Letters to the Editor
bloomsbury
Published Letters: 361 Editor's Choice: 5
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Maliki wants to be a real boy
[Read the article: The war against Iraq's prime minister]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Poor Maliki. Who would want his job? He's a puppet, just like Diem in Vietnam and he probably won't survive the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq if he doesn't stay on good terms with al Sadr- or even if he does. So at the very least you have to say he's an extremely brave man-or an extremely foolish one. Or perhaps he's just a good man in a bad situation. In any case he was spot on with his comment that America is treating Iraq like its possession. He needs to say a lot more things like that but he's intelligent enough to know that if he actually does stand up for his country he will be removed. He's like someone living on the edge of an active volcano. I think that instead of worrying away at the 'Maliki factor' it might be more appropriate to have a look at that dark cloud gathering on the horizon: the idea that US forces might cross into Iran in 'hot pursuit' (it's kind of like Weapons of Mass Distraction) and follow that act of madness up by bombing nuclear facilities thereby triggering Iranian rocketing of oil facilities which will remove 6 million barrels of oil A DAY out of the world's oil supply. Compared with this Maliki is a very small fish but I still think he deserves to survive the looming disaster which will replace the slightly smaller disaster his country has become.
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glug glug
[Read the article: Bjørn Lomborg feels a chill]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Lomborg should be abandoned on one of the islands that's already going under the ocean. I've seen people on some of these islands being interviewed and they have no idea where they're going to go. The ocean has already covered the lowest lying parts of their islands. There are several islands, so Lomborg can take his pick. If he's so sure it's all just a delusion then he will have a chance to prove it. He can stay when the inhabitants finally have to be taken off and become refugees. People like him just want to become famous and controversial and make money out of their contrarian views. I feel very 'skeptical' when I read about people like him.
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stalling
[Read the article: Why bathroom sex is hot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Does it make you gay?No, just desperate.
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Pinocchio and his little wooden head
[Read the article: The straw man lives]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whatever Bush was trying to say about 9/11, one thing is certain: it wasn't the truth. He'd only tell that on his death bed because he'd be afraid of going to hell.
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it was a war
[Read the article: Warrantless surveillance and the new Coretta Scott King disclosures]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The pursuit of Martin Luther King wasn't just 'warrantless surveillance', it was a war and it involved, among other things, a policeman driving up to King's brother's house and throwing a bomb at it, partially demolishing it. No one was killed but if the entire family had died the nuts who eventually had King himself killed would have chalked it up as a score on their side of the scoreboard.The man who witnessed the policeman's activities, a man with the wonderful name of Roosevelt Tatum, who was foolish enough to speak out and to report what he saw was the only person arrested over this attack. He served one year in jail for telling the truth,though they found some other charge to lock him up for. Later, the same group of right wing maniacs blew up black children in church or Sunday school and killed several of them. None of the people behind all this were ever brought to justice and that's why a bill like the FISA bill can not only be considered but passed. It doesn't matter who gets elected, these people are always in the background pulling the strings. America is a secret service state and the secret service has always known the value of surveilling and locking up the innocent. The message it sends is that no one is safe from their attentions and since their main purpose is to protect the rich and powerful and preserve the status quo - not to protect the nation from attack, as what happened on 9/11 shows- this achieves their ends. Just how safe these people always feel is illustrated by the fact that the policeman who bombed the King house was in a police car and wearing police uniform. And why not? He was on government business after all.
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Idiots Inc.
[Read the article: How Bush betrays Reagan]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Reagan succeeded because he was a blitering idiot, the anti-intellectual bias of the American media and their political masters being the 'base' they operate from. It's easy to see why an idiot like Bush idolizes him. The Great Communicator and The Great C Student. It's a marriage made in heaven.
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beyond belief
[Read the article: Bush on Iraq: "We're kicking ass"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If this is making you nauseous over there, you should be over here! Sydney has been turned into Guantanamo Bay with guards on every street corner and a 3 metre wall built around the area where the Prez is currently issuing pearls of wisdom to his little monkey friend John Howard and the baboons of the media. That idiot Mark Vaile also went on television and declared that 'terrorists' are marching with the people protesting against Bush and the Iraq war. Bush has arrived with dog teams, Condi (where's Laura?), several cooks and assorted spooks,and battalions of muscle in suits. A veritable army of retainers. The people of Sydney now hate John Howard and Bush even more than they did before. It's like watching Louis the Fourteenth arrive: stomach churning. The sheer stupidity of the man makes it all seem like some horrible vaudeville turn with Bush as the funny guy and Howard as his pint sized straight man. But, of course, it's not funny. A special law has been enacted for the week of Bushie's stay giving police the right to search and detain anyone, anywhere, any time. There are stories in the media about missing rocket launchers. Some Australian citizens who want to march in a protest against the Iraq war have been put on a special black list which means they can be arrested for exercising their democratic right to express their opinion. For God's sake can't someone tell him his dog's on fire or something so he'll go home?