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My Letter to the Harrisburg Patriot News
ArGee | 10/1/2004 | ArGee

Posted on 10/01/2004 5:26:06 AM PDT by ArGee

To the editor:

I watched much of the debate on September 30th and was surprised at the lack of knowledge Senator Kerry demonstrated with some of his comments. Specifically:

Senator Kerry implied that the War on Terror is a War on Osama. The Senator should know that killing the leader is not the way to defeat an enemy. Senator Kerry's focus on capturing or killing Osama bin Laden indicates he still thinks of this as a criminal pursuit rather than a war. The correct way to defeat a multinational group like Al Qaeda is to make it impossible for the group to find sanctuary, not to kill one member. President Bush is following that strategy with positive results.

Senator Kerry said there was no link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. The 9/11 Commission report detailed numerous links between Al Qaeda and Iraq. The Commission did not find a link between Al Qaeda and the attack of September 11, 2001, but the links between Al Qaeda and Iraq were clear. They are even more clear today as Al Qaeda fights to keep Iraq from becoming a democratic country. President Bush recognized the importance of that link and the importance of removing Iraq as a supporter of our enemy.

Senator Kerry said that sanctions and UN weapons inspectors were keeping Saddam Hussein from becoming strong. That is so wrong it is frightening. Everyone knows that Hussein was playing the weapons inspectors for fools and was stealing money from the Oil for Food program to support his military goals. International diplomacy had been failing to subdue Hussein for 12 years. President Bush recognized the failure of international diplomacy and rallied a military coalition to do the job that diplomacy had failed to accomplish.

Finally, Senator Kerry suggested that we derail Iran's nuclear ambitions by offering to give them reactor fuel if they promise to shut down their nuclear program. This is exactly what President Clinton did with North Korea. Even Senator Kerry was decrying the disastrous results of that policy. North Korea took our fuel and developed nuclear weapons anyway. President Bush is maintaining international pressure on Iran even as he attempts to surround Iran with free Muslim nations. The future will tell if this strategy works, unless Senator Kerry is allowed to return to a failed approach.

These four areas demonstrate a thorough misunderstanding of the current international situation. Since foreign policy is the primary responsibility of the President, we can not afford to elect Senator Kerry to that office.

Sincerely,


TOPICS: US: Pennsylvania; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: bush; debate; election; kerry; waronterror
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If you like any of the above, you are free to borrow it for your own letters to the editor. I hope all other FReepers who wrote will also share so we can get the truth out.

Shalom.

1 posted on 10/01/2004 5:26:09 AM PDT by ArGee
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To: ArGee

"The Senator should know that killing a leader is not the way to defeat an enemy".

For many years after the Second World War there was a cottage industry of people who said that Hitler was still alive, having escaped from his bunker. If that were so would that have meant that we actually had lost the war? The notion is absurd.


2 posted on 10/01/2004 6:04:30 AM PDT by Inwoodian
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To: ArGee

***If you like any of the above, you are free to borrow it for your own letters to the editor. I hope all other FReepers who wrote will also share so we can get the truth out.

Thanks - I'll do this, and I've emailed my friends and family to do the same! Is that really true about Clinton and North Korea? I never knew that!

Your letter is great - I'll keep an eye out for it in the Patriot!


3 posted on 10/01/2004 6:19:54 AM PDT by Savagemom
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To: ArGee
I thought Kerry was careful to emphasize no Iraq-9/11 connection and avoid repeating the "no Iraq-AQ" lie.

I do wish the President had focused for a couple of seconds on Kerry's obsession with killing one man. What if athe bomb we drop kills Bin Laden and we don't find the body. By Kerry's way of "thinking", the entire US military would have still been hunting for him while Saddam kept amassing billions of dollars and the sanctions disappeared.

It would show what a foolish position Kerry is advocating.

4 posted on 10/01/2004 6:24:45 AM PDT by Dilbert56
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To: ArGee
Here send it down to York too.

York Daily Rrecord\Sunday News

York Dispatch

5 posted on 10/01/2004 6:27:04 AM PDT by this_ol_patriot
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To: Dilbert56
What if athe bomb we drop kills Bin Laden and we don't find the body. By Kerry's way of "thinking", the entire US military would have still been hunting for him while Saddam kept amassing billions of dollars and the sanctions disappeared.

Foxnews.com has a report right now about another Al Qaeda tape that is recorded by Al Zawhairi rather than by bin Laden. I think this means that your scenario is already true. bin Laden is nothing more than DNA samples right now, otherwise he would be recording those tapes.

Perhaps the President even has strong reason to suspect bin Ladin has been reduced to tissue samples but did not want to say in case he was wrong.

Shalom.

6 posted on 10/01/2004 6:30:33 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: this_ol_patriot
If you're in York it would be better for you to write one. You are free to borrow from mine and make it your own. Local voices have more impact.

Shalom.

7 posted on 10/01/2004 6:31:33 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: Dilbert56
I thought Kerry was careful to emphasize no Iraq-9/11 connection and avoid repeating the "no Iraq-AQ" lie.

He may have done that in words, but when he called the Iraq war a distraction from the WoT he was stuck with the impression that he did not believe Al Qaeda was in Iraq. If Al Qaeda was in Iraq then the WoT belonged there.

Shalom.

8 posted on 10/01/2004 9:49:15 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: ArGee

Your letter is fantastic and I'd love to borrow it for my own local paper here in Michigan. Small town. But is it "legal" to do such a thing. If so, I'm on it!!


9 posted on 10/01/2004 9:58:21 AM PDT by queenkathy
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To: queenkathy
Your letter is fantastic and I'd love to borrow it for my own local paper here in Michigan. Small town. But is it "legal" to do such a thing. If so, I'm on it!!

You are kind. I wrote it from my own mind without referring to any notes. I fully and legally "own" that letter. As such I have the right to grant you the permission, which I hereby grant.

You are welcome to use it 'as is' if you like. However, experience shows that the letter will be better if you read it over, then express the sentiments in your own words in your own way. That way if someone who knows you reads the letter they won't say "That doesn't sound like her."

Either way, you have my permission. Use it to good effect.

Shalom.

10 posted on 10/01/2004 10:47:16 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: ArGee
Love the letter! Well written, succinct and to the point. They will not, however, print it. Because of those reasons along with the fact it is too long. Their criteria is no longer than 250 words.

But I will be looking for it.

11 posted on 10/01/2004 10:52:32 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: Dad was my hero
Love the letter! Well written, succinct and to the point. They will not, however, print it. Because of those reasons along with the fact it is too long. Their criteria is no longer than 250 words.

Thank you! On very rare occasions I've had my longer letters included as an op-ed piece (in Houston). We'll see.

They have my permission to excerpt it.

Shalom.

12 posted on 10/01/2004 11:03:02 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: Inwoodian; Savagemom; this_ol_patriot; queenkathy; Dad was my hero
Update: The Patriot News called to verify the letter was mine and that they had my permission to publish it if they were to decide to do so.

I'll let you know if I hear more.

Shalom.

13 posted on 10/04/2004 8:27:54 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: ArGee

Thanks for the heads-up. They printed one of mine yesterday, but it was from way back when the 527 controversy was making news. I wonder if now they won't print anything I send them for the rest of October - I hate to have wasted my opinion on old news...


14 posted on 10/04/2004 8:47:17 AM PDT by Savagemom
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To: Savagemom
It can't hurt to try.

Can it?

Shalom.

15 posted on 10/04/2004 9:44:39 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: ArGee

why do they call to verify? did they not believe you?


16 posted on 10/04/2004 11:08:15 AM PDT by queenkathy
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To: queenkathy
why do they call to verify? did they not believe you?

I've worked for a magazine, but never a newspaper.

I suspect they wanted to be sure nobody had submitted a letter under my name to harm me in some way. You can spoof a return address either in a letter or in email.

They may have also wanted to verify the letter as mine rather than something the RNC had given me to send.

Covering their bases I suspect.

Shalom.

17 posted on 10/04/2004 11:12:17 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: ArGee
The Commission did not find a link between Al Qaeda and the attack of September 11, 2001,

Don't you mean IRAQ and 9/11?

18 posted on 10/04/2004 11:15:54 AM PDT by workerbee
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To: workerbee
Don't you mean IRAQ and 9/11?

Yep. Sorry. Iraq and Al Qaeda are very close to each other on the keyboard, dontchaknow.

;)

Thanks,
Shalom.

19 posted on 10/04/2004 11:18:22 AM PDT by ArGee (After 517, the abolition of man is complete)
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To: queenkathy

bump


20 posted on 10/04/2004 11:19:15 AM PDT by foreverfree
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