Thank you for your March 22 editorial advocating debate on how to end the war. But with the administration threatening force in other countries, let’s discuss how to avoid the next Iraq.
Iraq will surely go down as one of the most unjustified wars in U.S. history. The WMDs, lack of connection to al-Qaida, the cynical use of 9/11 to confuse the public, the lack of post-invasion planning, the instability of the ethnic groups – if only we had known these things from the beginning.
The sad fact is, of course, the evidence was there from the beginning. National decisions about war are made in the small towns and cities like Everett all over America. But these issues, which the entire country now talks about, were ignored by papers like The Herald when they came out in 2003 and 2004. This newspaper ran glowing stories about local soldiers deployed to Iraq and the good they were doing, but could hardly spare any space for debate about the war. It was “unpatriotic” to raise doubts while our troops were fighting.
Hundreds of concerned Snohomish County citizens tried every way they knew to alert us to the problems of the war. Not just waving signs on street corners, but buying ads in newspapers, holding public meetings, writing, leafleting. They showed a series of free videos at Edmonds Community College about the war. You ignored them.
How do you feel about those editorial decisions now?
The “keep quiet and support the troops” attitude is way out of date, even in military towns like Everett. We need a press that can look critically at military ventures from the beginning, just as it would any other risky government program.
Chris Burks
Mill Creek
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