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Show "We are dedicated to the public interest, to fiurnets and accuracy, to innovation and growth, , and to the restless pursuit of excellence." ' . u Pulitzer missioi ftatement EDITOR: DONALD W.MEYERS OPINIONS . t t THE DAILY HERALD (www.HarkTheHerald.com) 344-254- 4 ' flS . t FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2003 . y y.s. Despond to M$di Tore than a week into "TV A Herald the war to oust Sad-dam Hussein, the V Poll Iraqi resistance is 'JL. V xLpicking up as coalition forces advance on Baghdad. We've heard reports of Iraqi forces faking surrenders and disguising themselves as civilians in order to catch US. and British troops in ambush. Iraqis have shot down U.S. helicopters and are harassing supply convoys. Now there are reports that Saddam's elite Republican Guard troops are entering the fray, attempting to stop the coalition's march on the Iraqi capital. U.S. defense officials say the Guard already has the regime's authorization to use chemical or biological Y 1 m& - I Rick Soulier Forward-thinkin- g leaders needed to manage Provo Last week, I exercised my right to squander gasoline to drive around central Provo to view spring flowers. It takes the mind off the aggravations of television war propaganda and reinforces that cycles of nature return no matter what some Saddam Hussein does to dis- rupt a perfectly good season. An interesting neighborhood to observe is between 800 North, 600 South, 500 West and Geneva Road, Provo. The houses are modest and mostly (as real estate magazines would describe it) "classic," as opposed to big and new. Community planners insist that an important feature of a good neighborhood is close proximity to a variety of quality foods. Therefore, the planners might downgrade this area because no supermarket has been built in this area in 40 years. I drove eastward on 100 North in Provo looking at the ancient backside of downtown Provo. Observing the backs of Center Street buildings is rather like seeing downtown with its pants down. It is a warning of the destruction on old Center Street if and when Provo is hit by an earthquake stronger than magnitude 6. The small businesses on Center Street need newer, safer buildings. Eastward, the sector from 800 North to the foothills to 500 South to Freedom Boulevard used to be a charming neighborhood of dwellings. Today, thanks to indulgent zoning, most of these homes and some garages are divided into apartments for BYU students. In the 1960s, Provo's leaders 1 should have insisted that Brigham Young University build housing for its students. Apparently they were loath to take on Provo's most beloved sacred cow on the subject of where its kids were sleeping. Mayor Billings recently signed legislation creating a council seat for residents of Central Provo. This one-fami- ly is generous of Provo, especially considering how few Provo voters 2. United States respond if Saddam unleashes chemical or biological weapons on us or our allies? U.S. troops have a better chance of surviving a gas attack than the Iranians did in the 1980s. The Americans have gear to detect poison in the air, protective clothing and antidotes for the nerve agents believed to be in Saddam's arsenal. Our troops have been inoculated against anthrax, rendering (one hopes) that biological weapon ineffective. So a chemical or biological spread disagreement about whether the United States has made its case that Saddam indeed possesses weapons of mass destruction, no one can say that he does not. The recent discovery in Iraq of caches of chemical suits in good working order raises a troubling specter. While using weapons of mass destruction would clearly expose his claims of disarmament as a lie, Saddam may decide to use them anyway. No one knows the limit if there is one to his megalomania His use of poison gas in his war with Iran and in the murder of innocent Kurds in northern Iraq suggests he has no qualms. the Editor Thank you, troops The war protesters are doing us all a great favor. They are demonstrating what is possible in a free society. The Iraqi people were not so fortunate. Thankfully, our soldiers have gone in to help the Iraqi people have the right to and freedom of choice. The image that is burned into my memory is of a US. soldier, standing over the first 17 Iraqi men who surrendered. He put his hand out to instruct the Iraqis to get down on the ground. Several of the Iraqi men crawled over to him and kissed his hand. I wept These are our brothers and sisters who have been tyrannized and tortured for decades. They have been beaten into submission and silence. Now they have a chance at a free life, and I rejoice with them Thanks to our men and women who are willing to lay down their lives so that people they don't even know have a chance at a better life. Thanks to the families who have their hearts in their throats waiting for news and praying for peace. November, voters will elect local leaders. Now, however, is the time to encourage honest people with sound consciences and solid convictions to serve in local govern- War costs everyone Rick Soulier teaches English composition at Utah Valley State College. He can be reached His column appears Fridays. atsouli-ercolumnist.co- 3. The media surveys indicate that most of the American public supports President Bush in going to war against Iraq. The public was never told it would cost every family $1,000 for this war, based upon the fact that there are about 75 million families in the United States. The Bush administration's first installment of the bill for war with Iraq: a tab of between $70 billion and $75 billion that would cover one month of fighting and several months of occupation. (When have &vc MEANORPtR, UUJ- - 'OKAY. STOP WPPING UNTIL weeenom CHBCKFONT! i PONT see, Question THATm I ITuvbK YETr.. l Rudolf Rutishauser Orem Get the facts Recently a war protester pointed to his baby and said, "We're here for this. We're taking a stand against bullyism." Ironically the statement more aptly supports the war against Saddam, whose evil designs and brutal, inhuman acts of aggression and oppression are well documented. Bullyism? We have a proud history of standing up to bullies from many countries, including Britain, , Mexico, Spain, Germany, Japan, North Korea, Russia, Yugoslavia and now Iraq for the second time. It is a sad commentary that the rhetoric of factions who hate the United States for its freedom and prosperity has poisoned the hearts ofAmericans who choose ignorance over information. It is equally PONT HAVf TO THINK! Vef&SNOAMffl&JlTY, wen how NOCHa&in&BSCIMI' COMBYOU TtTOAMUrmcmfi.! ISlTOVERXCT?.. them? Trudeau 344-294- 2, wwwMarkTheHerald.com. Well take your comments until April 2, and publish them April 6. When you respond, please include your name, hometown and phone number for verification purposes. Only names and hometowns will be printed with the responses. Anonymous and unverifiable responses will be discarded. Ifyou use the Internet, please keep your comments to 75 words or less and send them to dmeyersher-aldextra.coIfyou call in, please limit your response to 30 seconds or less. This editorial is a consensus opinion The of Daily Herald 's editorial board, which consists ofPresident and Publisher Albert J. Manzi, Executive Editor Randy Wright, Opinions Page Editor Donald W. Meyers and Provo resident Jason Hunter. m , and capital resources that ebb and flow with the times, we appear to approve of one evil while stomping out another. We cannot prevent all evil men from rising to power. Such inevitable failure results in suffering the liktjs of which the Iraqi people are all too familiar, but history will judge that past failures do not ' HFHB DfcEN paralyze our will to take action now. Freedom to criticize these failures affords us the strength and resolve to improve where nations without such liberties fail utterly. The casualties of such freedom are the children of the ignorant, mindlessly indoctrinated with foolish rhetoric raised by the enemies of freedom who would have you believe that America is the bully. Tyler Jensen Mapleton The Daily Herald welcomes your letters to the editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and phone number where you can be reached. Only your name and the city in which you live will be published. All other information will be kept confidential. Anonymous letters will be discarded. Letters must contain 250 or fewer words, approximately one page, typed and double spaced. Your.letter will be better read' if it concerns one central theme or idea. All letters will be edited for length, accuracy and clarity. The Herald encourages community discussion of issues in a responsible manner. Please send your letters to: Editor, The Dally Herald P.O. Box 717 1555 N. Freedom Blvd. Provo, UT 84603 Letters may also be faxed of The fax number is 344-298The address is: dhnewsheraldextra.com. If you have questions, call Opinions Page Editor Donald W. Meyers at 344-254- Mallard Fillmore By Bruce Tinsley CUsr' i it nrc far MrWto 4te aw t oaywSwe Letters Policy e turns?. n I f shameful that the media has irmsA owe, How should the United States respond if Iraq uses chemical or biological weapons ? Tell us what you think, either on our call-i- line, or on our Web site, 1 ignored their responsibility to correct these baseless claims with real investigation and facts. Limited by our political resolve eecfiu&. PUHB-AS- Perhaps the Iraqis do not possess weapons of mass destruction, or if they do, perhaps they will not use them. In the worstrcase scenario, we can only hope our leaders carefully consider how to respond. is it cver yet ?... we ever brought our troops back?) Would the public have supported this war if they realized the cost to By Garry On the other hand, the United States could stake out a high moral position, keeping its nuclear arsenal at bay. It could use an Iraqi chemical attack to expand the "coalition of the willing" arrayed against Iraq. While this approach may lead to a greater number of US. casualties in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere, it may be better than loosing the nuclear dragon for the second time in histo-- . ry. A similar question was asked when the United States contemplated an invasion of Japan in World WarH. Prance, the lead opponent to the US. war in Iraq, has said it would support the war if Saddam used chemical weapons against US. forces. Other nations as well would know for certain that Saddam's portrayal of himself as a peaceful leader targeted by an American bully is a lie. Restraint may also convince Saddam's neighbors in the Middle East that this is not a "crusade" against Islam so much as an effort to rid the world of a madman. Holding back our own weapons of mass destruction would add credibility to the US. claim that we are there to liberate Iraq, not to subjugate it It would help take off some of the tarnish on our image abroad. " 3 law-abidi- Dodnesbury mimsenvice.MAN.ins ALLeourvemwcwKEiA . i actually bestir themselves to vote in crucial local elections. Provo has many challenges. I am trying to be positive these days, so I won't call problems problems." Local government can create and encourage the solutions. Whether its leaders will remains to be seen. Wars come and go. Local government lasts forever. This We should not go along and accept the least problematical candidates among those who want to run for office. Voters should encourage the best to run. attack may not be as devastating as the Iraqis would hope. ' But how would the United States respond to such an attack? Would we up the ante with tactical nuclear weapons, or would we use Saddam's treachery as a political tool to turn world opinion? If Iraq were to use chemical weapons on US. forces, the United States in the view of many would have justifiable grounds to break out its own weapons of mass destruction Unlike chemical weapons, nuclear warheads are permissible under the Geneva Convention. If the United States were to resort to tactical nuclear weapons after a chemical attack, it may not have to use too many to end the war. Faced with such cataclysmic retaliation, even the most hard-cor- e Saddam loyalist may find his morale waning. to Thanks to all the people who lay their lives on the line every day for our safety and protection. Thanks to all the citizens who go about their lives every day in a good and helpful way and who care so much about others. Why did we go to war? It is explained in Mosiah 29:21-2VerLynn Brink Gunnison ment. the question is, how will the So weapons. This news raises the question of whether Saddam will use such weapons in an attempt to retain power. While there may be wide- Letters How should the United States respond if Iraq uses weapons of mass destruction? Send your comments to dmeyersheraldextra.com or call 344-294Please leave your name, hometown and phone number with your comments. only V |
