The Times of Trenton

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Cowards' ascent to power

A letter writer, a former Democrat, labels as cowards those who don't agree with his conviction that aggression equates to strength ("Democrats' descent into cowardice," Aug. 27). He may be surprised to learn that my left- wing, liberal, progressive Democratic friends and I supported striking back at Osama bin Laden and his cohorts.

I wonder if the writer could be one of the misguided souls who still believes President George W. Bush's assertions that the terrorists were Iraqi instead of predominantly Saudi nationals trained in Afghanistan. President Bush used deception and propaganda to convince many of the necessity of pulling troops out of that country, now rapidly deteriorating, to pre- emptively invade Iraq.

Bush and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at tempted deep cuts in military personnel to fund high-tech weaponry and missile defense, useless in our fight against terrorism. Now, years later, with Iraq's infrastructure destroyed, thousands dead, hundreds of thousands in jured, millions displaced, and Iraqi and American families destroyed, how can anyone see any good coming from this debacle?

History is replete with both failed and successful negotiations, but it is the height of idiocy to close all avenues of discussion. Bush's unwillingness to meet with the leaders of his so-called "axis of evil" causes them to respond with equal idiocy. Yet he uses our tax dollars to give billions in aid to repressive leaders of wealthy, supposedly friendly Middle Eastern nations for access to their oil.

Cowards have been at the helm since this war began. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al, none of whom ever personally faced the enemy, epitomize General Westmore land's quote, "War is fear cloaked in courage."