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IMMORAL NOT TO WATERBOARD Two seemingly unrelated opinion pieces in the most
recent Illinois Times point to a problem with today’s Left. Norman
Hinderliter criticized President Bush’s daughters for not joining the
military during a time of war [see “Letters,” Nov. 29]. Yet
Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war, did not serve at all during the
Vietnam War, and I have yet to see Chelsea Clinton don a pair of combat
boots. Why did Mr. Hinderliter not mention Hillary’s or
Chelsea’s failure to serve? Could it be that when Republicans
don’t serve, they’re hypocrites but when Democrats don’t
serve (even when they vote to authorize war) they get a pass? Jim Hightower’s blast at Attorney General
Michael Mukasey would be laughable if it weren’t so destructive
[“Congressional betrayal,” Nov. 29]. Hightower is opposed to
waterboarding, but is he opposed to the prevention of terrorist attacks?
It’s hard to tell. In 2003, U.S. and Pakistani forces captured Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed. He was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Richard
Reid’s attempted airline bombing, and the Bali terrorist attacks, and
he personally beheaded journalist Daniel Pearl.
While in U.S. custody, we waterboarded him and he
started talking. The information we got from Mohammed resulted in the
capture of hundreds of terrorists and prevented the killing of thousands of
Americans. It would have been immoral not to waterboard him. What would
Hightower have said if we had treated Mohammed with kid gloves and, as a
result, terrorist attacks take the lives of thousands of Americans? It
would have been immoral not to waterboard him. Contrary to what Hightower and anti-war extremists
claim, the Geneva Conventions offer no protection whatsoever to scum like
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. They were designed to protect unarmed noncombatants
and soldiers who are wearing the uniform of a recognized armed force. Just
how does Mohammed fall into either of these two categories? He is a mass
murderer and we would have been perfectly within our rights to execute him
the minute he was captured. If Hightower wants to point out atrocities, he can
start with the victims of Islamofascism like Daniel Pearl, Theo van Gogh,
and the 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks. But, in Hightower’s world,
only the U.S. is capable of human-rights violations. The Muslim world is a
land of milk and honey where only peace and tolerance reign and everybody
loves everybody. By the way, just so that Mr. Hinderliter
doesn’t accuse me of hypocrisy, I am a veteran, as were my dad, my
brother, and my best friend. And when the time comes I will strongly urge
both of my daughters to wear the uniform of their country.
Robert Huck
Springfield
SAY NO TO RODEO BRUTALITY I breathed a sigh of relief when I read there was not
going to be a bid on a return of the rodeo to Springfield. Anyone who
thinks this is family entertainment needs to look a little further. Rodeo
participants are constantly in violation of the ban on electric prods,
stabbings, and tail twisting in order to get these animals to
“perform.” SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) has
videotaped many of these actions. Check out RodeoCruelty.com to find out
the real truth about this terrible “sport.” Please contact
Chuck Hartke, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, at
chuck.hartke@illinois.gov or telephone him at 217-782-2172 to let him know
you do not support rodeos. No animal is safe from rodeo brutality!
Jan Mier Springfield
ALL FOR A BETTER RODEO
Go ahead, NHSFR (National High School Finals Rodeo),
have your rodeo in Springfield. But first you must figure out a way to have
a high-class rodeo event that doesn’t abuse animals at
taxpayers’ expense. Previously secured state grant funds, amounting
to $200,000 in a single year, must reflect higher standards of use at all
future rodeo events. Illinois taxpayers don’t want their money used
in the well-documented abuse and/or torture of animals for purposes of
human entertainment. Rodeo events can be improved. Tim L. Thornton Springfield
INSANITY LEADS TO GAMBLING
Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting different results. We are now
witnessing an example of this in Illinois. The governor and three
legislative leaders (Jones, Watson, and Cross) are proposing more gambling
to pay for education and construction. Gambling fails to live up to its promises. Remember
the lottery? Today the lottery funds only 9 percent of the education
budget. Casino gambling did not increase tourism or solve the problems of
economic development. Dockside gambling resulted in “windfall
profits” for casino owners. But how many of the Illinois First
construction projects linked to this gambling expansion were unfunded? Gambling is an unstable source of revenue that has
not solved state budget problems in the past, and it will not work now. How will tripling the amount of gambling in Illinois
solve the problem? It won’t. Let’s take a lesson from Dr.
Einstein. We call upon legislators and the governor to work
together to find a real solution without expanding gambling.
Anita Bedell Executive director, Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems
Springfield
CONGRESS IGNORES ITS MANDATE
The big question that I am pondering now is, will
Congress give the Bush-Cheney war machine the money to attack and occupy
the sovereign nation of Iran — the cradle of civilization, the
ancient culture of Persia? As of today, Dec. 6, Bush and Cheney have 439 days
left in office to bedevil, frighten, and shortchange the people of the
United States. Congress gives us no assurance that the body is in control
of our own government. Congress has let itself become sidetracked, giving
attention instead to assorted domestic issues. The war and occupation of
Iraq is the most important issue facing all of us. Congress is avoiding the
people’s fears and concerns. Congress is ignoring its mandate from
the people to pull the troops out of Iraq. We must elect all the anti-war
candidates running for Congress that we can so that a definite anti-war
majority prevails this time. I shouldn’t have to waste my time writing
absolute truths that fall on deaf ears, especially those ears of the
average citizen of the United States who never acts on any movement toward
opposition to the war; it’s the person’s loss also in sons and
daughters and in tons of borrowed cash. All things have a price, often
hidden. We must be constantly on guard. Jane Johnson Gilson
SMOKERS ARE MORE TOLERANT Well, unless you have been hiding under a rock,
Illinois will become smoke-free on Jan. 1. On television one only hears
what health departments want you to hear and see: How wonderful clean air
is going to be for the state. Well there are two sides to every story. Did
proponents of the ban ever stop to think how the smokers feel? I have never
smoked but when I was in college I was a waiter at a small restaurant up by
Woodfield Mall and I tell you I would much rather wait on smokers than
nonsmokers! Smokers seem to be more tolerant and laidback than nonsmokers!
Plus smokers are better tippers than these uptight people! And come on,
isn’t this country supposed to be the land of the free? It should be
up to each establishment whether it is smoking or smoke-free, not
politicians or the health department.
Mark
Miller
Jacksonville
CONGRESS: GET TO WORK! It’s time for lawmakers to finally get to work
in the remaining days of the first session of the 110th Congress. First, Congress must enact legislation to stop the
mandated 10 percent reduction in physicians’ reimbursement, which
becomes effective Jan. 1, 2008, under the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate
formula. Next, Congress must reconcile and pass the 2008
National Defense Authorization as a clean bill without including
controversial nonrelevant legislation such as the “hate crimes”
bill that almost assures veto. Congress must also act to pass legislation to restore
broken promises to military retirees. Finally, Congress must fully authorize funding for
combat operations. The Department of Defense has already announced severe
curtailment of base operations and layoffs of both Defense Department
civilian employees and contractors to make up for the proposed shortfalls.
Such lack of funding only hurts the troops in the field. Early withdrawal
from Iraq and Afghanistan will only embolden the barbarians to resume
9/11-style attacks within our borders. Dan Cedusky Champaign
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
