an experiment in equality the left won't abandon no matter what that savage does in the coming days."

As a retired Air Force Senior NCO, that happens to be female, I do not think that American Society is ready. I believe that WHEN an American servicewoman is held hostage, it will once again energize the media (worldwide) and up the debate on the United States and President Bush's policies. Those of us that bear the burden (or have borne that burden in the past) ARE well aware, but not "ready" for its impact.

I do not share the "praises" that the liberal feminists were singing. Each and every death is a tragic loss, to the families, and to the unit to which they were assigned. It has not been published but I am sure that there are still Army personnel, enlisted and commissioned, that have regrets of sending a young mother into harm's way and to her death. I have sent young men and women into harm's way and then prayed for their safe return. I now stand "behind" those on the front, as generations of veterans did when I was on the watch.

I pray we kill the bastard [Zarqawi] before he, or any of his ilk, have the chance!
-- Sandra Dent

Why wasn't this women home with her kids where she belongs. Women have NO PLACE in the Army, on a battlefield. What kind of barbarians are we, to send women into harm's way. Without them the world ends.
-- Tom Cohoon

If the terrorists are smart, not only will they capture American female troops, but they will delay execution. instead they will make a series of videos showing the same American female having to endure repeated torture sessions. The heads of NBC, CBS, and ABC, as well as the Washington Post and New York Times, have privately passed word that they will willingly show all episodes on American television. Already leftist groups here in the States are preparing arguments in defense of what will happen to these women. They will be made to look like they were pawns in service to Israel and a wicked Bush administration. The line fed to American women will be something like, see how your sisters suffer from following an illegally elected president, or something in that general vein. Of course women on the left will praise the sacrifice of these modern American Amazons. I wonder just how the overall American public will handle these videos as they will graphically display acts of rape, mutilation of female body parts, gouging out of eyes, etc., they will be treated much worse than the male soldiers precisely because they are women and by hurting them they may turn our support to a desire to quit the war. With a possible draft looming on the horizon, will Americans allow their daughters to be drafted? This action could in a way give support to a weak anti-war movement. Right now we seem to have things under control in Iraq. What happens, though, if Iran goes nuclear? What happens if Syria and Iran become even more involved in the Iraqi terrorism? While the left in America regards American women in combat as a glorious thing, I do not think the vast majority of Americans support this policy. We will soon see how America handles such a thing.
-- Warren Baco

A THOUSAND CLOWNS
Re: Mark Goldblatt's Coalition of the Wild-Eyed:

I think President Bush, 43, tried to address the problem of the Left engaging in intellectually dishonest debate over public policy issues when he let Senator Kennedy have a major hand in the education bill. This has become a major failing of the Bush presidency. Apparently, the Left does not play marbles unless they have all of the marbles.

Political discourse with the Left has increasingly become the art of being the straight man for a bunch of clowns who have mastered the art of exaggeration. Playing the fool in a political argument is hard work but, it pays off. Most people do not have the will or the political background in history and economics to tell the dueling combatants apart after they drone on beyond the sound bite attention span of today.
-- Danny L. Newton
Cookeville, Tennessee

HIPPO HEAT
Re: John McGinnis's and Mike Spencer's letters (under "No Sweat") in Reader Mail's On the Town:

Re: John McGinnis's post regarding hippos in Dallas-Fort Worth:
John, you forgot to mention the extremely large folks who drive mini-vans. They apparently believe that because the hood is so short, they can tail-gate you at 80 and stop on a dime. For some reason, there are a large percentage of female drivers here who are very, very angry, and seem to be trying to work out their problems on the cell phone with their analyst while driving at speeds approaching light-speed.

As for D.C., I do the Marine Corps Marathon every year in late October, and the weather has been exceptional on the day of the race the last two years. I recommend October highly.
-- Mike Webster
Dallas, Texas

John McGinnis' reply to H. W. Crocker III reminded me of the time I lived in Arlington, TX circa 1984-1986.

Texas, at that time if not today, didn't have a law against the driver, much less the passenger, of a vehicle possessing an open container of alcohol.

I clearly remember once when the Texas legislature wanted to remedy that and a local news outlet in Fort Worth interviewed people for their reaction. I've never forgot one young woman's (probably a Democrat) simple view on the subject: "Well, the driving around here is so crazy, you have to be able to drink a beer to cope." The irony was dripping off my TV!
-- Greg Barnard
Franklin, Tennessee

About Mike Spencer's letter: Hey Mikey, I love Washington also, but I try not to dwell too much on the "obese" among us -- come on, ease up .

Believe me too I agree with you about the obnoxious boors trying to run you guys over with their "Amigos." You can see those guys EVERY day in the supermarket or at Wal-Mart.

Maybe your son wasn't kidding. Take a pill and enjoy.
-- Gene Hauber
Meshoppen, Pennsylvania

SURE LOSERS
Re: The "Homing Instincts" letters in Reader Mail's Extremism Is a Vice:

Few of the disgruntled Republicans who threaten to stay home on election day ever mention Congress. I wonder if they know that by law the U.S. House of Representatives initiates all spending bills. I wonder if they voted for a more conservative Republican representatives in the primary elections held earlier this year or if they stayed home then, too. Hmmm. I wonder if they've heard that Democrats in the U.S. Senate filibuster at the drop of a hat because they can always count on the votes of several Republican senators. Finally, I wonder if some of these self-identified "Republicans for 40 years" voted for H. Ross Perot once or twice. Did the spoiler role work for the Perotistas? Did that "giant sucking sound" the Perotistas heard from NAFTA go away? Ever? Do disgruntled Republicans think President Kerry letting the terrorists win while raising their taxes will make them happy? Then they are correct. They should switch to Independent and wash their hands of the Republican Party. Then no matter what happens it won't be their responsibility. Will it?

Let freedom reign,
-- John Scherwitz
Clear Lake, Texas

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