The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 8 of 17)

I remind you, Ms. Rubin, that (1) nowhere else in the world did the press agree in unison with this view, that (2) Scott Ritter, who was the American most qualified to disagree, did so, and that (3) long before Secretary Powell knowingly presented "curve ball" intelligence findings to the UN, he said the following in Cairo in February of 2001 (I am paraphrasing): Saddam Hussein is not a threat to the U.S.; he is not a threat to our European allies; he is no longer a threat to our Mideast allies because he can no longer project his power into the outlying regions; he is contained and deterred by no-fly zones, no-drive zones, civilian and military embargos; and lastly, Saddam Hussein has not been able to acquire any new capacity in WMD.

In the months preceding the Iraq war, in spite of a lack of any substantive evidence whatsoever, the damning testimony of the principal U.S. expert on WMD in Iraq (who was indicted on false charges by the administration for his pains), and the statement of Colin Powell in Cairo in February 2001, virtually the entire U.S. press and virtually the entire U.S. press corps was unanimous: "Saddam Hussein has both caches of WMD and significant WMD programs, hence, let us all fall in line."

There you go again, Ms. Rubin, despite the fact that the most self-evident reason for the diminished levels of violence in Iraq is the near completion of the exceedingly wide scale ethnic cleansing there, you have written an article on the rise of the "peaceable kingdom" in Iraq without mentioning the key circumstances that have led to the fact that the level of violence has indeed fallen from unconscionable to simply horrifying.

p>Bravo. It is quite splendid to have a press corps that diminishes us as a people every time it speaks. br> -- Victor Provenzano /p> p> As a member of the active duty military I recognize that there are tens of thousands of America's bravest (i.e., U.S. military) and stalwart politicians (Republicans and Lieberman) that deserve thanks for their service to this nation in the war against Islamic terrorism, but there is one person who deserves even higher praise and thanks for not buckling to the cowardice of popular opinion and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory -- our Commander-in-Chief. George W. Bush's commitment to the defense of this nation and success of its armed forces at the expense of personal popularity (an attribute rare among American politicians) makes him an outstanding profile in courage. Semper Fi! br> -- Michael Tomlinson br> Jacksonville, North Carolina /p>

The success of the surge--along with much of the Republican agenda -- will only mean something if they are willing to highlight that agenda. It's amazing how inept Republicans are at this. A suggestion: once it comes down to one-against-one, the Republican candidate should create a series of large poster boards containing quotes made by his Democratic opponent which illuminate his or her hypocrisy, flip-flops, lack of national security expertise, and the desire for big government, open-border socialism.

p>They're all out there, and Americans desperately need to be reminded--over and over again--who said what exactly. If the Republican candidate can't or won't do this, he deserves to lose. br> --

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