Letters

Draft winds blowing

The Military Draft is a critical election issue. George Bushrepeatedly states his intent to spread “freedom” throughout theMiddle East and the world, and that tall order cannot be achievedwith the all-volunteer army.

The crucial shortfall in today’s military, in particular theArmy, is soldiers. Troops currently are deployed in Afghanistan,against “worldwide terror,” Iraq, Germany, and South Korea. We alsohave troops stationed in the Homeland. Since the insurgency in Iraqhas reduced stability there to zero, Bush will require a draft if,say, Iran or North Korea — genuine threats — cross the line intheir acquisition or deployment of nukes.

The U.S. military is stretched so thin that National Guardtroops and Army Reservists make up 40% of troops in Iraq. Bush hasimplemented “stop loss” denying soldiers a chance to leave the armywhen their enlistment is up. Troops are being recycled to serve twotours in Iraq, where 1,100 of their numbers have been slaughteredand thousands maimed. Moreover, Iraqis trained by U.S. forces haverun from battle or joined the insurgency. I feel a draft, and thewind’s blowing from Iraq.

Bush, Cheney and their neo-con cronies pushed this nation into aquagmire against an enemy that had no WMD or links to Osama binLaden. They put the religious fanatics on steroids. Now, with ourmilitary spread tissue-thin, a draft is indispensable so Bush cancomplete his crackpot vision of spreading his utopian “freedom”throughout the world.

Greg Roth
Seattle, Wash.

An unjustified war

It has become abundantly clear that the War in Iraq wasunnecessary. The WMD justification has fallen away, as have theclaims that Iraq was connected to Sept. 11. Now the justificationis that we are bringing Iraq “democracy.” There is no evidence tosupport that claim, other than spurious words from our leaders.International polls make it readily apparent to us how the majorityof people around the earth feel about the United States. Ourcountry is by far the biggest rogue state, and the world agrees bya commanding margin. The occupation of Iraq must not only end, butthe false “War on Terror,” must end too. First, terrorism fromnon-state entities is criminal, and the people who were behindSept. 11 should be pursued through police operations. We mustadmit, though, that there is such a thing as state terrorism, andit is equally wrong, and the United States has practiced it a greatdeal over the past 200 years.

The current “War on Terror” can never be won because the rootcauses of terrorism are not being addressed. There must be a justsolution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the United Statesmust leave Saudi Arabia, and end its relations with that corruptregime. The United States must leave Iraq, and Afghanistan, andstop trying to control the Middle East for geopolitical reasons,and oil resources.

Nate Looney
student

A double standard?

Why have John Kerry’s military and FBI files not beenreleased?

Where is everyone who was as intent on examining George Bush’sthirty-year-old National Guard records?

Could there be a double standard here?

Bush’s N.G. records and those of his deceased CEO have beeninspected. The disappointed inspector used Dan Rather to issuefabrications.

And so where are Kerry’s military and FBI records? One Portionof Kerry’s FBI files takes “14 boxes that stand 12 feet high.” GaryAldrich an FBI agent for twenty-six years says he knows the FBIdoes not put surveillance on a suspect without good reason. Why hasJohn Kerry not made his files public? Obviously John Kerry isafraid to sign SF-180 Federal Form to release everything.

Kerry himself posted a few carefully chosen self-serving itemsonto the World Wide Web, but where is the complete contents ofthose 14 boxes?

John Kerry’s 20 plus-year senate record shows multiplerejections of U.S. defense spending and much support of new taxes(I85X) (PAC James R. Taylor). John Kerry’s newfound love of themilitary stands political and questionable. It’s his record thatspeaks.

John Kerry, please sign the one-page SF-180 Federal Form so thatall your records can be released.

Frances Kalin
Moscow, Idaho

Measure 33 good for economy

As a patient, a PSU alum, and former member ofPSU�student government, I am saddened that those whochoose�to not endorse Measure 33 cited the creationmore�bureaucracy as a reason of voting no (“Vanguardendorsements,” Oct. 22, 2004). This new bureaucracy would requirethe hiring of college-educated�individuals. With our economyin its current state, what�is wrong in creating more jobsfor college graduates? The�program is structured so as topay for itself, the money�won’t come from state coffers (ourtaxes). But all that aside, Measure 33 is a needed change fromthe�current program in which most patients arewithout�medicine most of the time. The dispensaries andthe�higher limit provisions of Measure 33 will be agodsend�to medical marijuana patients across the state. Voteyes on M33.

Rachel Rose
alumna

Bibilomania for all

Thanks for a truly entertaining article (“Hi, my name is Jasonand I’m a bibliophile,” Oct. 22, 2004). I came across it bymonitoring Google News for rare books. It’s reassuring to know thatthere are still people out there who appreciate high literacy/lowtechnology, since it seems most prefer the reverse.

Mike Stillman
Texas

Change is good for The Spectator

Shah Smith was probably one of the few good things about thepaper (“Who’s on Watch at The Spectator?” Oct. 19, 2004). I have tosay that even though I’m a Democrat, when Shah put out his issues,I really enjoyed reading what was printed. With his publication,things were equal, especially on pros and cons. When Searles wasE.C. the one pros and cons article he ran on gay marriage was waylopsided. I mean, he didn’t even give it a chance. One column vs. apage and a half really shows some bias. So thank goodness he’s goneand we can finally put some quality back into a publication wehaven’t seen in months.

Drew Turner
Student

Catholic Church not hypocritical

Apparently the author of “The hypocrisy of the Catholic Church”(Oct. 22, 2004) did not take the first-year philosophy course towhich an appeal is made. Abortion and euthanasia are intrinsicallyevil because they take an innocent human life. Capital punishmentdoes not.

And when the Catholic Church states God’s law may be knownthrough “our rational nature and divine revelation,” that does notmean, as the author asserts “the Bible and the Catholic Church’sinterpretation.” What is knowable through our rational nature isavailable to all people everywhere. It is not the teaching of anyparticular church but the law of nature itself. Morality then issometimes based on natural law, not on church doctrine.

John Kerry says that he cannot enforce an “article of faith” onthose who do not belong to the Catholic Church. Opposition to thekilling of unborn children, racism and genocide among others, doesnot involve any article of faith or revealed religion.

The claim that the Catholic Church offers “no rationalization”for these distinctions is absolutely false. The Catechism of theCatholic Church and numerous documents explain it all very clearly.Even someone who never took first-year philosophy could understandit.

Rev. Gerald F. Mullally
Milford, Pa.

More movie theaters!

Interesting article, but I count about 150 movie theatersservicing the 1 million people in Salt Lake City you mention (“Reelto Reel,” Oct. 21, 2004). That�is not counting the dozensmore in neighboring communities. That’s about three times more thanthere�are in the larger very cultural city of Munich,Germany, where I now live. I grew up near Salt Lake City and goingto movies was about all we did — and that was before there wassuch a thing as “Mormon Cinema.” Oh, well. I still enjoyed thearticle.

David Kirkham
Germany

Vanguard electoral coverage biased

Not saying I support one side or the other, but when does alegitimate “news” paper start promoting one side over the other?Sure, there are editorials and such, but the Vanguard CLEARLYsupports certain sides. When I pick up the Vanguard, I don’t wantto hear the editors’ views of world! I want to hear the unbiasedtruth — the facts, man! Not the opinion of Christian Gaston,editor-in-chief. If you are discussing a Measure, which iscertainly important, show me both sides so that I can make adecision. I don’t want to be bombarded with only reasons why Ishould vote No, nor only reasons why I should vote Yes. Give mefacts about both sides equally and fairly.

Sure this is just one opinion article, but it is one of ten. Inow know the views and opinions of the Vanguard, thank you. Now Ineed to find a paper to read that will give me facts on both sidesof the issues. Maybe, just maybe, give me unbiased news. Hmmm,perhaps I could find a real newspaper.

Joe
student