Scheer’s Assessment of the War on Terrorism

Re “Bush Is Serving Up the Cold War Warmed Over,” Commentary, July 5: Robert Scheer’s ongoing rant about President Bush makes erroneous conclusions. Scheer fails to understand that the insurgency is not against the Americans, but the advantages of a free society and a democratically elected government. The insurgents are Muslim extremists who hate the notion of a free society that will not accept clerical dictates, or don’t understand the value of it over Islamic demagoguery. They fear a change from dictatorship to the vote.

Leaders rarely die for their country like their soldiers. It’s the enlisted and career military that put their lives on the line. The death of a soldier is no excuse to cut and run, but a clarion call to others to pick up the flag and carry forward the last remaining hope when acts of nonviolent diplomacy fail. If the democratic experiment in Iraq fails, we will have to do something else. But the threat of nuclear uncertainty with Iran and North Korea will remain until they understand our resolve.

Gerald Alger

Santa Maria, Calif.

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Scheer points out that invading Iraq has proved to be a massive recruiting tool for Muslim extremists. Our first mistake was to support the Muslim insurgents in throwing out the Soviets in Afghanistan. They could have possibly still been there if we and the CIA had not interfered. Regarding an Iraq democracy creating a domino effect in the Middle East, all it has created is a quagmire for the U.S. After all, it took about 150 years for Americans to create a democracy, and we expect Iraq to do it in a few years. As soon as we leave, Iraq will create a theocracy. If we needed somewhere to invade, it should have been Saudi Arabia.

Bob Kerber

Oceanside

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It was bad enough watching President Nixon sell our nation out to the “military-industrial complex” that President Eisenhower warned us about. Now we have Bush doing the same thing, and the Democrats, except Howard Dean, are quietly doing nothing. I am now an independent voter looking for a party that will save us from another civil war.

Bob A. Greene

West Hollywood