Opinions: Letters to the Editor

 published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Leveling the political playing field

(In response to Tuesday's column by Garrett Cleverly titled "Backing the war … still")

Thank you for finally saying the obvious. I have been saying from day one that everyone has been a hypocrite about the war. After Sept. 11 everyone wanted revenge. If the Democrats get what they want and back out of the war immediately, the reputation of this nation will be destroyed. The news will show the chaos that we created because we didn't finish the job.

I also am finally relieved to read something from a different point of view. I read The State Press every day and it is completely biased. When we were voting for primaries they had a section on the Democratic candidates we didn't know about. What about the Republican candidates? I understand the Republicans are outnumbered on campus, but the best way people can form their own opinions is equal representation.

Renee Vaughn
Undergraduate

Fighting in the all the wrong places

(Also in response to Tuesday's column by Garrett Cleverly titled "Backing the war … still")

Garrett Cleverly's opinion piece in Tuesday's State Press supporting the Iraq War was poorly constructed and lazily argued. Halfway through it, I was convinced that it was a satire of right-wing pro-war propaganda, but the punch line never came, so I can only assume that he was deadly serious.

The points he makes do not really merit a response, given they are mainly devoid of substantive content and original thought, and I hesitated in writing this letter, but I would like Mr. Cleverly to answer this: Why are you writing op-eds for The State Press? Why are you taking classes at ASU this semester?

If you feel so strongly that we are doing the right thing in Iraq, then why aren't you over there fighting the battle?

I suspect that it is for the same reason that I have not enlisted in the military with the hope of being shipped to Iraq: I don't want to die for a tragic mistake. It is very easy to cheer on the war from your home, thousands of miles away from the death, destruction, and chaos unleashed by the Bush Administration, isn't it? Why don't you try doing it from downtown Baghdad, Mr. Cleverly?

Your empty hubris and careless war-mongering are an embarrassment to the tens of thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have been wounded, crippled, or killed because YOU needed revenge. Did writing that column make you feel tough? I hope so, because you are really just a coward.

Jeremiah E. Scott
Graduate Student