<strong><span class="subhead">What we owe the Afghan people</span></strong></p><p>I appreciate Mary Sanchez&rsquo;s concerns expressed in her column &ldquo;U.S. owes Afghans a full shot at peace, stability&rdquo; (10/27, Opinion). She is correct that we failed the Afghan people after massively arming the mujahedin. The failure then and now is that we did not and are not using diplomacy and development to improve the lives of the Afghan people. </p><p>What is needed today is not more U.S. military support for a corrupt government unconcerned with the well-being of its people. </p><p>Instead of listening to a professor receiving contracts from the U.S. military, Sanchez would be better off reading the resignation letter from Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain Matthew Hoh. He observed the bulk of the Pashtun insurgency &ldquo;fights not for &hellip; the Taliban, but rather against the presence of foreign soldiers and taxes imposed by an unrepresentative government in Kabul.&rdquo;</p><p>What we owe the Afghan people is to withdraw U.S. and NATO troops and apply a surge of wisdom.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Ira Harritt</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Local program coordinator,</em></p> <p align="right"><em> American Friends Service</em></p> <p align="right"><em>Committee</em></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Native American mascots offend</span></strong></p><p>The use of Native American mascots and imagery should be banned from America&rsquo;s sporting traditions. Kansas City Chiefs fans assert their mascot honors Native Americans. They claim to use traditional dances and chants in the mascot&rsquo;s routines. </p><p>But there is nothing traditional about the mascot, according to many Native Americans. They find these types of acts offensive as they are a mockery of their culture, traditions and religious beliefs. </p><p>While the American public would certainly find team mascots such as the Whities, the Spics and the Chinks to be reprehensible, the term Redskins is still used and is equally as offensive as &ldquo;the n-word.&rdquo; </p><p> These mascots, Americanized for entertainment, are many Americans&rsquo; only representation of Native American culture. It seems many Americans are so far removed from Native American culture they seem as fictional as the mascots.</p><p>Native Americans have a history of being victims of racism, inequality, discrimination and genocide. Getting rid of these mascots is only the beginning of recognizing that a &ldquo;colorblind&rdquo; society isn&rsquo;t void of racism. </p><p><p align="right"><strong>Jordan Mayfield</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Lawrence</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Cutting taxes would have stimulated</span></strong></p><p>A trillion is a million times a million. Think of this fact next time the politicians and news commentators are throwing that number around.</p><p> A stimulus package that might have worked would be if they declared a moratorium on payroll and income taxes for business and individuals for one year. However, this would have a chance only if Congress would extend the Bush tax cuts permanently and the capital gains tax rate permanently. This would be far cheaper than what Congress is doing to us now.</p><p> Businesses and individuals are scared to make any kind of move (if they are lucky enough to have any business). We all know that we will soon be hit with a not-talked-about tax increase that will affect us all. We are all scared of the unknown with cap and trade and health care. Why would anyone want to make a long-term investment with these kinds of tax-dollar gobblers coming up? </p><p>It is time for us to let Congress know whom they work for: us, not Nancy Pelosi, not Harry Reid and not Barack Obama. If they cannot figure this out, they all need to be replaced at the next election.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Edward Blasco</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Lenexa</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Moore represents them</span></strong>