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Page A4
luly 6, 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
No Winners in Kendra James Verdict
Death brought
pain for all
involved
Chief Derrick Foxworth
P ortland Police C h ie f D errick
F oxw orth released the fo llo w
ing statem ent in regards to the
June 28 civil trial verdict that
sided with the officer in the M ay
2003 fa ta l shooting o f Kendra
J a m e s, an u n a rm e d A fr ic a n
Am erican m otorist:
“ People look to jury verdicts as
a win or lose situation. But in this
case, there are no winners. This
was a situation that resulted in a
person’s death, caused division
within the community and pain for
all involved.
“ T h e re h a v e b e e n m any
changes in the Police Bureau over
the last couple of years. W ith a
great am ount of com m unity in
volvem ent, we have restored the
40-hour officer in-service train
ing and made changes to policies
and procedures regarding officer-
of tens o f thousands o f people and over 1,700
A m erican soldiers.
It is passed tim e for our soldiers to com e home
from Iraq, w here they should have never been in
the first place.
C. Curry
N ortheast Portland
Blue State Soldiers Die
I was told that the senator had elected not to
issue a condem nation o f R ove’s disgusting com
ments. That is not acceptable.
I, as well as many others, will interpret the
senator’s silence as a tacit approval of the sub
stance of R ove’s rem arks. Sad is the day when
one o f O regon’s senators stands w ith the likes of
Karl Rove instead o f the state he is supposed to
represent.
M ichelle N eum ann, Northwest Portland
C learly Karl Rove and the party and president
he represents believe it suits their political pur
poses to continue to push the false notion that
D em ocrats are not patriots.
Perhaps som eone should remind Mr. Rove of
the num ber of proud, blue-state Oregon N ational
G uardsmen who have given their very lives for this
country in the Iraq War. And while they are at it,
they should rem ind Sen. G ordon Smith as well.
W hen I contacted his office regarding this matter.
We Need an Exit Plan
It’s time to start responsibly com ing home from
Iraq.
Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago.
Things keep getting worse. More than 1,700 Ameri
cans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded.
The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insur
gency. Our presence is exacerbating the problem.
There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by
hundreds of thousands of supporters.
We got into this war based on lies - the wrong way.
It’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to
realize that the Bush policy is out o f touch with
reality.
We need a real exit plan with a real timeline
providing real accountability for our leaders. We
need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and
the rebuilding of Iraq to the international commu
nity. And we must renounce permanent military
bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people.
Tyler M ason, Southeast Portland
A ccepting
A pplications
Quality Training
Great Wages
tio n sh ip s.
"The men and women o f the
Portland Police Bureau are com
mitted to protecting the citizens
of Portland. It is my hope that we
can all work together to strengthen
the police and com m unity rela
tionship and focus on look for
ways to reduce crime and improve
neighborhood livability.”
Supporting Our
Troops in Iraq
Bush Wasting Lives, Money
George Bush Jr. and Richard Cheney lied about
the reasons to attack Iraq and now G eorge Bush Jr.
lies about the fighting being w orthw hile in lost
lives and money.
George Bush Jr., Cheney et. al. should be im
peached, convicted, rem oved from office and
thrown in jail for the lies that have led to the deaths
involved shootings.
“ I understand that there are
heightened em otions in the co m
m unity, but I ask people to ch an
nel their frustration and energy
into peaceful actions. I ask that
they com e together w ith police
to help us w ith our com m unity
policing efforts and in the pro
cess, build strong, lasting rela
Find a new approach to bring them home
by U .S.
R ep . H arold F ord
I'v e recently returned from a
tw o day trip from Iraq w ith sev
eral o f my colleagues, including
U.S. Senator Joe Biden and one
o f my R epublican colleagues in
the C ongress, Kurt W eldon.
It w as wonderful being with
our troops and spending tim e
with our U.S. m ilitary leadership
on the ground, as well as the Iraqi
governm ent officials, m any o f
them recently elected in Janu
ary.
W hat is clear are a few things.
O ne, our troop m oral is high.
are needed to lim it the num ber o f
casualties, to win stability on Iraq,
to bring our men and wom en
hom e to be with their fam ilies.
M y ho p e is th a t P re sid e n t
Bush, m uch like a football coach,
goes in at halftim e, dow n by tw o
touchdow ns, and realizes that a
new plan and a new set o f ap
proaches are needed to ensure
victory. It’s my hope that he will
p ro vide the re so u rc e s on the
ground to our Army and M arines
and other m ilitary w ho are trying
their hardest to restore basic ser
vices like w ater, electricity and
ligence show s that Syria and Iran
are playing a larger role in pro
voking insurgent activity. W e
need international help to address
this problem as we try to close
o ff their borders.
N A T O and o th er co u n tries
h^ve offered their help. I think
it’s incum bent upon the U nited
States and our President in par
ticular, to step up and be w illing
to accept their assistance and
help guard the borders.
A nd finally, I’ve asked our
President, as m uch tim e and ef
fort as he has spent trying to
We now find ourselves at a
crossroads and it’s clear
that new ideas and new
approaches are needed.
D espite the setbacks, despite the
lack o f equipm ent m any have,
their fervor and intensity and en
thusiasm for finishing the task is
rem arkably high. W e should be
thankful as A m ericans that we
have those w ho are w illing to
serve us.
T w o, it’s clear w e are not
m aking the level o f progress we
need in order to leave. I think
since Sept. 11, 2001 President
Bush has enjoyed broad support
and the benefit o f the doubt from
m any A m ericans from the Pa
triot Act, to our efforts in A f
ghanistan, to our efforts in Iraq
and even the post-w ar chaos in
Iraq.
W e now find ourselves at a
cro ssro ad s and it’s c le a r that
new ideas and new approaches
the cleaning up o f sew er sys
tem s.
The Iraqi people have really
only one tangible m easure o f our
success and th a t’s the restora
tion o f services, and the resum p
tion o f their daily lives w hich in
m any w ays is lacking.
Tw o, we have to provide our
troops with the training they need
and m ust challenge our business
com m unity and our technology
com m unity to faster ways. B et
ter technology will help them
fight on the ground and prevent
casualties on the ground, espe
cially the explosions and im pro
vised explosive devices (IED s)
that seem to catch them off guard.
And last, the President should
understand, and those o f us here
should understand, that our intel-
privatize Social Security, if he
w ould spend ju st a third o f that
tim e to help rebuild relations
around the globe, particularly in
A frica. T his will allow us to
bring not only our troops hom e
faster, but allow us to win the
w ar on terrorism in a w ay that
will m ake future generations o f
A m ericans safer and future gen
erations o f our global citizens
safer as well.
Mr. President, I hope you lis
ten. Be like the coach at halftim e
and m ake the halftim e adjust
ment so that we can win this w ar
and win this effort and bring our
troops home.
U.S. Rep. Harold Ford is a
Democrat from Tennessee and a
member o f the Congressional
black Caucus.
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Vintage Garden
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Sat., July 16 9-6
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