Public would breathe sigh of relief if Obama called off strike on Syria
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR September 6, 2013 9:12PM
US President Barack Obama listens to French President Francois Hollande speak during their bilateral meeting at the G-20 Summit, Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Updated: September 8, 2013 2:42AM
Somewhere along the way, we as a country have to say “Enough,” and I think President Obama is the one who can say it.
It doesn’t matter what the military-industrial-Congressional war-mongers and war profiteers want, because the American people will breathe a collective sigh of relief if we do not use our military might in Syria.
Yes, we are the last remaining superpower, and as such, nobody else’s army can touch us. But “The U.S can’t police the world” as Hans Blix, U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq said.
Our only enemy is Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, and they feed on our aggression in the Middle East. Their best recruiting tool is our intervention.
I read an article shortly after 9/11 written by a terrorism expert (terrorism is a tactic, hence, we can’t wage war on terrorism). He wrote that terrorists are like rats. You can’t kill them. You have to remove the garbage they feed on, and terrorists feed on hate. We need to counter that hate with as much humanitarian and diplomatic help we can offer to the Middle East. We have to exhaust all non-military solutions. It will take time and money (a lot less money than war), but it will work.
Diane Niesman, Wheaton
Punish ‘gross misjudgment’
In the private sector, any “gross misjudgment” by those responsible for overseeing the financial aspect of a project would simply be fired. It’s the appropriate action to take. Somehow, our elected officials in Illinois do not understand you don’t spend money you simply don’t have.
They need to learn a hard lesson, and the taxpayers of this once great state need to see the appropriate action handed down to those responsible for such misappropriation of hard working taxpayer dollars. Someone needs to stand up for this state. The time is now.
Kim Corso, Chicago
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials have done it again. They have proven once more that, despite their well-crafted spin regarding “community engagement,” they have no intention of including authentic community opinions in major plans for schools. This time, in their quest to exclude the indisputable call for investment in neighborhood schools as opposed to charter schools from thousands of community members who attended last school year’s numerous school-closing meetings, CPS is distributing to community members who attend the current round of “10-Year Educational Facilities Master Plan” meetings, a survey that asks respondents to rank-order four choices — none of which captures the vociferous community feedback expressed during the school-closing meetings — for investment in facilities over the next 10 years.
I encourage all who attend these meetings to amend the survey by adding, as a fifth category, community members’ number one response to how funds should be invested in educational facilities: End charters and all other privatizing ventures and redirect the funds back to the neighborhood schools.
Given that this is not a totalitarian state, the mayor and CPS officials’ hollow declaration of their desire to provide “choice” and “options” through privatization will never take precedence over the community’s democratic right to full participation in the decision as to what those choices and the options shall be.
Bonita Robinson, retired CPS teacherOak Park
