FYI
o the Editor:
Re "Bush Approves Covert Aid for Taliban Foes" (front page, Oct. 1):
Have we learned nothing from our history? The United States has consistently fought its wars abroad by supporting local rebel forces. Many Taliban leaders and members of Osama bin Laden's network were the "freedom fighters" we armed and trained to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. They were our friends then; they are our enemies now.
What makes us think that the anti- Taliban rebels we support today won't be our enemies tomorrow, heavily armed and highly trained by American taxpayer money? Why are we perpetuating the cycle of violence? Could we not find a long-term, political solution?
LAURA RÓTOLO
Medford, Mass., Oct. 1, 2001
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To the Editor:
Two Oct. 1 front-page articles should provide a cautionary, and sobering, tale for those planning or endorsing our nation's "war on terrorism."
"Bush Approves Covert Aid for Taliban Foes" describes how millions of dollars are flooding into Afghanistan to help opposition groups overthrow the current Taliban government.
The obituary of Nguyen Van Thieu, a former president of South Vietnam, notes that he was the recipient of similar largess when our country got involved in comparable efforts to overthrow and then influence the selection of new governments in his country.
MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN
Philadelphia, Oct. 1, 2001
The writer is a professor of political science at Drexel University.
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Patriotism and Dissent
To the Editor:
I am grateful for Maureen Dowd's re-evaluation of the now rather carelessly bandied-about term "patriotism" (column, Sept. 30). If we are really proud to be Americans, we should be especially proud of our freedom to dissent.
If President Bush can rally the public around the claim that the terrorists made a symbolic attack on our freedoms, it would be ironic if the administration then boldly proceeded to continue that attack on more concrete terms. Our intolerance for censorship, one-sided propaganda and violation of civil rights is exactly what distinguishes us from the Taliban regime.
A crowd rooting for the home football team is one thing, but nobody appreciates a discussion section for a class that is dominated by only the professor's point of view. The two are very different, and Americans will not tolerate the latter.
JANET KIM
New Haven, Sept. 30, 2001
9/11 and the “Anti-War” Left
FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | 9/11/03 | David Horowitz
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/980200/posts
More great material for the "proof that Rove was Right" collection.
I read most of them, and this one really stands out for it's arrogance, elitism, and distance from reality...
Carol Hansen Grey, Executive Director, Women of Vision in Action (San Francisco):
Cultural creatives (affluent, well-educated individuals, motivated by environmentalism and social justice) do not want war. That doesn't mean we don't want the people who did this brought to justice. We do. But we don't want to kill other innocent people.
I had the idea to bring together representatives from different groups of cultural creatives to brainstorm for alternative solutions. I am in the process of arranging this. Bringing representatives from these groups together to say what is the best step to take would be a message to our senators and representatives that there are a great number of us who don't want war. Then we can take it back to our groups to make it happen.