BUSH IS A LIAR

Bush’s latest speech on Iraq would have us conclude he belongs to the minority and blind-to-the-truth citizens who still believe in a 9/11-Iraq and Homeland Security-Iraq link. The president is shamelessly using this fabricated and long ago debunked excuse to justify our continued stay in Iraq, with its attendant unnecessary loss of lives and diversion of our scarce financial resources from unmet, dire needs in our own country. Instead of the truth, we got a play on our emotions in order to manipulate our minds. –Denyse Frischmuth | Pacific Grove

THE WAR IS A BIG LIE

Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago, despite our president’s oblivious belief of “Mission Accomplished.” Violence continues to escalate. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded. Thousands of Iraqi women and children have been slaughtered as a direct result of our illegal invasion.

The US occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters. Their numbers grow daily.

We got into this war based on lies. It’s time to get out, now. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality. The second is to take back control of our country and reverse our vicious foreign policy that encourages and rewards torture, illegal exportations, illegal incarceration, and pre-emptive invasions.

We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community. –Jennifer Fellguth | Marina

SALINAS IS A MESS

I just finished reading a story in one of your past issues about East Salinas [“Choosing Sides,” May 19-25, 2005]. In it, some of the local businessmen complained about how TV news reporters stereotype the people in East Salinas as living in gang-infested neighborhoods. Well, at a recent visit that I made to see my old neighborhood, I was appalled. There were refrigerators in the front yards, litter and junk on the streets, old bicycles laying on the curb. We went to the store and little kids were running around throwing things at each other, their parents nowhere to be found. What’s going on?

I realize this is a low income area, I grew up there, but you can take some pride in what you have and “parent” your kids, maybe they will respect each other more and not grow up to hurt each other. The house that I grew up in has the same paint job that my grandfather and I put on it in 1962!

So my answer to the business owners of east Salinas is, if you want my business, clean it up.–Larry McCoy | Salinas

WELCOME HOMOGENIZED AMERICA

It’s odd that the Boy Scouts of America emblem can be found on the City of Monterey’s welcome sign near El Estero Park. It’s worrisome that this sign can be found on public property endorsing a group that clearly states in their rules that no gays or lesbians may be allowed to participate in their organization. Is the city agreeing with their stance? What is equally odd is that Monterey’s gay and lesbian organizations and our local chapter of the ACLU don’t seem to be too concerned about it.–Braddoc DeCaires | Marina