Letters to the editor for Friday, August 20, 2004

European and Mideast editions

(EDITOR’S NOTE: These are the letters that appeared in each edition of Stripes on this publication date. Click here to jump ahead to the Pacific edition letters)

See voting officer

I have noticed a fairly equal amount of letters praising and vilifying this administration. I am writing to encourage all deployed soldiers to request and return an absentee ballot this year. We are in this theater to give this right to the Iraqis. And, if you don’t vote, I don’t want to hear you complain about whoever is in office.

I have heard the excuses that “my vote won’t matter,” or “I don’t have the time.” Remember that President Bush only won Florida by a few hundred votes.

And it should only take 5-10 minutes to fill out all the forms and send it off.

I am the voting assistance officer for my unit. I will be more than happy to assist anyone who wants to send for an absentee ballot or needs help completing the form. I am located behind the post office, and I encourage the transient units passing through to use this service.

Sgt. 1st Class Steven Fogarty
Camp Buehring, Kuwait

Response to Rumsfeld

In response to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s “letter to the troops” (July 26):

• our “coalition”: two members, Palau and Costa Rica, have no armies; after seeing the futility of this war, Spain, the Philippines and others have removed their troops.

• the “liberation”: a recent Iraqi poll indicated that the majority of citizens prefer Saddam Hussein back in power rather than the United States as occupier.

• the “ultimate sacrifice” many soldiers have made: Lost lives would be acceptable for a legitimate purpose; invading a country that hadn’t threatened us and couldn’t have harmed us isn’t acceptable.

• the “threat we face”: Saddam had a third-rate army, devastated by sanctions.

• the brutality of the Iraqi insurgency: Of the more than 10,000 Iraqi innocents who were killed by U.S. weapons, how many were decapitated or otherwise mutilated? Just because we didn’t videotape the carnage doesn’t mean it wasn’t barbaric. Should we expect Iraqi victims to be less brutal than we are?

• America being “safer and more secure”: How can that be when virtually the entire Arab world now hates us?

Michele Winter
Würzburg, Germany

Fair and balanced needed

The writer of “Too much FOX News” (Aug. 6) asked if anyone had seriously examined the AFN News channel to see how much time is devoted to FOX.

I decided to check it out. Here is what I discovered.

The FOX News Channel has roughly 22.5 percent of the AFN-TV News channel time. The remaining time is split between MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS and Air Force News. Fair and balanced?

Take a typical AFN week (Monday through Friday) in Europe. For breakfast (7 to 8 a.m.) AFN-TV News — FNC (“Newsnight with Aaron Brown”). Lunch (noon to 1 p.m.) — “The O’Reilly Factor.” On AFN Radio between 6 to 7 p.m. while driving home or eating dinner, there is Rush Limbaugh live. Or, one can turn to AFN-TV News for three straight hours of FNC during prime time (6 to 9 p.m.) Fair and balanced?

We, the American taxpayer, ultimately fund AFN and have the right to insist that our warfighters, support personnel and family members overseas are provided fair and balanced programming in the true sense of the word. I urge AFN to balance its airwaves.

Wylie K. Miller
Naples, Italy

Flag policy hurts morale

The Stars and Stripes flew proudly over our squad tent until the policy citing no flags will be flown anywhere except at camp headquarters.

The policy cites that too many flags are being flown at Camp Arifjan and surrounding camps in Kuwait. The policy covers the U.S. flag but also is extended to state and unit flags.

I am just a lowly staff sergeant; I therefore am not privy to the wisdom of the policymakers. The very symbol that leads soldiers into battle, and helped free Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and several other countries around the world, we are told, can no longer fly above our tents.

Are those people offended by the ideals of freedom, for which the U.S. flag represents and thousands of Americans have died to preserve? What would those buried at Arlington, or perhaps at the bottom of the Pacific, or even our fellow soldiers who have been wounded in action have to say about this new policy?

The flag not only honors the United Sates, but it also honors those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom that Old Glory represents.

Should the flag be taken down at night? Yes. Should a flag tattered and torn be retired and replaced? Definitely. I strongly disagree with the policy, yet I obey a legal order, which I believe is bad for morale. I do not understand the reason for this new policy, which tells me I am not allowed to fly my county’s flag over our tents.

Staff Sgt. Paul Weber
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Don’t close the doors

When I was on base some days ago I absolutely had to buy a copy of Stars and Stripes because of the shocking headline: “Love affair ending?” (July 11). It featured a picture with a broken heart, one part U.S. and one part German flag.

As a German who grew up in the Ramstein Air Base area, I think that relations between the U.S. military people and the Germans are still as good as they ever were. It’s true that we Germans have a different opinion about the Iraq war, but so do many in Europe.

My father told me that back in the 1960s there were big parties on base at the clubs hosted by the U.S. military and the local Karnevalsvereine during Fasching. When I was a teenager, there used to be air shows on Ramstein Air Base (prior to the tragic air show accident in 1988). There also used to be the German-American Volksfest on Vogelweh.

All this does not happen anymore. I believe it was probably canceled due to security reasons. I think it’s a pity that there are fewer and fewer public events together! Luckily, many Americans in our area attend private fests, Fasching, and other German entertainment events.

I had left the Ramstein area for a while. When I came back in the summer of 2002, I was shocked to see the building of walls around the housing area in Vogelweh and camouflage carpet at the sport field at Landstuhl hospital. The doors were closing on us, your friends and neighbors, of so many years! Please turn around!

Sabina Nelson
Landstuhl, Germany

Some offended over everything

I could not agree more with the writer of “Offensive song?” (Aug. 17).

I’m not sure what has happened to this world, but it appears to me that people are so bored that they find the need to be offended over everything they can get their hands on. Just as in the case of the parent (note the singular form) who was offended by the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, instead of depriving the rest of us our freedoms, why can the offended “one” sit out the act that is so terribly offensive to them?

I also don’t understand how one person’s tantrum can dictate what the majority of us can and cannot do. As far as the sergeant major who was offended by “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” I am disappointed that a superior did not have enough common sense to tell him to wait outside until the song finished.

Funny, I never hear anyone complain about using the American dollar. Nor have I heard a servicemember complain when taking the oath of enlistment. After all, both contain the word “God.” I’m sure that will be next.

Michelle Duncan
Ramstein Air Base, Germany

Pacific edition

Believe in ourselves

I am with the 1st Cavalry Division currently serving in Baghdad.

I generally like to read some articles in your paper. I especially like to read your letters to the editor page; it is generally filled with good things and supportive things, which makes people feel better.

But all too often it is filled with negative things, such as passing the blame for America’s problems, problems with our representatives, or problems in society in general. It sickens me to hear all of the distrust, unfaithfulness and disbelief in ourselves as a society. When I hear slanderous statements said by different people it saddens me to think that we (society) are in it (life/the world) for Numero Uno.

The harsh reality is that we are members of the greatest nation in the world and the only reason that we are that nation is because the people stood together in whatever endeavor it faced. We fought to have the freedoms that we have.

Some say that we are slowly failing as a country; some say we just need a new president. Some pass the blame for their/our national problems; some argue with others over nothing. But I say that we only need to stand together, fight together, believe in ourselves and others. We can accomplish anything if we just work at it together. Our forefathers believed in a statement that lead them to succeed in whatever they did for our country and its future welfare: “United we stand, divided we fall.”

Some of us still believe in it today.

Spc. Tim Widman
Baghdad

Training could limit accidents

I find it not that difficult that the U.S. Army in Afghanistan is suffering from a rash of accidental discharges (“Negligent discharges a problem in Afghanistan,” Aug. 6).

For years our nation has been being bombarded from the far left about why firearms are evil and that no one needs a firearm except the military and the civilians.

As a result, fewer parents are buying a firearm (or BB gun) for their children and those who do purchase one find that there are fewer and fewer places for their children to learn and practice.

So now you have a new bunch of recruits coming into the service every year. Do we have enough time to train them how to be soldiers and teach them more than the basics of weapons handling? Not in only nine weeks of basic training.

Better we should take a page out of World War II. Give the new troops the additional training. This includes:

• having the local recruiting offices link with a local shooting range/club and ask if any National Rifle Association instructors (or local police instructors) could give these new recruits a class on safe gun handling;

• training as we fight — abolishing the Army’s rule on no loaded rounds in the chamber of a weapon (if soldiers need to train as they fight, then they need to train with live-round loaded weapons with live rounds under the firing pin);

• giving the kid his weapon and keeping it with him throughout his two-, four-, six- or 20-year career.

Charlie Racine
Stafford, Va.

Not a slip-up

I notice that you recently chose to run an op-ed piece by Rep. George Nethercutt (“U.S. troops overseas mustn’t be restricted by ICC,” Aug. 2), who is now running for office in Washington State.

It is worth noting that on July 29, 2003, Nethercutt said this while speaking at the University of Washington: “The story of what we’ve done in the postwar period is remarkable. It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day.”

That was no verbal slip-up. His statement says much about the character of this man … and even more about his lack of respect for the sacrifice of the American soldier.

Richard Citron
Vicenza, Italy

Too much Fox? You decide

A recent letter writer questioned how much time is devoted to Fox on the AFN News Channel (“Too much Fox News on AFN,” Aug. 9).

AFN defenders will respond that they devote “only” four hours per weekday to Fox programming, leaving 20 hours per weekday to the competition. Here’s the rest of the story, as provided by the AFN weekly schedule.

Assume the prime news watching period for servicemembers is 6 to 10 p.m., a “news prime time.” In the United States, ABC, CBS and NBC all broadcast their evening news programs at 6:30 p.m. We’ll also include the nightly talking heads programs, such as O’Reilly, Matthews and so forth.

Fox News Live is broadcast 6-7 p.m. and again 8-9 p.m. for most of Europe, including Spain, Germany and Italy and 6-7 p.m. GMT, including England. For the Pacific, Hannity and Colmes is broadcast 6-7 p.m. For the Asia market, including Korea, The O’Reilly Factor is broadcast 7-8 p.m. That’s Fox News — four hours covering all four AFN time zones in news prime time.

The rest? Buried. Without exception, all the others fall outside the news prime time slot in every time zone. If you want to see one of these programs, be prepared to come home in the middle of the day or stay up long past your bedtime.

It can’t possibly be a coincidence that Fox news programs cover the prime time news slot in every time zone and none of the remaining network and cable news programs do. The letter writer asked if the American Forces Radio and Television Service is trying to “brainwash the military audience” and if the coverage was “fair and balanced.” We’ll let the facts speak for themselves. To use a Foxism, “I reported, you decide.”

Chief Warrant Officer 3
John A. Robinson
Ramstein Air Base, Germany

What he would have done

On AFN Television we were treated to Sen. John Kerry’s take on President Bush’s response to being notified that the country was under attack on 9/11. The president, no doubt considering the sensitivities of a room full of children, reacted with restraint, waiting several minutes to excuse himself. Kerry would have gotten up immediately, said “The president of the United States has something to attend to” and walked out of the room. I think that what the senator would have done comes up short, also.

What I would have done is jump up out of my chair and shout, “America is under attack! Get under your desks! The president of the United States has something to attend to.” Then I’d have run to the nearest broom closet where I could strip off my suit and tie in private, race out the front door and take off with my blue cape waving in the breeze and the bright red “S” on my chest.

I’d have flown to New York City so I could travel back in time and get to the World Trade Center before the first plane hit. I’d have grabbed both planes out of the air before impact and set them in a field and taken off for the Pentagon.

After stopping that plane and saving everyone on Flight 93 before the crash, I would quietly return to the White House.

If I had been the president, 9/11 would never have happened — but I wasn’t. What say you all, do we have enough “facts” here for Michael Moore’s next “mockumentary?”

Dennis E. O’Neill
Naples, Italy