Letters to the Editor for Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Published: July 21, 2008

Writer: Indict Bush for U.S. war crimes
In 2003, the United States launched an unprovoked war of aggression against Iraq.

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After the U.S. occupied Iraq, its troops protected only two places in Baghdad: the Oil Ministry, with its detailed inventory of Iraqi oil reserves, and the Ministry of the Interior, the headquarters of the ousted regime’s secret police. Hospitals, schools, the national museum, the national library, power plants, waste treatment plants, military and research installations, ammunition dumps and the like were all thoroughly looted throughout the country while American soldiers passively looked on or, even in some cases, encouraged the looting. This was well-documented by Agence France-Presse (AFP), World Socialist Web Site at http://www.wsws.org and United for Peace and Justice (Web site: http://www.unitedforpeace.org).

The al-Tuwaitha site (where the 550 metric tons of yellowcake were suddenly “discovered” after sitting there for over 17 years!) was well-known to everybody, from United Nations inspectors to the CIA and the U.S. military, and yet was not protected for several weeks. Iraqi villagers, not knowing any better, stole barrels full of radioactive yellowcake, emptied them and used them to store food and water. Greenpeace went there to retrieve the barrels and other contaminated equipment. But, it was already too late. Iraqis are now dying horrible deaths from radiation poisoning, as documented by ARP and Greenpeace.

Recently the International Criminal Court charged Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, with war crimes and crimes against humanity. An article titled “First al-Bashir, next … Bush?” by Mark Levine, professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine, commented on those charges. Not surprisingly, it was not published by any of the so-called “liberal” media, but by Aljazeera.Net.

That article states, in part: “For Americans, however, the ICC indictment should offer a moment of somber reflection not merely for our relative inaction with regard to years of mass murder in Sudan. It is equally disturbing that much of the al-Bashir indictment could just as easily be applied to George Bush, the U.S. president. It is clear to most Iraqis that the chaos being reaped by the U.S. in their country was in fact deliberately sown by the U.S. to create a situation that would make any U.S. withdrawal almost impossible to pull off. While the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis — for which Bush and along with him, the American people who twice elected him, are responsible — is tragic, it should not be understated that the invasion itself was a crime against humanity.”

Let us hope that al-Bashir and Bush will have a chance to meet in The Hague soon!
FRED GRYZBOWSKI
Lynchburg

Some civility, please
As we move into the final months before a very close presidential race, there are letters and editorials filled with opinions and information that are increasingly negative and polarizing. This is true for supporters of both candidates.

Can we ask for a political climate that challenges each of us to do his or her homework, without resorting to inflammatory? It is vital to vote in November for the candidate of one’s choice. Disagree with the one you don’t support, talk up your own candidate, but base your choice on information from reliable sources and “in context” common sense. The candidates deserve this — they are both very good men.
LIBBY JARRETT
Lynchburg