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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR MORE SECURE? I do not feel as safe from the threat of terror- ism because of actions that President Bush has taken since September 2002. Saddam Hussein was contained by the U.N. arms inspectors, the sanctions, and the military air patrols. Another problem in Iraq for us is that it is an artificial country created by the British. Democracy may not be possible where the majority Shiites have been denied their rights in the recent past, where the Sunnis are afraid of losing their control and power, and where the Kurds have been left alone and relish it. Maybe there are three countries. With patience we would have avoided many deaths and injuries to U.S. soldiers and the problems in Iraqi prisons. Are we pursuing the right policy? Do you feel any safer? Michael Mooser Eugene COUNTING ON KERRY I attended the rally for presidential candi- date John Kerry in downtown Portland on Monday. It was one of the best political rallies I’ve ever seen. The speakers were enthusiastic, on message and stimulating. I was moved when Senator Kerry took to the stage and the crowd of 20,000 cheered incessantly. People in this country are so hungry for real leadership and Kerry’s off-the-cuff remarks filled a void in the current political discourse and he won me over. Most of us have never seek Kerry in person, and he is indeed impres- sive — a great speaker with a message that it’s time to get this country back on track. I agree with Kerry on the need for health- care for every American; that we have taken the wrong direction in Iraq and with foreign policy in general; on the need for more research and development of alternative fuels and on needed improvements in the education system. I look forward to sending George Bush the 2,200 miles from DC to Crawford, Texas this Fall. Albert Kaufman Portland WHO’S TO BLAME? First we train our children to use deadly weapons of all sorts, be it automatic rifles, hand grenades, cluster bombs, bombs laced with de- pleted uranium, etc. Next we fill their heads full of fear and hatred and tell them they are fight- ing evil and that we are good. Then we ship them off to war in a far-off land. We give such adventures stirring names like “enduring free- dom” or “shock and awe.” But a rose by any other name is still a rose and even with a reas- suring, inspiring name, war is still war. It is death, killing and destruction. It is organized le- galized violence. These youngsters can’t tell friend from foe. They are placed in an impossi- ble position. To mentally handle the task, they need to somehow separate themselves from the so called enemies; make them out to be some- thing less than human, in order to take their lives. Now we see inhumane treatment, brutality and torture in photographs and this we find un- acceptable. We now label these kids bad apples and not acceptable. We don’t put blame on those higher up who gave us this war, fought to have this war; those same people who trained these youth in the ways of killing and hatred, and shipped them off to kill or be killed. I defi- nitely feel the blame lies a lot higher up in the chain of command, but I also feel the blame also falls on a society that condones such acts as this war. Tim Boyden Eugene SERVING COMMUNITY We here at Tsunami Books would like to commend EW for its excellent coverage of the recent Eugene city elections. Though one could possibly question the ground rules by which the paper determined the propriety of the individual candidates’ voting records, EW’s views were clearly stated and fairly held throughout the long, worrisome campaign season. It cannot be overstated how important it is for a newspaper like EW to openly back a change of order at this time. Such a change in our community is obviously desired by the overwhelming majority of EW’s staff (unlike choices made by Eugene’s “other” paper), as well as its readers and advertisers. A local newspaper’s worth is equal to the commitment it shows the community it serves. By the wealth of small friendly business advertisers currently in EW, it’s easy to tell that business and politics do blend well, even on this side of the hedge. Though we read EW somewhat religiously, Tsunami Books has refrained from advertising in it for some time now, due to past placement of certain ads. It appears to us EW’s eye for lay- out has improved considerably. It’s impossible to please everyone, especially within our di- verse local progressive crowd, but EW really does try. Thank you EW. Our next advertising dol- lars are headed yer’ way. Scott Landfield, David Rhodes Eugene MAY 27, 2004 5
