1st president would appreciate Israel

I disagree with a statement in James J. Taper’s letter (“Foreign policy: First president’s advice should be applied,” Oct. 20).

He suggests that George Washington would be called “no doubt anti-Semitic.” It should be remembered that in all the wars that the Israelis fought against Arab aggressor nations, no United States military service people were ever involved. No deaths, no illnesses! No rescue mission was wanted nor needed.

That can’t be said when the United States had to go in and rescue Kuwait, an Arab nation, from Iraq, an Arab nation. That war, Desert Storm, cost the deaths of several hundred U.S. service people and the illnesses of thousands of other service people. The United States is still fighting Iraq. It also has service people in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, among other Arab and Muslim countries, to protect them from aggressor Arab countries. And still no troops in Israel.

No, based on Taper’s excerpt of Washington’s speech, George Washington would no doubt today be called anti-Arab.

Everett