Letters to the Editor

Thank you

Take time to honor police officers

The week of May 13–19 is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Week, and it has been set aside nationally to recognize all law enforcement officers.

We also observe National Law Enforcement Memorial Day on May 15 to honor the men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. And by lowering our flags on National Law Enforcement Memorial Day we can show our respect for those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to remember the family, friends and colleagues they left behind. It is also an important reminder of the continued service and sacrifice of the 800,000 law enforcement officers who protect our communities every day.

Our police officers put on a uniform and a badge every day and every night, risking their lives to protect our lives, to protect our families, and to protect our property and our freedom. They run into the situations that most people run away from. These men and women have dedicated their lives to ensure that our families are safe, and that our communities are peaceful and secure. I have enormous respect and appreciation for the courage and the character of all who have chosen to be a law enforcement officer. And on the occasion of Law Enforcement Appreciation Week, I would like to pay tribute to these outstanding individuals and thank them for all that they do.

Michelle Angrick

Mountlake Terrace City Council

Religion

Take care of yourself before putting hand out

To the pastor of Martha Lake Covenant Church, Lynnwood:

Your church sign near 164th reads: Those with the most toys… (I don’t remember all).

I suggest that you make it read: If any would not work, neither should he eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

Or: If any do not save for tomorrow, neither should he eat.

Oh, you say, my godly people and others would not stand for that! We will ridicule the so-called rich but hold the so-called poor in high regard.

Pastor, aren’t you ashamed that so many of your people refuse to save for old age and spend more than their income permits? Pastor, are you also not providing for old age and then force the so-called ungodly rich to pay your way?

Peter Boonstra

Lynnwood

National

War is not the answer for our future

War is not a sport nor is it the answer to violence. We do not tolerate homicidal violence in our homes and public spaces. So why is it that we believe fighting violence with violence is a solution outside our borders?

War is obsolete. It has been over two generations, since World War II, that our Congress declared war on an enemy nation. The Korean War was a U.N. “police action” that proved un-winnable short of a nuclear conflagration. Since then, our nation (or should I say our military industrial congressional complex) has engaged in foreign occupations more akin to Viking raids than wars. Vietnam was as much about Michelin rubber as communism.

The conflict in Iraq is not a war. It is an occupation. If our goal is to gain control of the second largest oil deposit in the world by military occupation in order to monopolize their oil, then we will fail. The longer we stay, the better we are training our enemies.

Iraq is a mess. Now a majority of Iraqi Members of Parliament want us out. Since we arrived as “liberators,” life has become much worse for the typical Iraqi. By the late 1980s Iraq was a quasi-secular semi-developed nation. Now after 16 years of sanctions, civil chaos and combat, Iraq has fallen into extreme poverty and more than 2 million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries. Ethnic and religious conflict have engulfed this land and Al Qaida is gaining a following like some toxic weed thriving on blood-soaked soil.

There are those who say we could or should be in Iraq for another decade. I say the sooner we get out, the sooner Iraq and our nation can begin to heal. Have we learned nothing from the self-inflicted trauma that was Vietnam?

Eric Teegarden

Mountlake Terrace

Politics leading to destruction of America

One party is intent on the destruction of the White House, the destruction of the U.S. Constitution, they are tearing down the authority of the president of the greatest country in the world, and they are intent on defeat of our military. These people are in Congress! If this is not enough, the judiciaries are also making rulings for the destruction of America.

I am proud to be an American and if you don’t like the constitution, if you want to change America, then go to where you like the government. Do not change ours. If you have come from somewhere else, why do you want to change us to what you left?

Shouldn’t the Bush administration stand up and fight? Fight for the American Constitution. The liberals are willing to tear America down for their power. It makes my heart cry, as Americans stand by and let this happen. Cannot the honorable of both parties come together and save our American heritage?

Grace Hofer

Everett