It's time to end senseless bickering over the war

It's time to end senselessbickering over the war
EDITOR:
Politics stinks. I've read and heard so much baloney lately that I'm ill. Someone said that poor kids with no jobs joined the military and are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. How absurd! Our young people join the military for opportunity, and most are working when they enlist. Many have attended college and continue their education during and after military service. Enlisting in the armed forces is the greatest thing any young person can do to learn the discipline needed for success in life. It also gives some payback to this great country for the privilege of being born here. Yes, in the military you may have to fight and die. You know the rules going in.
We have lost over 2,000 precious lives in this war on terror in those two countries. Yet this is just a fraction of the projected casualties that were anticipated before the war in Iraq. Our Congress (yes, both parties) voted in favor of the war and accepted the probability of many, many more deaths to get the job done. But now that is overlooked and the sacrifices of our young are being used for political pressure. That disgusts me.
Partisan politics came up with the saying, "Bush lied, people died." What a bunch of tripe, eagerly swallowed (and believed) by the party faithful. It is as ridiculous as, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." When the Iraq war seemed imminent, Saddam sent long convoys of trucks and semitrailers form Iraq into Syria. When I heard this on the news, I thought he must be sending his loot to his Baathist buddies for safekeeping. But wait! Could it be there were chemical and biological weapons in some of them? Yes, according to a former Iraqi general. I believe somewhere out in that vast desert there are more.
War results when diplomacy fails. Saddam considered diplomacy a weakness. He laughed at U.N. resolutions and played games with inspections. He idolized Hitler. If only we would have stopped Hitler after the Anschluss. No, we had to use diplomacy and political appeasement. Millions died. Maybe we learned something from that. In any event, our country acted in good faith on good information, regardless of what all the Monday morning quarterbacks are saying. They are only spouting of to make the present administration look bad (to some people). Did you ever hear the saying, "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all?"
Bipartisan political bashing is divisive, and it spreads from our leaders to citizens like you and me. In a time like this, we should be putting our differences on the shelf and uniting behind our country and our soldiers in harm's way. Anything less hurts us all.
DONALD K. ALLEN, DVM
Youngstown
Vote out congressmenwith interests in oil
EDITOR:
We all complain about the price of gasoline, but nobody does anything about it. I say the best way to do something is first to get rid of all those oil men in Congress. Put someone in there who is willing to do something for the people they represent. Then get Congress to pass legislation to find an alternative to oil. As long as we have these men in Congress, they will do nothing.
If you lived during World War II, you knew we had a problem with silk and rubber. The Japanese had cut us off by taking the islands that supplied us with these items. Our scientists went to work, found synthetics that worked as well as the rubber trees and the silkworm, and today we have latex, nylon and other things made of synthetics. So, if you want something done, get new congressmen who you hope will work for the people instead of themselves.
Congressional jobs were not to be permanent, but quite a few have made them so. A lot of good men and women are just as qualified as those who are in there now. Use your vote to replace those who have made a career of it. A president can serve two terms only. Why not the men or women in Congress?
PAULINE G. BANDZAK
Brookfield