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Voice of experience

Actions speak louder than words

Editor, The Times:

In "Our troops have earned more time" [Times, guest commentary, Aug. 24], Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, makes unsubstantiated claims of progress in Iraq. He admits that we will lose more lives and spend more money with no certainty of success. Strangely, he seems to believe that more death and destruction will honor those who have already fallen victim to President Bush's folly.

President Bush has been claiming we're making "progress" for more than four years. Whatever progress has been made (if any) isn't clear; and it certainly hasn't been worth the cost.

It has been said that "talk is cheap" and "actions speak louder than words," so if Baird and his fellow believers truly want to support this war, it's time for them to quit talking and strap on their boots.

-- David Storm, Everett

Time for action

Brian Baird returned from his fifth guided tour of Iraq and neighboring countries and concluded that our troops should continue the fight. I don't think so. Baird says he talked to the troops, and they say they are OK with the war. Think about it Baird, the military is not a democracy, they say and do as they're told.

The troops have done their job; Saddam Hussein is gone. What has happened since is the fault of the Bush administration and the countless wrongs committed loosely in the ruse of bring democracy to Iraq. Democracy may not be right for Iraq, and it is time they decided. Millions of Iraqis are fleeing Iraq, so who are we fighting for?

The world perceives us as a bullying, torturing, oil-grubbing nation as a result of our occupation in Iraq. It is now time for Baird and Congress to do their job. An orderly withdrawal of troops and massive efforts of diplomacy to include the whole Middle East will hopefully return the U.S. to our prior status as a benevolent superpower and friend of the world.

-- Joyce Weber, Olympia

Civil war is already a reality

Fifteen months of Iraq service is enough for our troops to serve, especially since some of them have had more than one tour over there!

Baird has supposedly just returned from Iraq, and according to him, everything is fine?

What upsets me, is his statement that a quick withdrawal will cause civil war in Iraq! Someone should tell Baird that's exactly what is going on there now, and has been for sometime.

There is only one thing at this stage that would truly impress me, and it is this: proof that there is an Iraq, proof that there is a coalition of Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds who share our vision of unified, multiparty, power-sharing, democratic Iraq, and who are willing to forge a social contract that will allow them to maintain such a government -- without U.S. troops.

-- Raymond Kanarick, Blaine

Missing evidence

Rep. Baird went to Iraq and was fed the administration's "everything is getting better" rhetoric and now argues for staying the course. To do what we have always done and expect a different result is insanity. His decision to support the occupation is based on the "evidence" he received in Baghdad. What evidence? The information pouring out of Iraq challenges everything he was told during his visit.

Experts challenge the number of attacks and the number of Iraqis killed. If someone is shot from the back, it is counted as sectarian violence, but if someone is shot from the front, it is considered a criminal act and not counted.

Baird now supports a policy choice that will cost many more lives because of his faulty intelligence. I expect more from anyone who wants to represent me. That is why I will not support Baird in 2008, nor will I support any Democrat unless they get all American troops out of Iraq now, and allow the international community to come in to begin the process of reconciliation.

-- Gail Johnson, Olympia

"War on drugs" a bust

Impeachment hat trick

Neal Peirce hit the bull's-eye. [ "Drug war's latest achievement: Boosting global terrorism" syndicated column, Sept. 4]. The war on drugs is an obvious failure and one way to recognize it is because President Bush supports it so much. Impeach Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and, while we're at it, impeach the war on drugs.

-- Stan White, Dillon, Colo

Another opportunity

Neal Peirce is absolutely correct that the best way to deal with opiate production is to buy all the Taliban can grow at or above market prices and divert it to the legal market.

Peirce did miss a great opportunity, though. If Afghanistan was allowed to legally grow cannabis and produce hashish, it would greatly reduce their farmers need to grow poppies. They once produced some of the finest hash on the planet, but because of the economic distortions of prohibition, growing more addictive and dangerous drugs is more profitable.

-- David Lane, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Barking and biting

Keep dogs on a leash

Having read the account of the bear attack on Anthony Blasioli [ "Bear attacks mountain biker in Kitsap park" Local News, Sept. 3], I have a hard time understanding how anyone could call it an "unprovoked attack," as the Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said. Although "it was unclear from reports whether the man's dogs were leashed, and whether that had anything to do with the attack," let's be realistic here: The dogs were in front of him on the trail --obviously not on a leash -- barking furiously; he comes around a blind corner and nearly runs into the bear that is trying to get away from the dogs. I would not call that "unprovoked."

Blasioli was the provoker by having his dogs off-leash. The bear was merely trying to defend itself and was most likely trying to escape the situation when Blasioli bumbled into the mess that he created. Let's not destroy a black bear for the wrong reasons.

-- Jeremy Zucker, Seattle