Letter to Editor, Wayland Town Crier

To: Michael Wyner, Editor

It is good that Patricia Berry Cunningham wrote her letter to the Crier, published on 7/5/07,
(http://www.townonline.com/wayland/opinions/x1190526652 ) since she brought into the open the beliefs of 41% of Americans in a recent Newsweek/MSNBC poll. ("What You Need to Know Now: Dunce-Cap Nation" at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19390791/site/newsweek/ )

As the polling article points out, the problem with Ms. Cunningham's premise (that we attacked Iraq because that is where the 9/11 militant Islamic fundamentalists were) is that the premise is FALSE.

NONE of those responsible for 9/11 were from Iraq and there was NO presence of al-Quaeda in Iraq at the time of our invasion. Saddam despised Bin Laden and al-Quaeda and he did not tolerate them in Iraq when he was in control. He was a secular dictator and saw them as a threat to his power.

In a press conference on 8/21/06 at the White House, and in remarks on 9/17/03 responding to televised statements by Vice President Cheney, President Bush admitted that there was no relationship between Saddam and 9/11, when asked pointed questions.

Once you face the facts about no connection between 9/11 and Iraq, then you are left to explain why we attacked them in the first place, and why we are still fighting there, especially since Bush's declaration of victory and end of hostilities on 5/2/03. Thus, the current investigations in Congress.

Some claim that anything we have done was worth it because the world is better off now. But our military activity in the Muslim Middle East is al-Quaeda's dream recruiting tool world-wide. And now that Saddam is gone, militant fundamentalists are finally free to go into Iraq. They go there to fight against foreign powers occupying their region and because we want to impose our values and culture along with our economic interests.

Our troops are also up against most ordinary Iraqis who are saying, thank you for getting rid of Saddam but we'll take it from here; please go home. "The Iraqi people, aside from the secession-bent Kurds, have wanted the U.S. out of their country for at least three years, in percentages ranging from two-thirds to 80%, with 61% claiming a right to national resistance through armed struggle." (Huffington Post 5/14/07, supported by March 2007 UN Global Policy Forum poll, http://www.globalpolicy.org/)

I am in agreement with the Catholic Church that this war against Iraq was unjust from the beginning and that our correct stance relative to people of the Muslim faith is mutual tolerance and peace.

Furthermore, paraphrasing Pope John Paul II, we should deal with any murders and conspiracies through international criminal and intelligence channels and preserve law in the process, not come down on whole groups of people with massive military force using any means that seem expedient.

It is impossible to root Islamic militants out of existence in the world, and it is immoral, counterproductive, and dangerously unfair to give our military force that mission.

Remember, it was the brilliant generosity of the Marshall Plan, not just allied military victory and continued presence, that secured a lasting peace with our enemy Germany after WWII. Our Marshall Plan provided aid for everything from food to rebuilding infrastructure. It was based on the belief that desperate people take desperate measures and are very unstable, and that ordinary people WANT to live in peace and will do so if given specific, compassionate, non-intrusive support when they need it. We should pave the way for this kind of support of Iraq as we withdraw our military.

America used to have the courage to believe that restraining our might and taking the high road was our path to security.

Do we still?

Sandy Coy
Hawthorne Rd, Wayland

In support:
Lisa Avanzato-Ushkurnis, Framingham
Ellen M. George, Holliston
Carol Coakley, Millis
Maureen Kelley, Natick
Judy Rich, Natick
Diane Moreau, Wayland
Stan Robinson, Wayland
Kathleen Woehrling, Wayland