OPEN LETTER to JOHN KERRY: REVERSE BUSH'S INSANITY!

[ulTRAX]

Dear Mr. Kerry:

If the US is EVER to win the war on terrorism.... it has to understand its roots and not pour more gasoline on the flames of Arab/Muslim anger.

Much of what drives Al Quida and is a reaction to the arrogant use of US power in the mid-east... and its blind support for the hardliners in Israel. For 50 years the US has intervened in the region installing brutal regimes caring only about protecting the oil and keeping out the Soviets. These polices have come back to bite us with a vengeance.

The US installed the Shah of Iran paving the way for anti-US Islamic hardliners. The US helped the Ba'athists in Iraq come to power... and provided a list of Leftists the CIA considered subversive. The US wanted Saddam to bleed the Iranians so their Islamic revolution would not spread. In the process we supplied weapons and materials for their WMD program. The US supported and trained the most vicious of the Muhajadeen in Afghanistan to bleed the Soviets and after they were evicted, the US left the nation to degenerate into chaos. The Taliban, determined to end this chaos and inspired by the Iranians, fought for and got another hard-line Islamic state. It became home to Al Quida.

Bush has confirmed to the Arab/Islamic ALL the worst suspicions of American intent. Bush invades Iraq... a nation that did not attack us... pretending it's self-defense. The Arab world is not unaware that the US covets control of Persian Gulf oil. It's what's driven US policy in that region since WWII. Bush sidelined Arafat while Sharon brutally dismembered the Palestinian Authority proving he was not a fair arbiter. Bush then calls Sharon... perhaps the most hated and distrusted Israeli to Arabs... a "man of peace".

Bush is the WORST person to fight the war on terrorism. He is incapable of comprehending what resentment drives the Islamic extremists. He is pouring fuel on the flames of Arab/Islamic rage. Bush is guaranteeing that the US will be plagued by Islamic terrorism for years to come. So why are YOU so supportive of Bush's policies in Iraq and Israel?

If you are EVER to be a true leader you MUST offer an alternative vision to Bush's dangerous insanity. While I agree Iraq can't be left a failed state.... your support for Bush doesn't help diffuse the mess Bush created. You have to REPUDIATE Bush's arrogant use of US power... even while you try to internationalize reconstruction. You have to REPUDIATE the Bush doctrine which has us now bogged down as occupiers in two Arab/Muslim nations.

To diffuse Arab/Islamic anger, you have to be seen as a SANE alternative to Bush.... a President who DOES respect Arab sensibilities and is determined to be fair. Yes... Israel has a right to live in peace in secure borders. But so do the Palestinians have a right to have a VIABLE state that's not under Israel's heel. For this to happen you must understand that the US has been a silent coconspirator in the repression of the Palestinians and the illegal expansion of the settlements. You MUST be perceived as a FAIR arbiter. Because OUR nation is now threatened, we can no longer let the Israeli tail wag the American dog. You must NOT be afraid of the Israeli lobby or losing the Jewish vote. Instead you must convince them that the current insanity does not serve THEIR interests nor Israel's. You must pull the rug out from beneath the Israeli hardliners like Sharon who are determined to prevent a just settlement. Threaten aid.... offer a security pact... ANYTHING to make it clear to Israel that we no longer will conspire with THEIR intransigence.

So Mr. Kerry... we know Bush is not up to the task of leading the world's only superpower nor of truly protecting American security. Are you?

[Bandit]

1. Where else can this letter be read?

I like it. It is balanced and without undue criticism. Direct and to the point. Will anyone but DUers see it?

[ulTRAX]

2. also posted........

I posted my first version at the Kerry Forum: http://forum.johnkerry.com/index.php?showtopic=24008

Listening to Kerry, all I can think of is how much Bush has framed the debate on so many key issues and Kerry's letting himself be relegated to a lap dog.