Editor:
Sen. Gordon Smith thinks we should not be fighting a civil war in Iraq and need to pull out and use our resources to protect America.
Why do we have military bases all over the world? Could it be that it is necessary to promote peace among volatile nations? Right now our military presence in some nations is preventing civil war from starting, but what right do we have to do that?
After spending time talking to my son-in-law, who is a captain in the military, I have come to the conclusion that if we need to pull out of Iraq then we also need to pull out of the Balkans, Afghanistan, Japan, South Korea, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Horn of Africa.
We need to stop military training in Mongolia, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia. We need to discontinue military assistance to Indonesia, East Timor, Taiwan, Jordan, Turkey, the Ukraine and Israel and put a halt to all military exchange exercises in Portugal, Brazil, Canada, Poland and Norway.
Like when we gave up in Vietnam, Somalia and Beirut; when we ignored the attacks against the USS Cole and our embassies; and when we gave up on Iran in the 1970s, by pulling out of Iraq, we once again will tell the world that we no longer can be counted on to help when the going gets tough, we will no longer commit beyond a certain level of discomfort and America will not follow through. If we let Iraq be a failed state, there will be more cause for fighting throughout the world than you can ever imagine.
We will need to discontinue funding and all military activities in any foreign countries, especially those that could use our tax dollar to expand and develop military action against the United States of America. Do not leave one soldier on foreign soil to answer with their life for your level of discomfort.
We better dang well know what we are doing because if we don’t then we best have all our troops and resources here in America because we still need them all to close our borders and protect America.
So you go back to Washington, Mr. Smith, and really take a look at this war that has been going on for the last 60 years. Then get busy bringing all of our troops home, not just those in Iraq. But first, get one thing straight. This is not a civil war. This is a holy war, and no religion will be exempt.
Jeani West
Sweet Home