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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 31, 2008

Why Not Ask Troops?

Regarding " 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Dispute Reignited" (Nation/World, July 24):

Opponents of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy claim the military is being "unpatriotic" and "mean-spirited." Many of the emotional arguments ignore the core reasoning of the military - that openly gay service members do in fact erode troop morale. These young men and women are forced into very close quarters and situations. If the question were put to the 18-year-old recruit "would you mind sharing your tent or shower with an openly gay man or woman," most would answer, "no."

It is no more difficult than that to assess the situation. Unfortunately, the "enlightened" social science activist types want to spin the situation into a much more complicated argument centered on "prejudice" or "civil rights" with little regard for troop morale. Why not simply ask the troops themselves?

RICHARD SCOTT

Clearwater

Too Little Progress

When I first learned of this U.S. military policy in high school, I was utterly shocked. The fact that this policy is still being upheld shows how little progress has been made with affirmative action in the United States. It also shows how naive our country's own leaders can be.

Disputing this policy once again would be a great idea, but after so many years and so much support, it may be hard to overturn. There is no justifiable reason why a homosexual person should have to hide their identity, as if it is shameful, in order to serve their country. If we can make them hide their identity in order to fight, why shouldn't other aspects of our soldiers' identities be monitored as well?

SARAH E. TORRENS

Tampa

Dumb Like A Fox

The Iraq war could be one of the greatest victories in our country's history. We killed a savage tyrant and his two animal sons. We closed rape rooms and uncovered the millions of people in mass graves. We ensured elections and now have a democratic country in the Middle East. It is possible that we have changed the Middle East for generations to come.

All of this from a dumb president who has run circles around the Democratic-controlled Congress. Yes, President Bush is dumb - dumb like a fox.

JOHN ADDAR

Valrico

We Can Only Wonder

What if Saddam was still in charge and we had not attacked Iraq?

More than 4,000 American soldiers would still be alive and they would be stationed in America and going home to their wives, husbands and children. The more than 20,000 maimed and dismembered soldiers who are struggling to exist would be healthy and happy as they were before Bush decided that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that they could very well any day fire at major cities all over America.

Sure, Saddam would still probably be killing off his opposition, but none of them would be Americans. Why did we really go to Iraq? Because Saddam was a cruel dictator? Many other countries are run by cruel dictators - China, North Korea, Darfur in the Sudan, etc. Why did we choose Iraq?

One thing that comes to mind is that I don't believe any of those other countries have large oil reserves underground. Could we have sent 4,000 of our brave soldiers to their death and sentenced 20,000 others to a life as cripples for oil?

ROBERT E. McCALLION

St. Petersburg

Ban Lifting Had Effect

Regarding "Don't Be Fooled By Drilling Scam" (Other Views, July 24):

Carl Hiaasen claims that the action Bush took to nullify the moratorium on offshore oil drilling would not yield any benefits. Unfortunately for Hiaasen, his article hit the papers at exactly the same time that gas dropped 10 cents a gallon as a result of Bush's action.

If I were Hiaasen, I'd be feeling a little bit like Barack Obama must have felt right before he pulled his infamous line "the surge will never work" from his Web site.

VICKIE KAZANSKI

Wesley Chapel

Two Kids Too Many

Upon scanning the July 25 obituaries, I noted with stunning sadness that two 9-year-olds had lost their lives to cancer. Two! That's two too many. My heart goes out to their families.

One wonders how many of such tragic losses could be spared if even a quarter of the trillions of dollars we have borrowed from China and Saudi Arabia, largely to fund the Iraq debacle, had gone into medical research instead of lining Halliburton's pockets.

GAIL A. REYNOLDS

Dade City

History Lesson Needed

Regarding "Why Muslims Still Hate Us" (Other Views, July 28):

Patrick Basham states that Muslims hate the United States because of our foreign policy. The United States stopped Iraq from conquering Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and they still hate us. Syria attacked Lebanon and killed Arab Muslims and Christians. Muslims performed terrorist acts in France, Spain and England. Iraq and Iran fought each other. Jordan chased Palestinian Muslims out of their country and killed some in the process. Syria tried to attack Jordan.

Some Muslims seem to hate everyone, including themselves. Why limit the hate to U.S. foreign policy or even think that is the problem?

Patrick Basham needs a lesson about the Middle East.

STANLEY BUSH

Tampa

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