A4 Wednesday, January 8, 2020
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
hoodrivernews.com
OPINION
Iran fallout
Make Trump stand down
I
had learned that you should always shout louder than
your aggressor.” — From “Persepolis: The Story of a
Childhood” by Iranian emigre Marjane Satrapi.
“Persepolis” is the title of a Pulitzer Prize-winning
graphic novel about Satrapi’s experiences growing up
in the 1970s Revolution in Iran.
It is also the name of a historic city that is just one of 52
cultural sites in Iran that President Trump has astoundingly
and disturbingly said he would target if Iran responds in
kind to the drone attack assassination of the Iranian General
Qassem Solemaini.
The bombing has both galvanized opponents of the U.S.
and suddenly pushed the already-volatile Middle East near-
ly to the precipice of war. It is the latest example of Twit-
ter-driven “decisions” made by the impetuous and danger-
ous American president.
He now has the temerity to call his tweets “Media Posts,” in
yet another Orwellian twisting of words by this unpredictable
man.
Where, indeed, are the adults in the room, be they in the
Oval Office or at Mar-A-Lago?
The mere fact that Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani
from his Florida resort is concern enough — that he did so
not from the Situation Room, the place so designated for
life-or-death, drastic actions. Or from any other place where
cooler — and less-distracted and less spiteful — heads
might prevail.
Trump has set a new, low standard for petulant, ill-
thought military decision-making by any command-
er-in-chief. He chose the kill-Soleimani option with a rapid-
ity that surprised his Pentagon advisors, and did so without
any notification of American allies, let alone U.S. Congress.
And to threaten bombing cultural sites as re-retaliation to
the “hard revenge” the Iranians have vowed, is not only sug-
gesting the U.S. military be ordered to commit a war crime,
but a threat to decency and respect for cultures everywhere.
When they took power the Taliban we have fought at the
cost of thousands of American lives for nearly two decades
committed their own offenses against holy and cultural
sites in ancient Afghanistan, dynaming shrines and centu-
ries-old statuary.
We cannot stand by and put the United States of America
on that same shameful plane.
Put another way, threatening to bomb Petropolis would
be like Teheran threating to bomb Philadelphia or the an-
cestral Hopi settlements.
All this to wage war over the corpse of an Iranian general
the American people had never heard of way back in 2019.
Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both
Democrats, have spoken out in concise and powerful terms
against the president’s reckless action.
Wyden correctly called for Congressional oversight to
take hold of all future military action, if any, against Iran.
Merkley released the following statement regarding
what he termed “the spiraling national security concerns
stemming from President Trump’s reckless and impulsive
actions and statements”:
“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo are either dan-
gerously inept or colossally ignorant, and have done enor-
mous damage to U.S. security.
“In short order they have...
“Turned massive demonstrations in Iran against the
Iranian government into massive demonstrations against
the U.S.;
“Turned demonstrations in Iraq against Iranian influence
into demonstrations against U.S. influence;
“Mobilized the Iraqi parliament to vote to expel the Unit-
ed States forces from Iraq;
“Given Iran an excuse to cancel the restraints on their
nuclear program that Iran had agreed to and followed
for four years before the Trump administration broke the
agreement;
“Strengthened the role of Iranian militias in Iraq, expand-
ing Iranian influence — the exact opposite of our goal of
reducing Iran’s influence in Iraq;
“Caused U.S. forces to set aside their operations against
ISIS in order to prepare to defend themselves against at-
tacks by Iran;
“Placed U.S. forces and assets in the region at greater risk
of attack;
“And, most dangerously, set in motion an escalation of
attacks that could generate a war between the U.S. and Iran.
“Now all sane Americans must strive to stop the escala-
tion into war.
“We must insist on following our U.S. Constitution, which
gives Congress, not the president, the power to decide to
go to war.
“Our founders argued that the cost of war in blood and
treasure is far too great to be decided by any one person.
“They were right.”
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Our Readers Write
‘Congress’
duty on war’
I’m horrified and irate that
Trump ordered the assassina-
tion of Gen. Qassim Suleima-
ni, a top commander in Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards Corps.
This would be equivalent to a
foreign government assassi-
nating our vice president out-
side the Toronto airport.
This was not a defensive
action, and comes at a time of
escalating tension with Iran.
We need skilled diplomacy
with Iran, not an isolated,
erratic nut with a trigger. The
U.S. Constitution specifically
tasks Congress with decisions
on war, so where are they?
In recent years, and despite
Trump’s thorough incompe-
tence and dangerousness as
a leader, Congress has ceded
authority over the military to
the Executive Branch.
Congress is a co-equal
branch of government that
holds tremendous power to
check Trump’s recklessness.
Congress must step in imme-
diately to rein in Trump’s cata-
strophic escalation to war with
Iran. Sen. Ron Wyden, Sen.
Jeff Merkley and Rep. Greg
Walden, we need you to clear-
ly and unequivocally state that
you condemn this strike and
are opposed to war with Iran.
Trump has positioned us on
the precipice of war, and Con-
gress may be our only hope of
stopping it.
Bonnie New
Hood River
Only making
things worse
The killing of Iran’s top
general might have longterm
strategic value if he is hard
to replace, immediate value
if he has not yet revealed his
claimed to be imminent plan
to do us harm. But I have an
idea his replacement was his
top student and that he put his
immediate plans into writing
or made them clear otherwise.
So killing him doesn’t de-
crease the dangers and argu-
ably actually increases them.
So, what was the real purpose
for doing something so drastic
that even the Israelis never did?
Well, revenge feels sweet.
So I guess that feeling is one
motivation.
And Trump’s need to show
he is not Obama and the storm-
ing of our embassy will not be
Benghazi is also big here, the
main thing says my son, Cody.
(It’s all about the base.)
And the need to distract us
from the recent exposure of
further proof that withholding
of vital aid from Ukraine was
known to be illegal and ordered
directly by Trump is there in
the mix.
Unless Iran cannot ad-
equately replace their guy,
unless we got him before he
shared his latest fiendish plan
with his staff, this was a pop-
off impulse that has no value
and will certainly make things
worse in every respect.
Bob Williams
Hood River
City Work Plan
Session Jan. 11
Jan. 11 is the city council’s
annual Work Plan Session.
The city has received over 60
responses to their request for
input regarding the 2020 Work
Plan. This confirms that we
do have an engaged citizenry,
which is great. This was also
demonstrated by the massive
volunteer support recently for
Measure 14-67.
Last year, the city’s first goal
was “Create opportunities for
an inclusive and diverse hous-
ing inventory.” I think this is
a worthy goal and I’m not
alone. Housing has been a top
priority for many years now,
and the recent Housing Needs
Analysis (HNA) update reveals
how policy choices of the last
5 years have fared, and it’s a bit
of a mess.
The city’s 2015 HNA called
for nearly 100 new housing
units per year. The update states
that since 2015, only 207 units
were permitted. And, rath-
er than multi-family (missing
middle) housing that the city
claims we favor, almost all of it
was single family.
How could this happen?
Here are some possibilities.
Past leadership did not fol-
low the recommendations of
their HNA.
■ They aggressively prior-
itized unproductive policies
(STR regulations and housing
on parks).
■ City was slow to address
user (builder) requests for a
more efficient permitting pro-
cess.
■ Reliance on planning
models meant for large urban
areas that are unlike Hood
River.
Maybe Hood River isn’t Port-
land and we should stop trying
to be?
Hopefully the city will share
results of the 2020 Work Plan
survey and make a good-faith
effort to consider the input
provided. The voters who spoke
loudly last November are ex-
pecting the council and admin-
istration to value well intended
public engagement as they
chart the future course.
We now know one thing for
sure — the city has continually
failed their top goal. What we
don’t know for certain is what
has been neglected as they
focused so intently on other
time-consuming projects.
My desire is for the city to pri-
oritize infrastructure and public
safety. Those are two things that
will facilitate development of
needed housing, protect the
safety of citizens and the integ-
rity of our neighborhoods as
Hood River grows.
Brian Towey
Hood River
Bag ban
not enough
Thank god for the Single-Use
Bag Ban. Oregon has finally
stepped up to the plate and is
taking climate change seriously.
We Oregonians can swell with
righteous pride as we pack our
recycled, natural fiber or some
other eco-friendly reusable bag
with groceries wrapped in plas-
tic and Styrofoam, placed in
plastic produce bags, packaged
in plastic containers with the
additional plastic security seal
wrap. And since we are so
eco-conscious, we can reward
ourselves with an all-natural
treat wrapped in plastic from
the natural food section and
wash it down with a 100 percent
local organic beverage in a plas-
tic bottle.
And why stop at groceries.
Almost everything we consume
is in some way touched by plas-
tic. We even use plastic bags
to pick up dog feces. You are
thinking, “But the bags are bio-
degradable.” They are, but only
if the landfill has the appropri-
ate bacteria and conditions.
Currently it is impossible to
live a plastic free existence in
our community. However, it is
not impossible to do. There are
grocery chains in the UK that
have reduced plastic by roughly
80 percent. In a years’ time,
they were able to get rid of over
2,000 plastic items. Do we have
the will to do something similar
here, or are we too complacent
to change?
The Oregon Legislature can
pretend it did something to
fight climate change, but they
really didn’t. The gesture is so
insignificant that it is mean-
ingless, if not harmful. One can
ignore the floods, the droughts,
the wildly raging fires, the loss
of viable agricultural land, until
the crisis hits and it’s too late.
So, go grab a bottled water
and sit outside in the 50-degree
winter weather, and think about
how progressive we are for ban-
ning single use bags.
Glen Patrizio
Hood River
‘Sick feeling’
Mr. Earle’s Jan. 1 letter “Chris-
tian Oppression” triggered very
powerful emotions for me.
There are a small number of
people in the U.S. who justify
suppression of equal rights for
women and those with non-tra-
ditional sexual orientations
based on their interpretation
of Christian doctrine. However,
these practices exist all around
the world and are not unique to
Christianity. I become deeply
concerned with any claims that
100 percent of any group de-
serves complete blame for the
shortcomings in a society.
I was raised in the Jewish
faith and learned when I was
10 that some of my relatives
were murdered by Nazis, who
convinced millions of Germans
that every Jewish person had
to be exterminated. The world
looked away from this for years.
At age 54, it is still hard to be-
lieve so many people could be
convinced of this idea based
solely on religious beliefs.
Currently in Myanmar, the
Buddhist government leaders
have encouraged the rape, tor-
ture, detention and murder of
its Rohingya citizens merely for
being Muslim. This was an un-
provoked assault on a religious
group who had been living
peacefully in their society. The
world is currently looking away.
President Trump wants to
ban every citizen of certain
countries from entering the U.S.
because a tiny percentage are
terrorists. He characterized sev-
eral countries as sh#%holes to
create tiers of human value. We
have also been told that only
the “worst” citizens from neigh-
boring Mexico come across the
border illegally into the U.S.
The president’s words create
the same “us versus them” sce-
narios we saw in Germany and
see in Myanmar today. I feel Mr.
Earle’s letter, albeit well-inten-
tioned, may have inadvertently
entered the same type of group
blame and fear that is all too
common in our world. All this
blanket condemnation makes
me feel a little sick.
Steve Kaplan
Hood River