The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 22)

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What an incredibly disgusting episode. Pacifist Democrats and protectionist Republicans teamed up to stop the deal in order to appear tough on national defense while not accomplishing anything.

The most surreal moment for me occurred while channel surfing between news stations the other night. CNN had Howard Dean spouting uninformed nonsense about port security, MSNBC had some other Dem windbag bashing Bush, and Fox News had a longshoreman from the Baltimore dock. The longshoreman was laughing at the whole thing -- the only difference it would make to him and the work at the dock is the name on the checks. That's when I truly realized that this was pure politics and irrelevant to security.

p>I wouldn't blame the UAE for retaliating. I'd like to retaliate. br> -- Chris Bramley /p> p> Let's see if I read this right. The article by John Tabin is saying that the UAE is an economic powerhouse that can do serious damage to the U.S. economy if they chose to do so. If correct, that means the U.S. is merely a third-rate power that is subservient to the powers that be in the Middle East. If the UAE is that powerful financially, then we have lost the war. Might as well bring the troops home. We'll need them for humping cargo at the ports we used to own. I and others are getting more than a little fed up with the doomsday scenarios put forth by people because this deal soured. Maybe it's the best thing that happened. It's a wake-up call to all of us of how dependent this nation has become to foreign interests. As for the President, I was an ardent Bush supporter but enough is enough. My loyalties do not extend to anyone who acts worse than Clinton on issues of national importance. We have lost too many lives in that war in Iraq which, yes, is turning into another Vietnam type war (political BS) and the other mistakes by this President on the home front. The saddest part of this whole thing is that Bush (along with the Republican Congress) has destroyed the best chance we ever had to turn this country around. br> -- Pete Chagnon /p>

It is June 1941. The German Army has just invaded Russia even though the two countries had signed a non-aggression pact in 1939. President Roosevelt decides quickly to extend Lend-lease to Russia but understands that the American public considers the USSR to be an enemy and there is fear that America could be drawn into the war as well. Roosevelt knows their will be a public repudiation to the assistance, so he starts slowly and lends innocuous items at first rather than overt military equipment. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor causes The U.S. to formally enter the war.

But what if the U.S. Congress had prevented aid to Russia and their role in the Allied cause? The war would certainly have been prolonged and Hitler might have succeeded in creating a United States of Europe. And our future could have been much poorer than it is today. The USSR took the most casualties, 20 million or more, and they participated in the spoils at Yalta taking control of East Europe at the end of the war, the bad part of the bargain, but still worth it.

p>The same sort of decision was made by the highest levels of government to let the Port deal with the U.A.E. go through because they have demonstrated that they are a good and reliable ally in the War on Terror. Only this time the U.S. Congress has killed the deal and turned away an important ally, yielding to public opinion ignorant of the real stakes in this effort to defeat terrorists and unite the world in peaceful trade. We all lose because of this cowardly display of opportunistic politicians. br> --

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