“ … “ - We Americans on the plight of Iraq’s displaced, today Dear citizens, a few years ago, as I was working to get our military forces out of Iraq, I asked a very dear and very brilliant friend to review an essay I had just written. She kindly applauded my efforts at describing the imperative of withdrawal before chiding me mildly for ignoring the Iraqi people and all humanitarian concerns. As you ... Read More
“The vast majority of American Muslims are law-abiding, upstanding citizens who vehemently shun the violence embraced by the radical and dangerous few. In many ways, American Muslims have the most to lose when extremists carry out their warped plans, and they suffer most when they are unjustly lumped in with the radicals." - Washington Post editorial “An enemy within: Combating the spread of homegrown extremism” (December 16, 2009) Dear citizens, The Washington Post editorial cited above begins with ... Read More
Dear citizens, I had not planned to write today or especially about today. As a veteran, to me it can seem, well, unseemly, to write about myself and my comrades in arms. But, events conspire as you well know, and some unexpected free time and a comment by a friend have convinced me that writing today is proper. However, I will not be writing about veterans; I will write about you. I think I should start by pointing out that this day ... Read More
“What this tells us is, at the end of the day, there are individuals, that if released, will again return to terrorist activities.” - Bryan Whitman, Pentagon spokesman (“Pentagon: Some Gitmo detainees rejoin fight,” Associated Press on MSNBC.com, May 26, 2009) Dear citizens, you are perhaps familiar with a fundamentally different NIMBY—NOT in my backyard! We face, collectively, myriad challenges that require sacrifice on the part of some of our citizens. And, we all agree that we should not be those citizens called upon ... Read More
“President Obama must be supported by Congress and the American people because, as the imminent anniversary of the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, reminds us, success in Afghanistan serves American’s own national security interests.” - M. Ashraf Haidari, Political Counselor, Embassy of Afghanistan (“Assessing Afghanistan’s Present and Future,” Washington Post, September 7, 2009.) Dear citizens, it has been, as you are unnecessarily reminded, eight years. I suspect you are all well aware of the ... Read More
“And now we can see the value of the device of the Committee of the Whole. If this had been the final vote on proportional representation, many if not most of the small-state delegates would have walked out of the Convention. They did not because the Convention was still sitting as the Committee of the Whole, and the motions favoring proportional representation in both houses of Congress, which had just passed, were ... Read More
"We have shed blood together and that is a bond that no man can break." - U.S. General Ray Odierno in remarks to British troops working toward an end to their six-year occupation of Iraq (“U.S. Takes Control of Basra Base,” Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, April 1, 2009) “I am going to drink their blood.” - Khalil Ibrahim al-Sammarai describing his plans for his son’s killers (“A Quiet Filled With Wariness,” Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, February 26, 2009) Four thousand, three hundred and twenty-one. ... Read More
“The society must be purified of these people.” - Holocaust denier and perhaps reelected Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (“Iranian Candidate Exhorts Protestors,” Washington Post, June 15, 2009) Dear citizens, we have to accept that the Washington Post may have erred in some degree in its translation of the remarks by the current and perhaps future Iranian President. However, a leader who calls for the eradication of Israel and who pretends that the destruction of the Jewish minority in Nazi-controlled areas simply never happened is ... Read More
"When I said no negotiations I meant no negotiations. We know he's guilty. Turn him over. There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt." - U.S. President George W. Bush (“Bush rejects Taliban offer to surrender bin Laden,” The Independent, October 15, 2001.) Dear citizens, I came across a rather disturbing report yesterday—disturbing in part because I believe I was unaware of the information and disturbing largely because it reveals some brutally painful truths that shock the conscience. I was appalled to see the ... Read More
Looking out my window, I can see clearly the Air Force Memorial. It looms over the Pentagon, bordering the vast expanse of sacrifice-filled Arlington National Cemetery. I returned to this area as the memorial was being constructed and watched its completion in rapt fascination. I passed by almost daily on a bus that runs from my home to the Pentagon terminal, coming within a hundred yards or so of the base of the arcs that soar overhead. I had passed countless times ... Read More
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