Stripes letters: on Coulter, Robertson, FISA, Murtha and Carl Moore

[lebkuchen]

Can’t scare away Constitution

Ann Coulter tells us in her Jan. 9 (print edition) commentary (“Situation warrants putting safety first”) that “Every once in while the nation needs a little reminder of why the Democrats can’t be trusted with national security.” What is her evidence?

She claims that we should be willing to overlook the domestic spying scandal because Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act judges had the temerity to reject six requests for warrants out of a total of 5,645. She also complains that the FISA judges requested the modification of 173 (3 percent) of the requests. Never mind that these requests can be made after the fact. Never mind that an approval rate of 97 percent suggests that the FISA judges are men and women also deeply concerned about the safety of their fellow Americans.

That this level of oversight should cause Coulter to think that we should abandon the Constitution is deeply disturbing. People like Ann Coulter who want to scare us into giving up our freedoms are repugnant to me. I wear the uniform to protect our freedom and I do not like anyone, left or right, trampling on them.

Staff Sgt. Blake K. Baxter
Ooltewah, Tenn.


Robertson’s take is not news

The fact that you reported the ignorant, misguided words of Pat Robertson in relation to the stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is nothing but bad journalism (“Robertson: Stroke God’s punishment,” The Associated Press, Jan. 7 print edition).

To say that a stroke is the result of God’s wrath, rather than the result of being old, overweight and living an unbelievably stressful life, is the kind of fallacious, dangerous bilge that we’ve learned to expect from “The 700 Club,” but it should end there.

To even give an audience to a man who advocates the assassination of foreign heads of state, regardless of how many people might unfortunately listen to him, is to invite more from him, and no one needs that.

Bill Kapoun
Garmisch, Germany


Murtha cares about GIs

As I read “Murtha owes GIs apology,” accusing Rep. John Murtha for selling out “soldiers in combat right before the end of a successful mission,” I had just finished reading about the downing of yet another Black Hawk helicopter with 12 Americans onboard, and all this on top of a terrible week in which more than 200 Iraqis and 12 U.S. servicemembers were killed.

I deeply respect the letter writer and the American men and women serving in Iraq. But I would also like the letter writer to understand why Murtha is so passionate about his argument. This decorated Vietnam veteran and distinguished public servant simply cannot bear the loss of more American lives in Iraq. The Democratic Party did not coerce Murtha in any way, as evidenced by the many Democrats who do not share Murtha’s idea for a solution.

I was also dismayed that the letter writer views the Democratic Party as “the party of the sore loser, the selfish whiner and the gutless coward.” Need I remind him that Gens. John Shalikashvili and Wesley Clark are also Democrats?

I would suggest to the letter writer that he read Murtha’s Dec. 14 letter to his colleagues before criticizing him for abandoning U.S. soldiers while still in the field, as the writer put it. Murtha, as much as any American, wants to come home safe and sound.

Mike Liem
Ginowan City, Okinawa


‘State of the Union’ offensive

I am writing concerning the “State of the Union” political cartoon by Carl Moore. The cartoon in the Jan. 6 issue, which portrays Cindy Sheehan wearing a turban, is ignorant and offensive.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Sheehan’s actions, her “anti-war shtick” is her right as an American citizen; frankly, she has given more to this nation, in the form of her dead son, than Moore ever will.

This garbage perpetuates the idea now in vogue in this country that disagreement with the Iraq war makes one a traitor or worse, a terrorist. Is Sheehan supposed to be the equivalent of Osama bin Laden?

It is, moreover, offensive to Arab-Americans who may choose to dress this way.

I will refrain from spending my money on Stars and Stripes for the time being. If I want to subject myself to slanted, shock-jock right-wing propaganda, I can tune into American Forces Network Radio and listen to Rush Limbaugh for free.

Maj. Charles R. Bowery Jr.
Katterbach, Germany


Still must adhere to law

The letter “Maybe Bush got it right” (Jan. 9) is wrong in so many ways, and it displayed complete ignorance on the subject at hand by the letter’s writer. The issue is not that there was surveillance collected of Americans or that it’s been done before or that people are trying to stop government agencies from protecting us. The issue is that the law was broken. Specifically, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was violated. This is a 1979 law that was put in place to ensure that surveillance and espionage of American citizens is accomplished with congressional and legal oversight, and does not become the partisan tool of a single political party or group.

Here’s some of the facts about FISA: Complying with FISA will not slow down an investigation or keep the government from being able to immediately monitor a suspicious subject. FISA allows for immediate surveillance of a suspect, provided that the necessary warrant paperwork is completed within 72 hours of the beginning of surveillance. FISA is a secret court and, as such, running things through FISA does not endanger national security. During the existence of the court, there have been 18,732 warrant requests; 18,728 have been approved. There was absolutely no reason for the administration to think that reasonable, justifiable requests for warrants would be turned down. There is no reason why administration officials could not have gone through the proper legal channels to accomplish their mission — no legal reason anyway.

FISA is a law, and it supports the Fourth Amendment. For those unfamiliar with the Constitution (and so many people are, and are willing to throw it away for illusory safety), the Fourth Amendment protects American citizens from searches without warrants. This is in our Constitution, and it applies to electronic surveillance as well. FISA exists to allow for speedier issuing of warrants for electronic surveillance, the exact thing the administration claims to want.

The laws are in place and, when used, they work. However, once that information is obtained, there is no guarantee it will be utilized correctly by the people we trust to keep us safe. Two messages from al-Qaida were intercepted, legally, by the National Security Agency, on Sept. 10, 2001. One said “the match begins tomorrow” and the other said “Tomorrow is zero day.” These messages were not translated by the NSA until Sept. 12, 2001. Obtaining the information does nothing unless it is correctly utilized.

Staff Sgt. John Nixdorf
Kadena Air Base, Okinawa

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=34263

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Thanks

for posting these, and thanks to these folks for their service. I especially liked the Major's letter.

[lebkuchen]

2. He cut to the chase, didn't he?

It probably took him 15 minutes to write it.

If Bush thinks Americans are going to get confused w/the technicalities of FISA, the Staff Sgt., among others, proved him wrong. If anything, Americans are more alert than they ever have been.

[stanwyck]

3. Just wondering

why we haven't seen much about how the military voted in the last election. I know my son voted for Kerry.
I'm guessing if the numbers were high for Bush, we'd know.

[lebkuchen]

4. Probably because they did vote for Kerry

Most politicians figure that every letter writer who takes the time represents about 100 votes.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/18/45138/421

[txindy]

5. That's absolutely right

If the military had voted for Junior, it would've been trumpeted all over the M$M, yet there was never a word about it. Gee, now, why would that be?

[lebkuchen]

6. Bush fakes that they voted for him by primping before the AF & Navy

those that aren't the "boots on the ground." Those in the AF/Navy were likely hand-picked, anyway, like those before them. Allison Barber is in charge of that sort of thing.