Dear Editor:
Since the First Amendment allows us certain rights, I would like respond to a recent article. The article was titled “Taxpayers money paying for war with Iraq (Nov. 4, 2002).”
My first point of opposition is in regard to the author’s statement, “Just look at the mess this administration is making out of America’s foreign policy.” Are the current strains of our foreign policy the fault of the Bush administration? I won’t dispute that this government has done some wrong, but if I’m not mistaken, the Bush administration never sent a letter to al Qaida requesting that our nation be attacked. The fault lies outside our borders as well. I have a few questions regarding this matter: who are our “good Arab friends,” and doesn’t the Birchfield later suggest that America “fix our problems here before we add more burdens to our people .” and not “waste American lives that do not need to be ended?” Then, why does he now suggest our involvement in Israeli affairs?
My next objection is to the statement, “This administration is hell-bent on dragging America and you into war and killing a lot of Americans over oil.” Isn’t one of the primary reasons for this war for our security? The safety of you and your family, along with avoidance of the “waste” of American lives in atrocities such as Sept. 11, is at stake, and in my opinion, should be protected. I agree with the author’s call for peace; that is my greatest hope for our world. But, I do not think we are sending our valuable American lives to Iraq just for oil.
Next, where is Birchfield’s evidence that “[the] Republicans are desperately trying to hide the mess they have made?” What “mess” have the Republicans made and how have they tried to hide it? I need a little more evidence than a simple, unfounded opinion.
I will skip over my objections to the paragraph which states that the so-called poor 90 percent of America that did not receive tax rebates has been left to “fight in a war that is not America’s war.” I will not respond to such faulty, generalized statements which have no evidentiary support.
What I will respond to is the statement that Americans are “opposing” a war with Iraq. Is this statement accurate? Let us ask the American people who were at the polls recently and find their opinions. And let us ask the military – our fathers, brothers and sons – how they feel about the statement that they are fighting for an issue that, as our author says, “helps no one.”
My final objection is to the author’s feeling that, “Americans . want to fix our problems here before we add any more burdens to our people with a war no one wants .” I agree with his opinion that much effort should be put toward ensuring the prosperity of our own country, but our current world situation must be taken into consideration; we are now living in a globalized world.
We cannot allow ourselves to have tunnel vision and ignore the “burdens” of international relations in order to “fix the problems.” Could it be that it is when we become comfortable with what is going on outside the United States and focus primarily on domestic affairs that we are surprised with atrocities such as Sept. 11?
It is important not only to voice multiple views, but also back them up with evidence, so that people can draw educated conclusions.
I am in now way in favor of war and fighting; I deeply and fully understand the true quality of human life. What I am in favor of is presenting ideas and views with evidentiary support.
Jennifer K. O’Connell

Author