A Dec. 15 letter decries the lack of backbone on the part of the Democratic Party (“Democratic Party must take a stand”). The writer advocated stripping Howard Dean of citizenship and deporting him to Canada. Leaving aside the fact Canada may not want Mr. Dean, I’d like to point out a few things.
The letter says we are in the middle of a great war. When did Congress declare war? What is going on in Iraq is not a war, it is an occupation. The writer says the Democratic Party doesn’t have the will or commitment to see a final victory against terrorism. Victory over terrorism cannot be achieved using military force. There will never be a time when all the terrorists are in the same place at the same time for our army to take action against. That is the very nature of terrorist tactics.
Our armed forces have been put in the worst possible scenario, one which hampers their effectiveness and saps their morale. It’s as though we are swatting at mosquitoes with baseball bats.
The writer prays the DNC will put the country ahead of the party before we all pay the price of its apathy. If Dean was apathetic about Iraq he wouldn’t have made the statement. He would have remained silent. Also, his quote has been taken out of context, something that seems to occur often when progressive, liberal Democrats speak up. He said we couldn’t win in Iraq, given the way the situation is being managed now. That is quite different from what is being represented.
Finally, the writer wonders if all Democrats feel as Dean does. I can’t speak for all Democrats, but speaking for myself, Howard Dean hit the nail on the head.
John McAlpine
Everett
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