How did the Nazis in Poland, the Americans in Iraq or the Russians in Ukraine acquire the freedom to kill on the “battlefield,” and this is seen as different from the killing of civilians by the “war” aggressor?
If all that is needed for a “war” aggressor to get the freedom to kill is put some “battlefield” armed conflict done within “the rules” into motion, then “war” on the “battlefield” is our true God. A recent New York Times article makes a distinction between “battlefield” killing and civilian killing in Ukraine — 100,000 Ukrainians killed on “the battlefield,” and 30,000 civilians in Ukraine killed … why do this, why bother? Can Russia do its criminal “war” correctly, via “battlefield”?
Though I see TPP’s views on “war to be rather archaic, I do respect the fact you published my Feb. 1 letter and kept the quotation marks on “war,” most newspapers will not publish my views, and those that do usually remove the quotation marks from “war,” so thank you.
If your paper does not see the Iraq “war” as being the same as the Holocaust, then you must believe in magic, nothing but magic could give Washington its “war” in Iraq and subsequently the freedom to kill that come with it, if you can get away with it.
What the hell is “war” to you, if you don’t see the entire fake Iraq “war” as murder? … There is no disputing “war” is the freedom to kill, since Iraq “war” criminal Joe Biden is still a free man and George W. Bush is retired and living in luxury as a free man in Texas.
All is forgiven, it was a “war.” Do you really believe “war” can be the freedom to kill, regardless, all by itself, as a “just war” or “unjust war”?
Both the US invasion of Iraq and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are the same thing, illegal murderous “wars” upon innocents. If you support Washington giving money and weaponry to Ukraine, you better also be supporting Iran when it gives money and weapons to “Iran-backed militias” in Iraq who are trying to get the US out. Both situations are exactly the same.
Don’t play games like the US state-controlled mainstream media does. Iraqis have every right to also defend their nation.
And I have absolutely no idea what it meant when you say “The Indian ‘wars’ were pretty much settled more than a century ago.” Do land thieves get grandfathered in after a certain amount of time? If Russia steals Ukraine using a “war,” is it then Russia’s land? Does the “war” settle it?
FRANK ERICKSON, Minneapolis, Minn.
Columnist Sam Uretsky’s thoughtful commentary, “Artificial Intelligence Still Needs Some Work” [2/15/23 TPP], was thoroughly pleasant reading. While a purportedly “thinking” mechanism may be fascinating or slightly unnerving, we should bear in mind the gizmo is soulless — unable to write the poetry of Byron or Kipling.
Modern society is confronted with technological obsolescence as before and also more swift innovations than ever. The inevitable psychological and sociological implications merit contemplation.
Maybe scholarship is much improved by the ease with which factual information can be brought forth by computerization. And maybe something has been eclipsed by the absence of the human touch — the marginalia in old-fashioned books or notes in an obsolete library card catalogue?
WILLIAM DAUENHAUER, Willowick, Ohio
In referencing the 1995 Newt Gingrich-led government shutdown (2/15/23 TPP), Jim Cullen, Robert Kuttner and Robert Reich all neglect to tell the full story and the motivation driving Gingrich and his odious henchman, Tom DeLay.
While the debt ceiling was in play, the larger and immediate concern was funding the government for Fiscal Year 1996, since Congress had failed to pass appropriations legislation by Oct. 1. In place were short-term Continuing Resolutions (CRs). Notwithstanding the Republicans’ blather about cutting wasteful spending, their real agenda was to use the CRs to legislate the end of environmental protection by including amendments, termed “riders,” which forbade EPA from enforcing any environmental laws e.g Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, among others. At the time, I worked in the EPA Comptroller’s Office and saw firsthand the language in each CR. EPA Administrator Carol Browner was in constant communication with President Bill Clinton, who in turn made it clear that these riders were non-starters. Ultimately, Gingrich backed down.
Reich does refer to some of the detailed issues that were targets of Gingrich and Delay (welfare, Medicare, Medicaid) but fails to mention this audacious attempt to put EPA out of business. And as we all know, disabling the federal government’s regulatory mandates is the not-so-hidden rationale behind all subsequent Republican-instigated shutdowns.
BILL COOKE, Rutland, Vt.
There is a growing if not surging urgency for citizens globally to both come to terms with and sound the alarm about “nuclear modernization.” The nine nuclear states, led by the United States, are all engaged in “nuclear modernization.” Today both the US and Russia possess over 4,000 nuclear weapons, of which more than 3,000 are actively deployed. Consider that two Ohio class submarines can each unleash 192 civilization-ending nuclear missiles in one minute.
The Russian attack on Ukraine has understandably raised the concerns about nuclear weapon use. But the problem is even larger in scope then this. “Nuclear modernization” ushers in automated hair trigger weapons systems that are launched by computer command. The specter of “artificial intelligence” being woven into “launch on command” is beyond horrifying. What we have to come to terms with is this — with “nuclear modernization” there will be no Vasili Arkhipov — the Soviet submarine officer who disobeyed direct orders and prevented a nuclear strike against US warships during the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis and subsequently saved the world. “Nuclear modernization” promises weapons automation free from human deliberation. Reliance on computer systems that are forever at risk for being hacked or compromised here is unthinkable. We simply cannot put the fate of the species in the hands of the war planners and zealots who share the collective belief that a nuclear war is both winnable and controlled and that their hair-trigger launch systems are error-free.
Jonathan Schell’s prophetic warning, “The birth of nuclear weapons in 1945 open a wide and unobstructed pathway to the end of the world,” is more relevant today than at any time in history. Schell’s warning needs to be headlined globally. The time to act is now.
JIM SAWYER, Edmonds, Wash.
Lying to get elected is like lying about the Tonkin Gulf, is like lying about WMDs, and if you tell me Pearl Harbor was a surprise, you’re lying. Supplying Ukraine is like supplying England when Hitler was on the loose. Putin ain’t Hitler, but he ain’t gonna allow nukes in Ukraine. Accept it. Quit pushing a war.
ANTHONY TOMASHESKI, Texarkana, Texas
Never did J.R.R. Tolkien imagine the possibility of the re-emergence of the evil and hate that he personified in “Sauron” (Lord of the Rings). But yet, here we are in the 21st century beset by orcs, trolls and the Republican Party. Misshapen beings with a serious case of mind-parasites. How could Tolkien have known the extreme hate and evil would again surface so soon?
I say again, because the epic “Lord of the Rings” was written in the 1930s, as a forewarning to not let it happen again! But it seems the MAGAts are back, cloaked in Christianity, self-righteous excrement bathed in lies and deceit. “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.” HA! The Gestapo is everywhere. Cameras abound; brown shirts have been replaced by camo. Guns are readily available. Your phone is on constant “tap in” mode. Let us make sure no corporate lackey gets elected. VOTE PROGRESSIVE!
WILBERT J.D. VAN STRAATEN III, Bozeman, Mont.
I could not at all logically think that I could change another person’s physical chemistry to make them well, nor could I save a tree from falling in a forest, a house being destroyed by fire, a crop being extended, or anything that people pray for.
Thus, I have never put a lot of thought into prayer or me praying.
Now that I am 88 years old, and confronted with physical disabilities, I have found that when I have heard others praying for me, I have felt an emotion that others cared for me. How that is transformed from one person to another, I have no idea. There are many things in life I now find that I have no idea how they transpire,
I guess I have changed my philosophy on prayer and find that if I know people are praying for me it’s a softening inner feeling I feel. However again I must know that they are praying for me, And I do pray for others but now find that I must let those that I pray for know I am praying for them.
Can this all be summed up as wishful thinking, dreaming, on both parts of the prayer and in the person prayed for? To natural calamities and international concerns, I would have to assume I have no power whatsoever over those developments.
Prayers of celebration of others or actions of others are self-satisfying. I do pray self concisely. And will continue to wonder of the “wonders” yet to unfold.
RON SACHS, Practical Theologian, Somerset, Calif.
Look, regarding fentanyl and “super meth” coming into our country from Mexico. Why doesn’t the American government, both Republican and Democrat, seem to know the difference between curtail and cartel? Maybe both parties should think about the country first regarding this problem instead of prioritizing their own self-centered, egotistical, partisan, divisive, power-driven and retribution-focused agendas that accomplish nothing.
Another good example of where we are as a country.
MIKE EKLUND, Mercer, Wis.
From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2023
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