Letters to the Editor
david sugarman
Published Letters: 2385 Editor's Choice: 3
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my two pennies
[Read the article: "Brothers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there have been lone gunmen(cho being the latest), there have been lone gunmen who were part of a conspiracy(the serbian who assassinated archduke ferdinand) and there are conspiracies (john wilkes booth was part of one). i am no firearms expert and i have no special knowledge, but there are a few things *everyone* knows. for one, it seems that robert kennedy was tormented about his inadvertant role in his brother's assassination. talbot senses that there were three elements in a conspiracy - the CIA, the cuban exiles and the mafia. to me that seems an odd group to hang together, but there are other, more obviously negating elements. the motive. it seems the only one put forward is revenge. it may be sweet but it wasn't going to get cuba back. the only one who had a real motive was castro. there were ONGOING attempts by robert kennedy and the cia and the exiles to kill castro. oswald visited cuba and was a castro fan. IF castro did have kennedy killed (and hence robert and the cia off the job), he would have good reason to keep quiet. furthermore after some subcommittee investigated the cia, assassination was taken off the table for the U.S. (otherwise, saddam would have been killed without a war). why would such an effective method of "regime change" be given up unless it was possible for the enemy to retaliate? (ok, even *I* am sounding, if not "conspiratorial", close to it, but these are the questions that occur to me).
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Rob Anderson, what did you say?
[Read the article: "Brothers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]i'd like to know. (just put the stupid asterisks in).
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salon is progressive, that's why
[Read the article: Israel's wounds of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the progressive left is a european institution. because the left was anti-fascist, hopeful jews believed the idealistic propaganda and they too were leftist. however the left is anti-jewish as well. if stalin hadn't died when he did, there would have been a second holocaust. the greens were a german left ecologically minded anti jewish organization. it's simple, but difficult. to a jew, the enemy of my enemy is just another enemy. long after the middle east is peaceful, there will still be european antisemitism. (Jordan’s UN ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein likes jews/israelis FAR more than the usual progressive). that given, israel made *horrendous* mistakes in the recent lebanese war. and olmert has the "popularity" to prove it. the worst was not stopping when the sunni arabs condemned hezbollah(egypt, saudi arabia, jordan). the second worst mistake was bombing the *north* the natural, christian allies. but as far as the article goes, benn's final sentence, "Feeling vulnerable, rather than invincible, may be the greater source of security in the long run." is just OFF THE WALL CRAZY. if they really *were* vulnerable, they'd be slaughtered, then kept in shari'a captivity. if the israelis just *felt* really vulnerable, you'd have a nuclear war. what aluf benn seems to want is that the jews go back to begging suffrance. it would surely please the europeans (after all, jewish suffering is what christ is all about). since you can always find jews to advocate their enemy's position, there will never be a time when salon goes empty.
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no need to "flee when none pursueth" - it hasn't been so bad
[Read the article: Israel's wounds of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]salon will never be pro-Israel, but it used to be far worse. what seems to have happened is, as bush's popularity has gone down - and left's has risen, the need for a scapegoat has diminished. pelosi's foray into diplomacy appears to be a one time thing. people are concentrated on iraq. it won't happen quickly but most think we will be out by 08, or rather concentrated within a permanent base. all are worried about a new form of civil war, one without definite "sides". in bosnia, milisevic could be dealt with, here, it's just multiple factions - a war of all against all.
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it's like reading an old communist tract. colonies? apartheid?
[Read the article: Israel's wounds of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the only colonies in the middle east are the kurds under turkey, saddams's iraq and iran. the problem of the west bank is the problem of *disentanglement* - if jordan (and egypt) weren't pressured to excise them, they would have been taken back by now. why are colonies bad? hong kong had more freedom under the british and the shona in zimbabwe were better off under the racist ian smith then the indigenous mugabe. either you live in a totally homogenous country or you're a colony of some sort. it's the *decency* of the govenment that matters not the race of the ruling class. as for *words*, for every jew there are 100 moslems, what do they have to fear? extermination? eviction? it's like "catholic bashing". there are a billion catholics and a score of catholic countries. the only "bashing" is what they do themselves(yours truly's *been bashed*, by irish catholics, before the "beneficence" of vatican II)
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something nice to say about canada - even though it's been nearly forty years
[Read the article: Northern exposure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the "forest primeval" of northern vancouver (i hope they still have some of the fir trees) and its haida indians with their totally strange language. and the beautiful north shore of lake superior (hope it's not all been developed). and winnipeg with its seemingly good life for all. and the french who were always amused embarrassing a shy anglo. it's a beautiful country and if you get sick or injured you can walk into any clinic or hospital and be treated politely and for free. if you have to take a little "attitude" along with this, i think it's earned. if you are sitting in the subway next to some huge bully guy who, with spread legs, takes up three seats - it's understandable you aren't going to be in the best mood. Paulus "Claiming that you are tired of killing isn't a good enough reason to be a refugee." - i think it's the *only* reason, the *best* reason. it would be the end of war(as we know it). Barnardsstar "It's that they've twice elected a deeply unintelligent, incompetent, and contemptuous, hard right President." - MANY americans are also dumbfounded(truly, it was INCONCEIVABLE - yet it happened)
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tell him, "now you know the worst"
[Read the article: My husband read my journal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]let's BALL!
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but where's the heart wringing PITY, KStone?
[Read the article: Israel's wounds of war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]c'mon tell us all about how your heart BLEEDS.