Setting record straight on past wars

I am amazed at the way some people, for partisan reasons, will attempt to rewrite history to their own liking. I am referring to the letter from Mae Kaneen in the Sept. 14 issue of The Herald (“Bush working under tough circumstances”). According to Ms. Kaneen, virtually every war of the 20th century was started by a Democratic administration. Let’s set the record straight:

President Roosevelt declared war on Japan after Dec. 7, 1941. After that, Germany declared war on the U.S.

The Korean War, pursued equally by Eisenhower and Truman, was a United Nations action.

Nobody “started” the Vietnam War, but it was precipitated by Eisenhower’s signing of the SEATO treaty. Agreed, Vietnam was a quagmire, but there is plenty of bipartisan blame to go around.

Let’s look at the current war in Iraq. I say “current” because, contrary to the claim of Ms. Kaneen, that war did not last 51 days. It is ongoing to this day. The Bush administration invaded Iraq, pure and simple. That attack was based on two spurious premises: 1. that Iraq was in cahoots with al-Qaida and, 2. that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, none of which have been found to date, even though U.S. troops hold the country.

Iraq was invaded because of oil and because of an apparent personal grudge on the part of the president. Granted, Saddam was dangerous but if the U.S. invaded every country that was ruled by such a person, we would be perpetually at war.

I wish people would stop trying to paint their party or candidate as always right while the opposition is always evil. Presidents of both parties have made some brilliant and courageous decisions as well as blunders. President Bush made a monumental error. Because of that, I believe the voters of the U.S. will send him packing in November.

Russell Lorenzini

Monroe