LETTERS 05/07/08

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Yes, there are crimes against humanity worldwide, including New Orleans and the federal government’s continuing lack of support. But before you press your values and beliefs on another, try to understand the structure you’re “improving” and the cost of foreign “improvements,” and then think about the many people in your own country who lack desperately needed intervention.

Kelly Feigenbaum

Leawood

John Reilly (5/1, Letters) appears to be disgruntled with Congress for not holding Iraqis financially responsible for the rebuilding of Iraq after the U.S. made a shambles of it. Mr. Reilly says Iraq should repay billions of dollars to the U.S. government and to the injured and surviving U.S. soldiers who liberated them.

How noble of Mr. Reilly to desire payment for an unrequested service that destroyed thousands of lives, U.S. and Iraqi alike. The commandeering of Iraqi profits from an unprovoked war would fall under the category of pillaging.

Perhaps finding weapons of mass destruction would have hidden our true intentions. But now the reality that we are simply ridding the Middle East of a tyrant who threatens countries that supply the U.S. with oil reveals the true mission that was planned and accomplished.

Greg Hand

Lee’s Summit

Nuclear waste

Just as we are awakening to being “green” conscious by doing what is good for the Earth, nuclear-waste lobbyists are intending to kill a bill that bans Italy’s 20,000 tons of low-level waste from being taken to a Utah dump (4/17, Business, “Lobbying to import nuclear waste”).

If Italy receives permission to send its waste, surely other countries will also apply.

Nuclear waste is already being transported through Missouri via rail and truck. The state does not have to receive notification of low-level waste (gloves, protective clothing, tools) before transportation. However, it does have to be notified before shipments of nuclear spent-fuel waste, which is done periodically. It was under the “Atoms for Peace” program that President Eisenhower agreed to accept such waste from foreign countries in order for them to agree to doing research work for peaceful means.

But where does this leave us? Accidents can happen from point A to B: Trucks collide, trains derail and ships sink. And politicians and corporations make money.

Laura Herdman

Lake Lotawana

McCaskill and Air Force

Sen. Claire McCaskill’s persistence in requesting that the Air Force explain the handling of the air show contract (4/26, A-5, “McCaskill turns up heat on Air Force contract”) is the sort of action we need from our legislators.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee can be the guardians of our military’s moral authority. The only way our military men and women can remain great is to follow the rule of law. People who have guns and don’t follow the law are usually called criminals. When a member of the military ignores the law and elected politicians are afraid to challenge them, it is time to pay attention.

I am reminded of the words of Edmund Burke: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” American democracy depends on the acceptance of disagreement, checks and balances, and the willingness to accept a little messiness.

If that means an air show doesn’t get its video screen from the personal friend of a four-star general, be glad. And remember to thank Claire McCaskill for keeping our values in mind.

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