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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2005)
TO THE EDITOR more just society because they serve the in- terests of the ruling class. The people profit- ing from the destruction of the Earth and the exploitation of the working class have an in- terest in maintaining the present order, and when people refuse to listen to their hearts, they die inside. Not everyone who is a police officer is necessarily a bad person, but when people be- lieve that they have authority over others, that often results in the abuse of that power. It’s important that officers like Lara and Magaña are held accountable for their ac- tions. Whenever anyone says that they have been hurt, we need to believe what they say. David M. James Eugene MUTTS OFF LEASH I often wonder if, during the months pre- ceding our invasion of Iraq, there was anyone in Washington, D.C. who could see that the current situation in the Middle East was the only possible outcome of George Bush’s nitwit foreign policy, even if the lies he told to justify the war were true. Of course, it is ap- parent now that Bush’s reasons to support his war effort were nothing but a premeditated effort to mislead a gullible nation into a for- eign policy mess he, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the others were just too stupid to predict. Well, Bush has unleashed the dogs of war and they run where they will. And they will continue to run until they, in their own good time, have exhausted their running. How many more must die in their running, how much more taxpayer money must be wasted in their running and where exactly they will find their rest no one can foretell. Almost 2,000 American military person- nel dead, along with tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children— a monu- ment to George Bush’s adolescent ego and his personal God who rides on the back of a high tech cruise missile. Impeach the S.O.B. before he does any more damage! Steve Johnston Creswell CORRUPT STRATEGY Last night (June 28) Bush gave a prime- time speech. He said that we are fighting ter- rorists in Iraq so we don’t have to fight them here. That would make sense if the Iraqis had been in on 9/11. In reality, we brought the ter- rorists to Iraq. This is a morally corrupt strategy. It is cruel beyond belief to invade a country under control of a brutal dictator so the long-suffer- ing citizens become subject to attack from the world’s most violent terrorists instead of us. Weren’t the Iraqis suffering enough under Saddam? At least he kept the rest of the ter- rorists at bay. By the way, didn’t we prop up Saddam in the first place? Didn’t we lie to the Iraqis at the end of Gulf War I when the first Bush said we would support them if they rebelled against Saddam? It is a miracle that all Iraqis have not joined the terrorists by now. We have turned their country into one giant ter- rorist training camp. Bush won’t send in enough troops to defeat the terrorists but he will leave enough troops to be targets. Oh, I forgot, our volunteer army isn’t large enough to defeat the terrorists in Iraq on their own. The president told us that we will leave Iraq when the Iraqis can fight the terrorists on their own. This would just be a cruel joke were it not for the fact that tens of thousands of people are dying and that there are real ter- rorists running loose. How are the Iraqis sup- posed to defeat the terrorists if they don’t have an air force, artillery or armored units? So far, we can barely give them enough pick- up trucks to follow our troops into battle. Let’s hope the Iraqis have a stronger sense of mortality than we do and help us out of this mess. Our president has put our future in their hands. Charles Dalton Eugene LCC DOWNTOWN I moved to Eugene in 1970 from Seattle. In those days, Seattle was in the middle of a com- plete economic collapse and Eugene was just be- ginning the “revitalize the downtown move- ment.” Over the past 30 years, many changes have been made to Eugene’s downtown. It would be great if the task were finally to accom- plish a worthy and recognizable city center. In planning for the new improved heart of the city, there is one feature that has been there for years and has benefited many of Eugene’s residents. That is the LCC down- town facility. I would hope that this be in- cluded in the grand plan. My vision for a new LCC Adult and Continuing Education Complex would be to establish a partnership between the UO and LCC to include the following features: Combined adult and continuing education classes from both the UO and LCC. A 500- seat theater and lecture hall with excellent acoustics. Plenty of well-lit, acoustically friendly classrooms. A comprehensive lan- guage lab. A comprehensive computer lab. Install the KLCC broadcasting studio on the top floor. Move the LCC Culinary Arts School into the building. Include a satellite, UO/LCC art gallery. Set up a state-of-the-art recording and public access television studio. Construct the building around a well-land- scaped interior courtyard capable of accom- modating small concerts. Partner with the Downtown Athletic Club and develop a good quality childcare facility. Install a joint UO/LCC full-on bookstore. A facility like this would produce a hub of ac- tivity from 7 am through midnight, seven days a JULY 7, 2005 5
