Unfettered Letters

Obama’s foreign policy

I understand the new Obama administration is very light on foreign relations experience. But surely somebody at the White House must have some experience. In less than two months Obama has managed to:

Insult our oldest and closest ally, Great Britain.

Threaten a trade war with the European Union and Canada.

Allow threats from Russia to place bombers in Cuba and Venezuela to go unanswered.

Allow threats from North Korea to test intercontinental ballistic missiles to go unanswered.

Abrogate sections of the NAFTA treaty with Mexico and get them to impose tariffs.

And we don’t even want to think about what’s going on with Iran. The Obama administration has managed to do one thing though. They have really made me an advocate for “hope and change” — quick, before it’s too late.

Mike Thompson
Sibley

Other countries didn’t elect Obama

Alexis Barlows (1/24, Letters) writes that the United States will be able to “look the rest of the world straight into its collective eyes” now that Barack Obama has been chosen as “the leader of the free world.”

Mr. Obama’s election has certainly been welcomed around the world, but if Americans want to sustain and improve the positive momentum, they would do well to stop showing disrespect to the sovereignty of other free countries by imposing upon their president a title that is both condescending and contradictory.

The U.S. may well be a leading world power, and a wise U.S. president may show leadership on the world stage, but the only persons who the citizens of any free countries should call their “leaders” are the ones in whose election they have been allowed to vote.

Kimmo Wilska
Helsinki, Finland

Blair wrong pick for intelligence director

Retired Adm. Dennis Blair has been tapped to become our next director of national intelligence, overseeing 16 agencies. Given the importance of this position to our domestic security and to our relations with the world, Blair is the absolute wrong choice.

Most Americans know little about the brutal fashion in which Indonesia has treated citizens of neighboring East Timor. Nor do they know that Indonesia has committed these atrocities with Washington’s aid and consent. In the forefront of this disgraceful history was none other than Adm. Dennis Blair, who consistently encouraged Indonesian generals to pursue their crimes without fear of U.S. interference.

All of this is detailed by journalist Alan Nairn, who has reported on these matters for years, to little avail in the American press. Recordings and transcripts of his recent interviews on Democracy Now radio are available on the Internet.

Considering these revelations, it would be a terrible mistake to put such a tainted figure as Blair in charge of our nation’s intelligence services.

Kale Baldock
Kansas City, Kan.

Fighting in Gaza

Something must be done for the ordinary Palestinian residents of Gaza who find themselves caught between an out-of-control Hamas and the unconscionable Israeli response to Hamas’ rocket attacks. While I agree that Israel cannot let Hamas’ attacks go unanswered, not even “an eye for an eye” can possibly justify the massive Israeli response that has killed or wounded hundreds of innocent Palestinian men, women and children.

The problem with retributive justice is that it tends to propagate itself endlessly. The modern world looks most favorably on restraint, and Israel has, until eight years ago, been encouraged by the United States to occupy that moral high ground. But, for the past eight years, the United States has taken a laissez-faire stance toward Israeli aggression. We have been occupied with our own unjustified war in Iraq.

President Bush will leave office soon. It would appear that the Israelis are intent on inflicting the maximum punishment in Gaza that they can in the weeks before Barack Obama takes office and Hillary Clinton takes over as secretary of state.

John Van Horn
Kansas City

It is absolutely essential that we Americans stand up and demand a cease to the attacks of Israel on Palestinian citizens. We can no longer support a government that openly practices crimes against humanity and creates humanitarian crises by starving and killing innocents. Israel must be held accountable, and the United States must be the equitable broker of negotiations.

Israel is only creating more problems for itself by bombing Palestine, and the United States will be hated more by the rest of the Muslim world for allowing this behavior. We must not allow Israel to continue this path of killing.

Laurie McGuire
Kansas City

While I certainly hold Gazan militants and Hamas accountable for their actions that helped provoke this atrocity, I am outraged at the disproportionate response Israel has taken. This bombardment was delivered in broad daylight, apparently for maximum casualties, right at the time school lets out. For those who defend Israel no matter what, I think it is important to get some perspective.

The Palestinians have lived in apartheid conditions for multiple generations. The suffering of these people is unimaginable. They have some culpability in this recent escalation of violence, no doubt, but please consider the horrific conditions they have endured for decades — conditions no humans should ever have to suffer.

We need an immediate cease-fire and a new U.S. policy in the region that is much more even-handed and cognizant of historical realities.

Ken Gates
Overland Park

‘Nation building’ vs. ‘socialism’

I am an independent voter, and I want to answer Jeanie Adkins-Peine’s question (12/22, Letters) “Why does our government continue to send millions of dollars out of this country when we desperately need it here?”

Jeanie, our current government spends billions of dollars a month in Iraq on a war that has absolutely nothing to do with our country’s national security, and recently it sent $74 million to Egypt for that country’s health care.

Republicans call this “nation building.” If Democrats want to spend billions on less fortunate Americans, Republicans call it “socialism,” and Republicans hate socialism.

John J. Martin
Kansas City

Keep health care dollars in U.S.

I was appalled when I read the “Intelligence Report” in Parade Magazine (12/14) regarding the money our U.S. government has allotted for other countries. The particular one that upset me was the $74 million to Egypt for health care. Give me a break!

We are helping Egypt with health care, when we are told we cannot afford to do this for Americans. This is ludicrous. Why does our government continue to send millions of dollars out of this country when we desperately need it here?

Health-care reform should start with “Take care of our own.” How many other millions are being sent out of this country to meet “needs” that we can’t provide for our own people here?

Jeanie Adkins-Peine
Overland Park

U.S. stance on Israel

Ross Balano’s well-intentioned piece on anti-Semitism misses the mark when he implies that supporting the state of Israel is an effective way to fight anti-Semitism (12/13, Opinion, “As Jews remain targets, U.S. must stand resolutely with Israel”).

Creating the state of Israel (rather than accepting Jewish refugees into the U.S. before and after World War II) was a major contributor to the continuing political problems in the Middle East.

We would be better advised to fight anti-Semitism and other racial and cultural intolerance right here at home and encouraging our allies to do the same.

The United States should adopt a balanced foreign policy in the Middle East, supporting both Israel and the Arab states.

Roy Busdiecker
Overland Park

Return manufacturing jobs to U.S.

Ken Anderson (11/28, Letters) said we are responsible for the economic mess. He also stated we do not make anything anymore. This is sadly true.

I can tell him why we do not make anything in the United States as we used to. Back in the 1990s I watched congressional leaders on national television debating a bill called NAFTA, the “North American Free Trade Agreement.” It passed and was signed into law by President Clinton and took effect in 1994.

The bill gave corporations permission to send their manufacturing jobs overseas for cheap labor. This was the worst thing they could do for U.S. workers. Everything is made in foreign countries and shipped back here for Americans to buy. We have a Congress oblivious to the fact that jobs are scarce and unemployment is rampant. We should be flooding them with letters.

NAFTA should be abolished, and companies should be required to manufacture goods in America as they used to do. It would be great to buy everything here with the logo “Made in the U.S.A.” as it used to be. Think of the jobs this would create.

Faye McHenry
Kearney

U.S. must help manage crisis in Zimbabwe

With so many problems at home, it is easy to lose sight of world issues. Yet events such as those occurring in Zimbabwe are impossible to ignore (12/4, A-11, “Zimbabwe police break up protest; A human rights activist is abducted from her home amid the new crackdown on dissent”).

Health care in Zimbabwe is abysmal. There is no public access, and there are no medicines available to the general population. All medical schools and major hospitals have been closed for weeks.

A cholera epidemic — the result of a collapse of the entire country’s infrastructure — has claimed more than 500 lives. Attempts by the medical community to request assistance are being met with violent, government-sanctioned responses. Estimates by non-governmental organizations suggest that half of the country’s population will require food assistance as soon as next year.

As an American medical student, I am moved by the conditions that my peers face. We must stand up to support health professionals throughout the world.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the U.S. State Department must do something to help manage this situation before it becomes so unstable that it compromises the entire region.

Kyle Berens
Kansas City, Kan.

Plan would help end poverty

As President-elect Obama generously takes on the overwhelming responsibilities that await him, there are a couple of fundamental changes in perspective that need to be kept in mind.

Our country needs to learn to act not merely for economic benefit but to encourage people’s natural inclination toward justice. We must reward the love, generosity, compassion, imagination, and wonder that would protect the beauty of the planet Earth and all life that abounds here.

We must also realize that terrorism is not stopped by wars, walls or interrogation under torture. Terrorism is stopped by education and by building relationships of trust that even out the playing field for everyone.

A way of demonstrating generosity is the proposed Global Marshall Plan, which would devote 1 to 2 percent of the gross product of each developed nation over 20 years to help 2 billion of the world’s people move out of poverty through aid and investments specifically directed toward them.

This proposal was introduced in the House of Representatives as H. Res. 1078, and more information is available from the Network of Spiritual Progressives.

The United States should take the lead in initiating the building of a just and compassionate world order.

Linda Ray
Prairie Village