| He calls editorial
‘honest’
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
You are correct in your commentary, and I commend you on your trust
and honesty for stating it so accurately.
I read A.M. Costa Rica every day since I found your web site about six
months ago.
I am a Gringo who has lived in Alajuela for three years, commuting back-and-forth
to South Florida while maintaining businesses in both locations. I left
Costa Rica three days before 9-11 and due to circumstances that evolved
from that event, I have not yet been able to return as of yet.
I still have a business and web site based from Costa Rica.
I look forward to returning in the near future to visit friends and
business associates, and to continue my association with a country that
has become part of my life.
Again, thank you for your honest commentary. It is time to stand up
for what's right, our leaders and our troops in the field.
Frank Pomeranz
Florida U.S.A.
This reader is disappointed
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
I am very disappointed in your editorial concerning the War.
You left out too much. For example : What happened to the coverage of
the Corp. fraud? Could the trail of this corp. crime be leading directly
to the door of the White House? How about the fact that nearly half the
people in the U.S. have no health care and good jobs are disappearing so
quickly that the opportunities for young people are nearly non-existent.
Homelessness is at an all time high and the schools are a joke. This war
is a diversion from that. As usual the American people and the people in
the world are being lied to and misled. This resident in the White House
represents only Corp. interests and big oil money. The War is to secure
oil. Simply that.
Not to say Saddam is a nice guy. Far from it, but who created that monster?
Could it have been the U.S. that provided him with WMD?
The real Hitler figure here is G.W. Shrub. Violence only breeds more
violence. An eye for and eye till the whole world is blind.
This is not a just war in any man's estimation. It will kill even more
innocents and create more hatred toward the U.S. and make us all targets.
We have alienated friends that diplomacy has worked for half a century
to secure.
The only good I see coming out of this War is to show the U.S. as the
rogue nation it has become.
I have enjoyed your newsletter and will probably continue to read it,
but I am sorely disappointed in your stand. Have you caved in out of fear
of that mass murderer in Washington?
Suzanne Smith
Pérez Zeledón
We are hypnotized
by Bush
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
It seems you and some of your readers have fallen under the hypnotic
spell of the "selected" president of the United States and the incantations
of the war-mongering zealots.
Let's look at some more factual information, not the fantasy.
- Hussein is an evil, maniacal, corrupt, power hungry, repressive dictator.
Not quite at the Hitler level, but he probably aspires to that, I doubt
few think otherwise. This is an important point, because too many narrow-minded
people, those who dares speak against the oil barons' misguided rush to
war, are some kind of Hussein-kissing peace nuts (what is wrong with them,
not wanting American and Iraqis to be killed). Almost everyone wants to
see Hussein removed from power or neutralized in some way, the difference
is only in the method.
- There appears to be no real link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda,
at least none that even the Bush/Cheney controlled CIA can find. In fact,
Bin Laden probably hates Hussein and his ilk, because, however wrong his
logic may be, Bin Laden sees himself as a "true believer" and fighting
a holy war against the infidels. To Bin Laden, Hussein is an opportunist
and capitalist who would only mention Allah if it was to his advantage.
Iraq has been a secular, western society during Hussein's rule. He did
our dirty work against the Iranian in the 1980's because the Iranians were
seen as a terror threat to the United States. He has always been willing
to sell to or work for the highest bidder.
- What is taking place in Iraq now (weapons development, etc.) has been
going on for years with absolutely no oversight by the rest of the world.
We know have (had) inspectors back in Iraq who were making some, albeit
slow, progress. Hussein's programs have certainly been much more controlled
now than they have been for years.
- Iraq is a sovereign country that has not been shown to be an "immediate"
threat to the United States or its citizens at this point. That is, other
than the 300,000 American troops our administration has put in harms way.
Yet, other countries (e.g. North Korea) that probably pose a more urgent
threat are ignored. During the first Gulf conflict, Hussein "crossed the
line" by invading another country. There are many people who supported
that war, but do not support this one.
So why is there this sudden rush to war? Iraq poses no imminent threat
to the U.S. or the rest of the world, especially now with a few hundred
thousand troops surrounding and occupying the country. Therefore, the "threat"
angle doesn't really fly. Is it because Georges Jr. has always felt that
it is our place to be the purveyors of democracy throughout the world,
even at the cost of American lives?
If the president feels that way, you would never know it from his campaigning
and his first year in office when he did nothing but rail against the Clinton
administration's "nation-building" and getting involved in other countries'
problems. Is it to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction? Again,
many countries have these weapons and we don't seem to be bothered; and
I'm not sure if starting a war and creating anarchy in a country of warring
factions is a way to contain these weapons.
So, what is the reason for the rush? Actually, pick any one of these
reasons for starting a war, George already has used and discarded, at various
times, each of them. Well, then there must be something else we aren't
seeing; reader Dave Shade says emphatically it's NOT about oil, that is
right after he points out that Hussein's goal is to control all the oil
in the region - hmmm?
No one believes that just having candlelight vigils, protests, and rallies
can solve the problems of the world and avoid war (although it worked pretty
well for Gandhi). Those opposed to the war simply think that other methods,
no matter how arduous and time consuming they may be, can work. However,
the Bush administration has never seemed interested in anything but war,
they change their mind daily on whether or not to get United Nations approval
and act like they can do whatever they want. The attitude smacks of 19th
century British colonialism.
This administration has us on a collision course that severs our links
with allies we need to fight terrorism and merely fuels Al Qaeda recruitment.
It will also pile costs on American taxpayers just as budget deficits are
forcing cuts in education and homeland security. A U.S. war threatens the
lives of thousands of Iraqi civilians in a country where half the people
are under the age of 15. With tough inspections, we can disarm Saddam without
the loss of a single life.
James Wolf
Orlando, Florida, USA
Bush has thin claim
to legitimacy
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
For the first time in History The United States is rushing towards a
preemptive strike against a sovereign nation under the auspices of a clear
and present danger to the U.S.. This fact is made all the more extraordinary
by the fact that the president who is leading us to this has but the thinnest
claims of legitimacy as a president.
My fear, and the fear of many around the world is that a Pandoras box
is about to be opened that the world leadership and most certainly Mr.
Bush has little capacity to close once opened. The implication for world
petroleum prices, terrorism and stability in a region that has been on
the brink of explosion for years is clear.
It is remarkable and disturbing that a man whos only qualification for
leadership seems to be his family name and the vast amount of financial
and political resources that name was able to buy or coerce, has since
September 11th been able to literally change the face of U.S. politics,
and to almost single-handedly supervise the destruction of the American
economy, the Middle East Peace process, create deficits that will impact
the U.S. and potentially world economies for years to come, and lead the
U.S. to the brink of a war that while possibly justified, is condemned
by most of the worlds other powers.
As an American, I am concerned that since September 11th, a day when
worldwide people identified with and supported the United States, Mr. Bush
has managed to destroy the sense of goodwill and support that people around
the world expressed that day, and create instead a sense of resentment
not seen since the days of Vietnam.
Mr. Bush has done what many thought impossible He has out-cowboyed Ronald
Reagan, the last American president whose projection of power and seeming
arrogance offended much of the world. Unfortunately Mr. Bush has neither
the political charisma, nor the capacity of Ronald Reagan.
Whereas Reagan was a man with a clear agenda and the capacity to execute
it, Bush is a man who seems more focused on rhetoric than substance. Bushs
ignorance of geopolitics and at times even the English language has evolved
from the subject of late night humor, to become something of worldwide
concern, as the world has woke up to discover that indeed The Emperor has
no clothes.
His single-minded focus on Iraq at a time when millions of Americans
are out of work, and when the very REAL threat of domestic terrorism looms
is compelling enough, but when you combine it with the saber rattling in
North Korea and seemingly monthly press releases by Osama Bin Laden, the
entire affair takes on a surreal quality that is hard for any rational
person to understand.
In less than three years, the United States has went from a country
leading the world into a new century of technological achievement and enlightenment,
to one whose economy is broken and spinning out of control, whose leader
is laughed at or hated in capitals around the world, and one that is slowly
watching its great democratic traditions being eroded by new laws and interpretations
of laws that allegedly protect, us while in truth they slowly rob us of
the freedoms and due process that made us the envy of the democratic world.
There is no argument that Saddam Hussein is an evil man, but the world
is full of evil men. The United States has a spotty record at best in playing
policeman to the world, less so when it is clear that the rest of the world
does not support fully such actions.
George Bush during his campaign for President liked to tout the fact
that he would run the country like a CEO. Well I learned a long time ago
that a good CEO sets priorities. A good CEO does not set about major acquisitions
and mergers when the question of his own companies health is in doubt.
A good CEO knows how to prioritize.
From this CEOs point of view Mr. Bush has many lessons to learn about
prioritization. Turning world opinion against the United States at a time
when we need our allies more than ever is not wise. Fighting a war on multiple
fronts while the very heartland of the United States remains exposed is
not wise. Granting massive tax cuts at a time when the U.S. has a growing
deficit is not wise. Ignoring the threat of one enemy who openly proclaims
his possession of the very weapons that we attack another for allegedly
having, is not wise.
Two and a half years ago, the American people and indeed the world got
a taste of what was to come when George Bush strutted arrogantly around
his Texas ranch acting presidential while the election was still very much
in doubt. His rhetoric and arrogance has only grown stronger with time,
and it is with great trepidation that we watch the face of the American
democracy and the world being changed by a man who acts as if he has a
mandate, but whose legitimacy will likely be the subject of debate for
years to come.
It is this very arrogance, and Bush’s own statements about, the man
who tried to kill my daddy, that causes rational men and women to ponder
if this war is about self defense or simply an old fashioned Texas-style
feud, where the son is bound by honor to correct the errors of the father
or persecute any, insult to the family honor.
So, we rush towards war. Costa Ricans, and those Americans who have
adopted Costa Rica as our home will no doubt have varying opinions on the
justness of this war, and the policies of Mr. Bush. Once the shooting starts
we will all pray for a rapid and just conclusion.
None of these things is in doubt. Likewise there can be no doubt that
just as September 11th changed the face of the world, this war will likewise
do so. Costa Rica is tied closely to the United States in more ways that
one. Costa Ricans are already seeing the effects of Bush policies with
reduced availability of visas, reductions in tourism and even higher gas
prices.
Few can honestly say that much positive will come from this war. The
larger concern is the stifling of constructive debate in the name of patriotism
and the attempt to separate the world into US vs. THEM. Few things in life
are so clear, what is clear is that the American President has set the
United States and the world on what seems to be an irrevocable course towards
a conflict that few doubt will have global political and economic implications.
David Scott Anderson
Heredia, Costa Rica
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He’s concerned
by proliferation
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
A principle, a military principle, or a philosophical principle, is
only valid if it is applied uniformly. Many countries, some hostile to
our own, possess weapons of mass destruction. We are not attacking them,
and we do not plan to attack them.
As a result of our hostility to Iraq, both North Korea and Iran are
now scrambling to acquire nuclear capability and there is little that we
can do to stop them. Many other nations have taken this as a sign that
they must be prepared to be able to cause mass destructions to Americans
in case we decide to make them our next target.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has virtually been destroyed by
our actions. No nation with the means will now remain without the ability
to fend off a conventional attack by a powerful nation bent on bullying
them with threats. Iraq will be the last great hurrah of the U.S. Never
again will the U.S. be able to march in and take over a country without
the fear of nuclear attack.
We are not fighting for freedom. Neither their freedom nor our freedom.
We are fighting for other reasons. As a nation, we have never been concerned
about their freedom, and to claim that we are now is a sham. It is a lie.
We are fighting for other reasons. We are not fighting for humanitarian
reasons. None of this, absolutely none of this, was brought on by feelings
of humanitarianism. To believe so is to lie to ourselves.
There are brutal dictatorships all over the world, many of which we
have supported at one time or another. As a matter of fact, we supported
the brutal dictatorship of Iraq and supplied Iraq with weapons and military
aid when they were in a conflict with Iran. We militarily supported Iraq
right up until the day AFTER Iraq marched into Kuwait. That's right! The
"great evil of Iraq" is what it is because of our military support. Because
it suited our hostilities toward Iran.
We did not care about Iraq then. We did not care about the Iraqi people.
We did not hear their cries. We turned a deaf ear to all the death and
destruction because WE were a part of that death and destruction. We provided
the means to suppress people and to kill people. To claim that ours is
a great humanitarian struggle is the highest insult. It is not, and it
has not been. We are fighting for other reasons.
Our professed interested in the people of Iraq is self-deception. We
are not interested in the welfare of the people of Iraq. We never have
been, and we are not now. We are fighting for other reasons. The rest of
the world knows this and that is why we do not have their support. We have
alienated nine-tenths of this planet as a result of our actions. We have
lost all the good will that we gained in the past. We have shown that we
are a country that can no longer be trusted to follow rational ends.
Even with a clear victory in Iraq, the world will never be the same.
Never again will any nation of means be without the capability to strike
back in a way that hurts and destroys. We have created a far worse world
than existed the day before. We are fighting for other reasons and they
have little to do with anything you have mentioned.
We may quickly overcome Iraq, but we will not overcome our enemy. The
enemy is within and is at the highest levels of our own government. Do
you know the real reason we are fighting Iraq?: The success of 9-11 to
secure GW Bush's presidency. The success of our attack against the primitive
Taliban and al-Quaida. This galvanized George Bush and his administration
to focus on war as a means to retain political power and to divert attention
from our own economy.
The severe problems with our economy will undo George Bush and his only
means to counter it is conventional war. Step-by-step his policies lead
in this direction and it was inevitable that it would eventually lead here.
His arguments rang hollow, and the longer he raised them, the more hollow
they became. Eventually the whole world became aware of the hollowness
of his arguments.
He was being driven, but not by any threats from Iraq. He was being
driven by his own policy that was leading him straight to Iraq, and after
Iraq will lead elsewhere if we succeed in Iraq without mass loss of life
among our military. Because we have the means. And because it supports
his politics. It makes him an Imperial President.
I've heard that term used about Richard Nixon, but it fits no one the
way it fits George Bush. As a president at war, it makes his above criticism.
Any time someone stands up to criticism him, they are attacked from every
corner. They are slandered, they are belittled, they are made fun of. Never
any other President followed the actions of an Imperial Presidency more
than George Bush.
Our economy is about to collapse. Eventually we may be faced with world-wide
depression. The suffering is yet to start. Our national debt is now approaching
7 Trillion! Our economy is stagnant. The only support, the housing bubble,
is predicted to soon collapse. Where do we go then? The means of political
control are now being put into place. Vast police powers have been given
to the President to use as he sees fit. Every aspect of our lives can now
be invaded with impunity. Our civil rights have been lost. All for an Imperial
President who will rule by political might, and who will manipulate the
American people by creating new enemies.
How easily Americans are mislead! How easily they can be made to raise
their voices in a howl for the blood of others while arguing that we are
here to liberate them. Liberate them, we might, but that is not our aim,
and it never was. The aim is the Imperial Presidency! Never has there been
greater shame on this nation. Our founders fought to establish democracy,
and we are fighting to destroy it.
Rex Bennett
USA
He didn’t vote for Bush
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
Thank you, your editorial was truly a delight to read, unlike the piece
written a few days ago titled "Saddam: When did he grow to be a monster?"
Although this article did have some valid points I feel it was written
in poor taste, similar to all of the anti-war protest that have been going
on recently. But, hey, that's freedom of speech, freedom of expression,
assembly, etc.. all those things that the Iraqi citizens couldn't even
start to imagine (yet).
Let me start by saying, I did not vote for Bush, and generally have
not supported many of his actions thus far. We all know the only reason
he was even on the ballot for Commander and Chief was because his daddy
was president. Actually I didn't support Gore either, but I did find him
to be the lesser of the two evils, at the time.
Since that time Bush certainly has said and done some things that have
perplexed us all. However on the case of Iraq, he is doing the one and
only thing that would ever truly disarm a man like Saddam. We all know
that a man like Saddam is never going to willingly disarm him self of these
weapons, under any circumstances. Since the start of time men like Saddam
have fallen into the same trap that old Satin fell in, pride in overwhelming
power. The type of unrestrained power Saddam and other dictators have always
leads to treacherous endings, simply because a human being stops thinking
like a human being when they obtain that much power.
At some point before this war is over, the world will get behind the
U.S, unfortunately it will come at the cost of life, when So-damn-insane
unleashes chemical and biological weapons on our troops, you know those
weapons he says he doesn't have.
Thanks again for the good read,
Brian R. Wehrer
College Park, MD
We are amateurs again
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
Tuesday's (March 18) unprecedented front-page editorial, blindly supporting
George Bush Jr.'s insatiable yearning for carnage, is a shocking example
of amateur journalism at its worst, unworthy of even the most outrageous
tabloid. To begin with, comparing Saddam Hussein to Adolf Hitler, the deluded
but extremely powerful Nazi strongman, and Josef Stalin, the leader of
a totalitarian regime of immense size and power, is at best sophistry.
No one doubts that Saddam Hussein is an evil man; like Stalin and Hitler
before him, he has murdered thousands. Nonetheless, Hussein has neither
the might nor the wherewithal to threaten even his weakest neighbor: surrounded
by hostile countries and regularly pummeled by British and U.S. air power,
he doubtlessly views his own survival as a challenge in itself.
Next, Mr. Brodell attempts to discredit the noble peace movement by
dredging up a memories of former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's
"appeasement" of Adolf Hitler in the late 1930s. Let's not allow a tendency
towards the dramatic or a transparent ploy to garner a few dozen more U.S.-based
readers to cloud the issue here.
Saddam Hussin is not Adolf Hitler, who was militarily superior and ready
to invade his neighbors. Those who oppose this senseless bloodshed are
not weak-willed, inept politicians afraid to stand up for themselves. Peacemongers,
indeed! A.M. Costa Rica would do better sticking to street fairs and classified
ads, leaving geopolitics to the informed.
Thomas Oakes C.
San Jose
We are terrribly wrong
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
You are terribly wrong to think that the way to end the threat of terror
both in the U.S. and abroad is through the use of force, especially in
an area of the world that is extremely volatile and dangerous.
War should only be used as a last resort when all other means of diplomacy
have been exhausted. It is apparent to most of the world that diplomacy
was abandoned by the U.S. and Britain because George Bush knew he could
not win a second vote of confidence in the U.N .
It seems apparent now that his real intentions are to overthrow the
Iraqi regime, it was never just about disarming Saddam. The Bush administration
has not only deceived the American people but also all the nations of the
world through Resolution 1441 who have vigorously attempted to end the
conflict peacefully He has shown through his words and actions that he
cannot be trusted.
This is why so many of the leaders and citizens of free nations around
the world have a bitter distain for this President and his administration.
The real threat to peace and stability is the United States of America
through it's own arragonce and disrespect of world opinion. The President's
reckless and irresponsible policies both at home and abroad are leading
all of us down a very dangerous road.
He has neglected to consider the serious consequences of his own actions
which altimately will lead to world choas as well as the virtual destruction
of the global economy. It is time for the American media to question the
President as to the the real reasons for his going to war and ask him if
this conflict is really justified and in the best interests of the United
States.
J. A. Pizzalato
Costa Rica
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