Letters

MLT City Council

Council woman defends herself

To the many citizens who have contacted me since the front page article was published, about me, in the Jan. 31 edition of The Enterprise, let me say to them, “Thank you for your support.” This support coming from citizens of Mountlake Terrace who, through your article, know I am doing precisely what they voted me into office to do. I am speaking up on their behalf.

On their behalf, I am interested in correcting an error in that article.

If the city manager conferred with council about police presence at the council meetings, I believe she did not do so officially nor did she confer with all of us. Frankly, there is no more need for police presence at our council meetings than there is at a Tupperware party.

What we as a governing body, the mayor, the city manager and all council members, need to do is to get to a point where if anyone, citizen or council member, chooses to speak or ask a question, each is treated like an adult (not ignored or interrupted) and never intimidated into not speaking their mind. That will require each of us to use logic, reason and fact before personality. Hopefully, the Enterprise Newspaper will do the same.

ANGELA AMUNDSON

Mountlake Terrace

Sheets column

U.S. would be seen as liberators in Iraq

Bill Sheets’ opinion piece (The Enterprise, Feb. 7) was so full of inaccuracies and half-truths it had to be countered. You stated “By most estimates … hundreds of thousands … would be killed…” Huh? By most accounts the actual war will be swift with most of Saddam’s forces surrendering without a struggle. The Iraqis are a long oppressed people who long for freedom from Saddam’s tyranny. It is clear you do not care about the people of Iraq.

By your reasoning, if the U.S. just lays very still and quiet with heads buried firmly in the sand, then the terrorists would not strike again. Excuse me, that’s exactly what the terrorists want us to do. Terrorism cannot sustain itself without State sponsor. Our past non-action led to 9/11. A teaspoon of anthrax shut down the U.S. Congress, remember? You admit Saddam has weapons (a violation), he has documented terrorists connections, he’s sworn to revenge against the U.S., and the U.S. has extremely porous borders. Do you still feel safe with Saddam in power?

Jay Inslee bowed to a constituency such as yourself, not because of the facts. Your doom and gloom scenarios did not prove true in the Gulf War, Afghanistan and (based on the 30-year record of the Iraq army) it will prove to be false in this case.

If you recall, America did not start this war. However, you were right about one point, America is known for finishing wars and we will again finish this one. The U.S. military will be celebrated as liberators by the Iraqi people and offer freedom a chance to flourish in the Middle East, which seems to be the scenario that frightens you the most.

MICHAEL NEWMAN

Edmonds

Iraq situation can be handled without war

The column by Bill Sheets, “Iraq war would be huge mistake” (The Enterprise, Feb. 7) is one of the best statements I have seen against this deplorable situation. It clearly demonstrates that there is no real basis for the fear which is being generated in the American people to push this country into the most disastrous, unjustifiable, and brutal action we could take. Rather, we should fear the terrible consequences of this war if we follow Bush in his insistence on waging it.

Even Colin Powell, who once seemed a reasonable man, has joined the fear mongers. His presentation to the UN Security Council last Wednesday was filled with very thin evidence of Iraq’s supposed arsenal of “weapons of mass destruction” and much that was intended to arouse our fear with efforts to link Saddam Hussein’s regime with al-Qaeda. There is little or no real evidence that such a link exists. Both the CIA and the FBI have tried for over a year to find such evidence without success. A recent New York Times article reported that some CIA and FBI personnel have complained that sketchy intelligence is being used for political purposes. This is no way to lead our country – into a war that will take many thousands of fives, including those of our own service men and women, and will destabilize an already dangerous Middle East.

History has shown that Saddam is neither psychotic nor reckless, as the Bush administration would have us believe, but rather acts quite logically to protect himself and his own best interests. In the 1990s, when he really did have a significant weapons capability, an aggressive weapons inspection resulted in the destruction of most of that capability. Let us push for and support tough and complete inspections now and win this one without war.

MARGERY KRIEGER

Edmonds