Letters policy
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity.
Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
A DREAM COME TRUE
What was just an idea months ago became a dream come true at the Peace Academy
graduation, covered by Illinois Times’ reporter Will Burpee [“Peace of
paper,” June 17].
But the Academy would have remained just a great idea if it hadn’t been for
the incredible faith of the Heartland Peace Center board of directors in the
program’s potential to create positive change and in the ability of young people
to organize, direct, and administer it.
I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to Heartland for their constant
encouragement and gift of space at the Peace Center; to the Dominican Sisters
of Springfield, the Iraq Peace Coalition, and the social action committee of
the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation for their generous sponsorship;
to the UIS community for extending access to education beyond the campus walls;
and to the many individuals, too many to name, who supported our effort to empower
and inspire activism through learning.
Few times in life do you get to see an idea brought to life before your eyes.
And in few places are there newspapers like the Illinois Times that recognize
and celebrate community efforts, even the small ones.
Liz Moran
Peace Academy Coordinator
Heartland Peace Center
Springfield
LEADERS LOST HIS TRUST
After reading many of the recent letters to the editor, I have some
recurring questions about the U.S. occupation in Iraq. After an exhaustive search,
no weapons of mass destruction or the facilities to manufacture such weapons
were found within the confines of the country. Nor has Iraq been found to have
to have had any ties with 9/11. While no one would deny that Saddam Hussein
is an oppressive tyrant, other countries are consistently identified by Amnesty
International as major human rights violators. The addition of the United States
in March of this year to that list is ironic for a country that claims international
leadership in the field of human rights.
The fact that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world seems
a more likely impetus for the invasion. I don’t believe the benevolent goal
of liberating the Iraqi people was ever a factor. I find the deceit and dishonesty
of our nation’s leaders both contemptible and repugnant. They do not deserve
our trust.
To quote Abraham Lincoln, “Kings had always been involving and impoverishing
their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of
the people was the object.”
Aaron P. Shehan
Springfield
This article appears in Jul 1-7, 2004.
