Max Boot on ‘losing’ Iraq; Charlotte Allen on changes at the House’s cafeteria; aid for Egypt

Which way in Iraq?

Re “Losing Iraq,” Opinion, Feb. 13

Max Boot is right. Iraq has disappeared from our public discourse, and this is dangerous, but not for the reasons Boot espouses. By putting the invasion and occupation of Iraq on the back burner of our national attention, we risk repeating this military, economic and diplomatic disaster.

Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11; George W. Bush has publicly admitted this fact. Hussein had no relationship with Al Qaeda, viewing it as a threat to his power base. And over the last eight years, there has not been one shred of evidence uncovered that Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction or active nuclear program.

As for spreading democracy in the region, I suggest Boot study the Egyptian model. It’s a lot more effective and a lot less expensive in terms of blood and treasure.

Matt Giorgi

Brea

I won’t accuse Boot of parroting revisionist history. However, as he champions the American troops on the ground in South Korea, Germany and Japan, he fails to acknowledge the fact that the U.S. did not preemptively attack any of these countries.

Whether you believe that the Bush administration invaded Iraq based on lies and fabrications or that we just got the intelligence wrong, the glaring fact is that America was the aggressor.

I must suggest that Iraq is not America’s to lose but America’s to leave.

Stephen S. Anderson

Hacienda Heights

Something to chew on

Re “Stick a fork in it, we’re done,” Opinion, Feb. 13

Charlotte Allen’s tongue-in-cheek Op-Ed article on the efforts of the new Republican House majority raises the question: Where’s the beef?

Republicans won the House running on a promise to create jobs more quickly than the Obama administration. But what have they actually done? Well, there was the unsuccessful attempt to overturn the job-creating healthcare reform law enacted by the last Congress. Then House Republicans took on the abortion issue.

So far, their job-creating efforts are zip. So, Speaker John A. Boehner, where are the jobs? Where’s the beef?

Paul McElroy

Laguna Woods

Clever piece by Allen explaining the unintended consequences of lawmakers jamming their agendas down our throats without thinking it through. The liberal elites are again exposed as not listening to the people.

The country will not tolerate the imposition of reforms that do not speak to the needs of center-right America.

Terry Johnston

Newport Beach

According to Allen, “With a GOP House and divided government, there seems to be a return to normalcy,” even in the House’s Longworth cafeteria. All on the Hill will probably soon be able to eat “mystery meatloaf and high-fat coconut cake,” never mind obesity and other health problems.

And if the GOP succeeds in repealing healthcare reform, only its rich members will be able to afford doctors after consuming those foods. The rest will only wish they had eaten salads with the biodegradable forks.

Latika Sethi

Irvine

Allen’s delighted rant says Republicans are ending “four years of an effort by a know-it-all liberal elite to impose sweeping and extreme social and fiscal measures on a centrist-to-right public.”

In contrast, the Republicans are heading an effort to impose their extreme social measures by letting raped women die rather than fund an abortion, and by letting elderly, poor and sick people suffer, rather than have the wealthy pay a decent share of their income.

Which party do you think has the more extreme agenda?

Joel Pressman

Los Angeles

Help ourselves before Egypt

Re “U.S. tries to line up aid for Egypt,” Feb. 15

U.S. officials are working hard to create an economic aid package for Egypt that could total hundreds of millions of dollars. Furthermore, the U.S. funds the Egyptian military to the tune of $1.5 billion a year.

Meanwhile, 16.7 million American children live in households that struggle to put food on the table, according to the federal government. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, roughly 22 out of every 10,000 people in the U.S. are homeless. The unemployment rate stands at 9%.

It seems morally reprehensible to me that during a time of crisis at home, our government would mock its own by funding a foreign military.

I don’t care where your ideology lies on the political spectrum, this is about common sense. Egyptians toppled their own government, so let them build it back up. Let’s take care of our own first.

Angel LaCanfora

Huntington Beach

Our government “plans to shore up Egypt’s fragile government with a transfusion of economic aid” of several hundreds of millions of dollars. Why? Because otherwise “we will pay a higher price later,” according to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

No! We need to start taking care of our own citizens, not “buying” the supposed friendship of foreign governments and corrupt dictators. Enough already!

Trent D. Sanders

La Cañada Flintridge

Caught up in immigration

Re “Cities target illegal workers,” Feb. 14

How are our children going to remember the scapegoating of undocumented workers by the “tea party”? History should reveal how, rather than blaming Wall Street or job outsourcing, these confused Americans took aim at the most humble, hardworking and vulnerable of our society.

In our hard times, we’ve forgotten that the migrant farmworker is the oil that moves the engine of our economy. The migrant worker gives the most, receives the least and now is targeted in the form of a faulty E-Verify system that seems to work not for our communities but for a brazen “tea party” mind-set that says we should round up humans like cattle.

Bart Villa-McDowell

Long Beach

While reporting on the plight of the foreign born who are red-flagged by mistake, The Times ignores the bureaucratic nightmare for the victims of identity fraud whose Social Security numbers are used by undocumented workers.

E-Verify is not a useful tool. It’s poorly designed and inefficiently administered. There are three databases in Washington that contain crucial information regarding any particular individual’s legal status. They belong to the Social Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the IRS. Each agency serves a separate and distinct purpose. No one connects the dots.

Congress could close all the loopholes and enforce the laws on the books. But our elected leaders are reluctant to do this. And so we have employers who must cope with bureaucratic red tape for its own sake. What a sad reality.

La Rue Brewer

West Covina

A goose story

Re “All’s fair with this friendly fowl,” Feb. 13

I was captivated by the charming pictures and accompanying story about Maria the goose and Dominic Ehrler. They lead one to think that geese, ducks and other birds are intelligent animals with distinct personalities and an ability to form friendships with humans.

How could anyone ever consider caging, de-beaking (chickens and turkeys), cutting off the toes of turkeys and slaughtering our feathered friends to eat them?

Sharon Hall

Torrance

Good bet

Re “A daring bet at Belmont,” Editorial, Feb. 14

At last there’s an educational leader who understands that our information age economy needs new employees who can manipulate (not memorize) information, interact with other students, teachers and technology (not listen to lectures) and creatively solve problems (not regurgitate information on bubbled-in state tests).

By relying only on standardized tests to judge the “success” of students, we ignore that we are preparing students for tomorrow, not yesterday. To his credit, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has challenged the states to produce evaluation systems that will measure these sorts of skills.

Real educational reform involves training teachers to have a more interactive approach with students. Standardized tests are informational tools to guide teachers in designing lessons that meet their students’ needs.

To use standardized tests as an end and not as a means to an end is an educationally unsound practice.

Bob Bruesch

Rosemead

The writer is a board member of the Garvey School District Board of Education.