Iraq War

Isn't it ironic that our government could afford to subsidize our involvement in Iraq to the tune of $12 billion per month, yet it cannot afford to subsidize the U.S. Postal Service, one of the best-operating federal agencies, at a fraction of that cost ("'Snail mail' could get slower under Postal Service plan," Dec. 6)? Donald T. Torres, Ellicott City

Famed "Veterans Against The Iraq War" activist Adam Kokesh will speak at Harford County's Campaign For Liberty April meeting. Kokesh will be the featured speaker on April 24 at 7 p.m. at the monthly Campaign for Liberty meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Forest Hill. Kokesh is an Iraq war veteran who experienced combat in Fallujah, receiving the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal. Since his honorable discharge from active duty, he has been an outspoken opponent of unconstitutional U.S. wars - wars not authorized by Congress as prescribed in the Constitution.

One of Maryland's top industries — defense and war — seems at risk from its own recession. Designated U.S. combat forces are due to be out of Iraq by the end of the month. Political support is waning for the war in Afghanistan, which looks as if it will be wound down in a year or two. A key advisory group told the Defense Department last month that it needs to shed more than 100,000 civilian jobs. The last time something like this happened, this state plunged into a five-year slump.

The questions routinely asked of our presidential candidates are insufficient for assessing their potential ability to lead the nation. The following questions are based on my studies of the leadership style of recent presidents. The candidates' responses to these questions - as well as evidence of how they have already "answered" them in practice - would, I believe, provide more reliable guidance for their leadership potential in the White House: •Vision/purpose. Does the candidate embrace a strong vision or compelling view of the nation's future?

Famed "Veterans Against The Iraq War" activist Adam Kokesh will speak at Harford County's Campaign For Liberty April meeting. Kokesh will be the featured speaker on April 24 at 7 p.m. at the monthly Campaign for Liberty meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Forest Hill. Kokesh is an Iraq war veteran who experienced combat in Fallujah, receiving the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal. Since his honorable discharge from active duty, he has been an outspoken opponent of unconstitutional U.S. wars - wars not authorized by Congress as prescribed in the Constitution.

Flying over Iraq this week, Maryland National Guard Col. David W. Carey surveyed miles and miles of emptiness. Where 500 U.S. bases once housed as many as 170,000 troops, the American military footprint had shrunk to two bases and 4,000 soldiers - all with orders to pack up and move out by the end of month. "It's as if you're going to a ghost town," Carey, commander of the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, said Thursday from Iraq. "I have instructed and encouraged my soldiers to take it all in, take pictures, write stuff down, keep a journal," he said.

Robert Raeke Jr. was a tall man who stood out in a crowd, his biceps — chiseled from military training —encircled with bold tattoos. The Iraq War veteran lit up the dance floor, cracking jokes and inviting friends over to party. But early Saturday, an evening of revelry for Raeke, 23, ended in tragedy. After a long night of dancing and drinking, the young man had invited several buddies to take a dip in the pool at his Glen Burnie home, when a fistfight broke out. Raeke fell, struck his head on the pavement, and was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

THERE ARE still people in the mainstream media who profess bewilderment that they are accused of being biased. But you need to look no further than reporting on the war in Iraq to see the bias staring you in the face, day after day, on the front page of The New York Times and in much of the rest of the media. If a battle ends with Americans killing a hundred guerrillas and terrorists, while sustaining 10 fatalities, that is an American victory. But not in the mainstream media. The headline is more likely to read: "Ten More Americans Killed in Iraq."

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, after years of celebrating successes in the Iraq war only to see them give way to more violence, is toning down his rhetoric in what strategists see as a bid to calibrate public expectations of progress there. Bush said yesterday that he would do "what it takes" to help the new Iraqi government succeed and announced that he was sending senior members of his administration to Baghdad to assist their Iraqi counterparts. "I sense something different happening in Iraq," the president said, hours after returning from a surprise, whirlwind visit to Iraq's capital.

President Bush said Monday that the Iraq war is "straining the psyche of our country." What country is he talking about? The United States? If that's what the president thinks, he ought to get out of the house a little more. Unless you're in the military, or related to someone who is, the only strain you're feeling from this war is - what? - the price of gasoline maybe? We have a great divide in this country - between the military culture and the civilian culture, and it has never been more pronounced than it is right now. If the war has affected anyone's psyche in this country, it's the thousands of troops we've sent to Iraq and to Afghanistan - and the Marines who will be forced into active duty again, some of them after multiple tours.

The Sun editorial board is prone to making stupid and inane statements, but the blanket statement that "Iraq had no nuclear, chemical or biological weapons nor any prospects for building them at the time of the invasion" ("Home for Christmas," Dec. 2) may be the stupidest and most easily refutable ever written. UN experts confirmed in 1986 that Iraq had contravened the Geneva Convention by using chemical weapons against Iran. On March 16, 1988, Iraq dropped bombs containing mustard gas, Sarin and Tabun on the Kurdish city of Halabja.

While reading the account of soldiers leaving Iraq ("U.S takes its leave from Iraq," Dec. 18), I was struck once again at the illegitimate question that is so often asked about the Iraq war: Was it worth it? That may be a proper question to ask when a financial investment is evaluated but not a suitable question when violence is initiated. Empathy seems to be non-existent. Imagine if the tables were turned and Iraq did to us what we did to them. What if you lost your family and business from Iraq attacking us and pundits from Iraq sat around a table with their lattes and discussed whether it was worth it?

- When President Barack Obama went to Fort Bragg the other day to proclaim the end of the nearly nine-year war in Iraq, it was hardly what you would call a traditional victory lap. There was no wild V-I Day to match the V-E and V-J Days that kicked off nationwide jubilation at the end of World War II. The most Mr. Obama could proclaim was that America wished a "welcome home" to the last of the 1.5 million American troops who had served in...

Flying over Iraq this week, Maryland National Guard Col. David W. Carey surveyed miles and miles of emptiness. Where 500 U.S. bases once housed as many as 170,000 troops, the American military footprint had shrunk to two bases and 4,000 soldiers - all with orders to pack up and move out by the end of month. "It's as if you're going to a ghost town," Carey, commander of the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, said Thursday from Iraq. "I have instructed and encouraged my soldiers to take it all in, take pictures, write stuff down, keep a journal," he said.

Isn't it ironic that our government could afford to subsidize our involvement in Iraq to the tune of $12 billion per month, yet it cannot afford to subsidize the U.S. Postal Service, one of the best-operating federal agencies, at a fraction of that cost ("'Snail mail' could get slower under Postal Service plan," Dec. 6)? Donald T. Torres, Ellicott City

And so it ends. The United States is leaving Iraq. I'm solidly in the camp that sees this as a strategic blunder. Iraqi democracy is fragile and Iran's desire to undermine it is strong. Also, announcing our withdrawal is a weird way to respond to a foiled Iranian plot to commit an act of war in the U.S. capital. Obviously, I hope I'm wrong and President Obama's not frittering away our enormous sacrifices in Iraq out of domestic political concerns and diplomatic ineptitude. Still, there's an upside.

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats threatened yesterday to take up a resolution next week to oppose President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq, cranking up the pressure on Republicans who have blocked a vote on the measure in the Senate. The move would shift the focus of the debate over the nearly four-year-old war to the House, where Democrats have enough votes to pass a measure over Republican opposition. It may also further isolate the White House and its allies in the Senate, who are bucking public opinion that has turned sharply against the Iraq war and the president's plans to expand it. Democrats pressured Bush to change course as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told lawmakers that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year - if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met. He also said that the buildup in troops is "not the last chance" to succeed in Iraq and added, "I would be irresponsible if I weren't thinking about what the alternatives might be."

President Barack Obama's announcement Friday that American troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year was greeted with jeers in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail from Republicans who said the U.S. was ignominiously bowing to pressure from Iraqi politicians. Ironically, these were many of the same GOP leaders who once hailed former President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq, which he cast (at least after the fact) as part of a doctrine of spreading the universal values of democracy and self-determination to the region.

Since its takeover by the Tribune Corporation, The Sun almost always features some trivial local matter on its front page. But whenever there's a story that might help to move public opinion toward war with Iran, it's dramatically emblazoned at the top of Page One - with the story provided, of course, by Tribune. That was the case with your story "Iran linked to bomb plot" (Oct. 13). The headline practically screamed the news in inch-high letters. When I moved here, The Sun still had its own national and foreign news desks, and I was proud of its editorial opposition to the 2003 Iraq war. Now, The Sun is just another propaganda arm of the military-industrial complex.