WHO’S LYING?
I would like to respond to Mary Anna Towler’s “The war
of Lies” (July 14):
• Fact: A lie is a deliberate, intentional telling of a
falsehood. Bi-partisan investigations in both the US and England have found that
no one attempted to alter the information from the intelligence agencies. All
parties — Bush, Clinton, Gore, the UN, and the rest of the world — believed
that Saddam Hussein either had or was about to have weapons of mass
destruction.
If the scientists who worked for Saddam Hussein are to be
believed, they told Saddam that they had WMD’s in order to stay alive and to
continue to receive funding from him.
• Fact: The war on terror was never stated to be or intended
to be just against Al Qaeda. It was to also be against those who supported it
and funded it. The link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda has been documented
by the investigation by Congress. Although no direct link between Saddam and
9/11 has been proven, his support through money and allowing training of
recruits in Iraq has been proven.
You may disagree that this is reason enough to attack Iraq,
but some questioned why the US went to war with Germany when we were attacked
by Japan and sent most of our forces against Germany. (Historical point:
Germany declared war on the US, but the US did not attempt to remain at peace
with Germany.)
• Fact: Germany, Russia, and France gave lip service to
supporting war against terror, but as it was against their economic interests,
they would never have moved against Iraq. France has been the strongest voice
against war with Iraq and had the greatest economic reason to do so. They had
billions of dollars in contracts with the Hussein government and were owed
additional billions in debt that they would not be able to collect against a
new government. And as shown by the UN scandal, individuals in France, Germany,
Russia, and the UN were made rich by illegal use of the Oil for Food program.
• Fact: Yes, there were and are those who disagree with the
war. The Lunatic Left in the US — Ted Kennedy, Al Gore (who was a strong
believer in the intelligence until he was out of office), and the rest of the
“everything Bush does is wrong crowd” was against the war.
Many thought that the UN should have been put in control
when 9/11 happened. But I will also point out that both of the Democratic
ticket members voted for the war based on the same information that Bush,
Clinton, and the rest of the world believed and as of yet has not been proven
wrong.
• Fact: Yes, the war has cost billions of dollars and
hundreds of American lives. But look at the cost of doing nothing, as the
Clinton administration did after the first attack on the Twin Towers during his
administration.
Do you think that it is mere chance that we have not been
hit since 9/11? There is a lot to be said to fighting the enemy “over
there” instead of here. I have yet to hear from those who disagree with
the president as to how they would handle the war other than giving control
over to the UN — who are well paid not to do anything.
I have heard some complain that Osama bin Laden would have
been captured by now if we had not gone after Hussein. Maybe yes and maybe no,
but the war is not about one man.
• Fact: Clinton was not impeached for having an affair. He
was impeached for being the head of government and lying under oath in a court
of law. The big difference between Republicans and Democrats is that when the
proof against Nixon came out, the Republicans went to the White House and
forced him to resign. When the proof about Clinton came out, the Democrats went
to the White House and refused to demand any standard of behavior by the
president.
• Fact: Ms. Towler has called Mr. Bush a lair. She has not
documented one single case in which (unlike Clinton) he lied. Has he made
mistakes? Yes. Could other plans have been used? Yes. Would we be better off if
other methods have been used? No way to know. We only know that we have not
been attacked in the almost three years since 9/11. The only lair proven by Ms.
Towler was herself.
John Cook, Chili
NO MORE WAITING FOR AN ARTS CENTER
Ten years ago, I was spending the summer in Pittsburgh and
my family sent me an article about an arts center, which was to have three
stages. It was to be completed by the year 2000. I was intrigued, but the
millennium was still six years away.
When I came back to Rochester in 1999, I wondered what was
happening with the arts center. About the end of the year, there were many
newspaper articles about the center, but the main thing was, it was still in
the talking stages.
One of the articles gave the results of a poll, which had
the arts center at the top of a wish list. Other wishes included the fast
ferry, the soccer stadium, and the bus depot.
It’s 2004, and the arts center is still in the talking
stages. What’s more, I find that the arts center has been in the talking stages
not for 10 years but for 15 years. Fifteen years! In the meantime, the fast
ferry is up and running, the soccer stadium is in development, and it looks
like even a casino will be built before the arts center.
I want an arts center very much. But I don’t want it in a
casino, and I don’t want it clumped with a bus depot and an MCC satellite
campus. The center deserves to be in a structure all its own.
At this point, I would like to see one of two things happen.
1) Someone with vision, integrity, and authority would say: “This city wants
and deserves an arts center.” That person would go on to pick a space, tell us
how much it’s going to cost, tell us how much time it’s going to take to build,
and then build the space.
Either that, or we should make a decision to use the money
that was going to go to the arts center on something worthy, like education,
and never talk about the arts center again.
I mean, really: it’s been 15 years.
Dan Kennedy,
Eaglesfield Way, Fairport
SAVING THE TREASURES
Several amenities in Rochester are threatened by shortsighted
plans made by a few with money and power, when they could be saved with
alternative plans.
For example, just as the Renaissance Center idea for the
Main-Clinton-Mortimer-St. Paul block is a bad idea for downtown, so too is the
idea for a hotel and casino on the current Sibley and Midtown sites. All of the
small retail businesses and restaurants that they would contain would be lost,
among other things.
Instead, Midtown should be revitalized with a cultural-mall
type of performing arts center, as suggested by Luanne Davis Haggerty of RIT
(The Mail, July 14). Furthermore, the newly renovated Auditorium Center would
be threatened by the Renaissance Center plan for a performing arts center. That
would not happen with the cultural mall.
We are in danger of losing the High Falls Entertainment
District, the former subway tunnel (which could be used by a main line for a
new light rail system), and the former Hojack swing bridge, which could be used
by a trolley line between Charlotte and Seabreeze.
High Falls could be revitalized with either a Class II or
Class III gaming facility and a light rail or trolley line. The district could
be helped by replacing the Inner Loop with an at-grade boulevard and placing
the railroad tracks below grade. These transportation projects, as well as an
entire network of light rail and/or trolleys, restoring the EZ Rider bus
service, and an alternative bus station could be created using federal
transportation dollars currently earmarked for the Renaissance Center.
Kevin Yost, Middle
Road, Henrietta
PENNY PINCHER
If George W. Bush supports our troops wholeheartedly, why is
his administration planning to reduce the benefits these brave soldiers are
looking forward to?
According to the Army
Times, “the administration announced that on October 1, it wants to roll
back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150)
and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops being shot upon
in combat zones.”
The Bush administration also opposes legislation that would
provide reservists with health care. In fact, Donald Rumsfeld sent a letter to
House and Senate leaders stating the administration’s opposition to the TRICARE
legislation, a bill that would prevent thousands of National Guard reservists
from potentially being cut off from health insurance 30 days prior to
deactivation.
Bush’s 2004 budget proposes a $1.5 billion cut in military
family housing. This cut affects military housing, barracks, child-care
centers, schools, hangars, and office buildings. House Democrats offered an
amendment to restore $1 billion of those cuts, but House Republicans voted it
down.
When our soldiers return, disenfranchised by their people
and leaders, resentment develops. To deal with resentment, it’s only natural to
crave revenge. Ask Timothy McVeigh.
Benjamin M.
Augustine, SUNY Brockport
WRITING TO CITY
We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester 14607.
Our guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and
we ask that you include your street name and city/town/village. We don’t
publish letters that have been sent to other media. While we don’t restrict
length, letters of under 350 words have a greater chance of being published. We
do edit letters for clarity and brevity. And in general we don’t publish
letters (or longer “op-ed” pieces) from the same writer more often than about
once every two months.
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2004.
