Democracy isn't free
As President George Bush starts yet another PR campaign for "his" war in Iraq, our young men and women are being sacrificed for his poor judgment. Aren't we also to blame?
As Americans we are growing fat, and now must we accept that we have become lazy — that we will accept a government that tramples on our Constitution, and with little concern for our young people sends them off to war and builds a deficit that will burden their future.
Now they are trying to fool us again — by making the same claims against Iran. I do not believe that Iran wants war with us. I do not believe that Iraq did.
We are being led by weak and shallow individuals that are only strong at deceiving us. They do not believe that we will wake up as a society and stand for our rights, which they are slowly taking away. This is what Japan thought when they attacked Pearl Harbor — that we would roll over. But we showed that we were a sleeping giant.
It is time for America to leave Iraq, as the great Iraqi people have requested. We must leave their resources to their management.
We will not regain what we have lost — our reputation, our freedom, our real strength and our democracy without a revolution. Americans will need to get off their couches and hit the streets to win our freedom and rights back. Until then, we are getting only what we deserve.
Democracy has never come without a fight, and neither have any of our rights.
E.H. Crawford
Brush Prairie, Wash.
Keep military out of schools
I am a student in Washington, and I am writing to voice my concern about military recruiting in our public schools. While I support the troops and the rights of a volunteer military, I do not support institutionalizinginvoluntary recruitment practices.
The No Child Left Behind Act automatically gives the military the right to take any students private information without any form of parental permission or notification. There are forms to opt out, but students and parents rarely hear about it.
I encourage you to let people know where this form is available to them, because without that knowledge students' rights are at serious risk. Our personal information is our business, and the decision should be open to everyone whether or not to release it to officials.
A sample form can be found at www.militaryfreezone.org/opt_out.
Please help students protect our rights by spreading this information.
Peter Edwards
University Place, Wash.
