and the third letter, "Nothing to cheer about" (on war criminals in the US military). I will attach the letters below to the ever-expanding list of like-minded Stripes letters, found here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/18/45138/421Meanwhile,
Bush bypassed process
In “Spying program necessary” (letter, Feb. 10) the writer says President Bush is justified by authorizing the domestic spying and that the “extremists” that “attack” this position are out to “destroy our country.”
Well, the U.S. has a two-party system, one is the ruling/majority party and the other is the “opposition” party. It’s their role in government to help keep checks and balances in place. Let’s familiarize him with the Fourth Amendment.
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Procedures are in place with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to obtain warrants via FISA secret courts and this act authorizes wiretaps for up to one year before having to ask for a warrant; These are rarely, if ever, turned down. For the Bush administration to bypass this process because it’s a pain in the butt and for the guise of our national security is a farce.
The U.S. is great because of our rights and freedoms; We shouldn’t give them up so easily and let down the generations that have fought for these rights. How long before we become a repressed state like the former East Germany or Soviet Union without freedoms or rights?
Stop listening to media filters like Fox “Faux” News that slant and report their biases as fact. There are many outlets that report accurate and factual information, but you have to look for these yourself.
James Jenet
Hohenecken, Germany
Sheehan has right to protest
It amazes me how Cindy Sheehan continues to get trashed by the right for being against the war in Iraq (“Pride not evident in Sheehan,” letter, Feb. 9).
How is she doing a disservice to her son by trying to bring home our troops? It seems those who want to redeploy troops out of an area where an insurgency is fueled by our presence is much more supportive of our men and women in uniform than those who had to make up intelligence to go to war with a country that was no threat to the U.S.
People who call Sheehan’s antics unpatriotic must realize that her own son made the ultimate sacrifice for our country whose Constitution gives the right to free speech, including the right to bash the Bush administration and his reasons for going to war. Those who have blind faith in an administration that will lie to put our troops in harm’s way, illegally spy on Americans and give the rich billions of dollars in tax cuts while our cities are in crisis are scary.
I don’t agree with everything Sheehan says, and my guess is that neither would Sheehan’s son. However, if the letter writer really wants to know what Casey Sheehan thinks, my guess is that he is furious that people like the letter writer bash his mother for being against a war that the majority of Americans do not support.
Sheehan is not a politician, nor does she speak for the Democratic Party. She is a mother who lost her son in a war that she does not believe in and does not want any other mother to go through the same pain she has had to endure.
Spc. Mike Burrell
Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Iraq
Nothing to cheer about
It sickened me to read Stars and Stripes’ headline “GIs cheer as convicted officer eludes jail time” (Jan. 25, Associated Press).
It is repulsive that members of the U.S. armed forces could cheer at the news that a war criminal has escaped the punishment he deserves. Lewis Welschofer Jr. is a war criminal. He clearly committed acts of torture that resulted in the death of an Iraqi general. For this crime he was convicted of negligent homicide. His punishment, a fine and confinement to quarters, is extremely light, especially for an officer who should have known better.
The poorly supervised E-3s and E-4s involved in the Abu Ghraib incident are doing hard time in a federal penitentiary, and they did not kill anyone.
It angers me that a war criminal like Welschofer will be allowed to remain in the U.S. Army. It angers me even further when this is cheered as good news.
Allowing war criminals to remain in the armed forces is bad news. It sends the message that detainee abuse and torture are tolerated in our military. These crimes smear the reputation of those who are serving honorably.
First Lt. Robert Truax
Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=35021
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