Posted on Mon, Aug. 18, 2008

The Georgia-Russia crisis

Russia’s invasion of Georgia is stark evidence why appeasing adversaries never works. Vladimir Putin is repeating 1939, when Adolf Hitler saw weakness in U.S. and British resolve to protect Europe. Millions died because of it.

Today, Putin sees himself as the new czar responsible for rebuilding Russian pride and territory. Georgia is just the first pawn in his expansionist strategy of ascending to the presidency; installing KGB cronies in the Politburo; weakening democratic rights; seizing Russia’s oil wealth to control people, government organs and proxies; and keeping a stranglehold on Europe’s energy by controlling all oil and gas pipelines (except Georgia’s).

Putin’s Phase II, controlling Georgia’s remaining prize, is nearly complete. Invading Ossetia on the pretense of protecting Russians, his push to Gori is a clear attempt to seize the last major pipeline with which he can finally blackmail Eastern Europe into shunning America and switching to Russian protectionism — thus the rebirth of the Soviet Union.

This KGB lifer cannot be trusted, nor can he be allowed to succeed. This time we cannot afford the Neville Chamberlain pacifism and polite accommodation. Weakness at this juncture will ensure further expansionism and a return to the Cold War.

Gregory N. Shuey

Overland Park

Letter writers David Hooper, Royal Scanlon and Dennis Croskey (8/15) bash President Bush and the Russian invasion of Georgia. There is no parallel. The three of them truly have short memories or never knew or cared to know the details of the Iraq invasion.

First, in 1991, President George H.W. Bush went into Kuwait at that country’s request and under the U.N. mandate. The United States did not push them back into Baghdad, because the United Nations mandated only to take Iraq out of Kuwait.

The U.N. treaty that followed said if Saddam Hussein did not abide by all the treaty, that Iraq could then be reinvaded. Still under the U.N. and with an additional 17 U.N. resolutions, President George W. Bush, after 9/1l, then went in and took care of things that President Bill Clinton would not. Iraq was not a sovereign nation.

Janice DeMayo

Lee’s Summit

European media outlets report that the violence in Georgia is the result of a poorly planned Georgian offensive on civilians and Russian military, in an autonomous area allegedly protected by the Russians.

Why are we surprised by a fierce response from Russia? Even the White House has said the Russian response was too harsh. They don’t dispute the response, just how ferocious it was.

Isn’t it ironic that the Georgian military has been advised by the U.S. military in conducting operations and joint training?

Kyle Thibodo

North Kansas City

Sons may be off to Afghanistan

I have two Marine sons. Just think — the seventh anniversary of 9/11 is coming up. My sons were in eighth and 10th grade then.

Now they may be fighting in the ongoing war in Afghanistan. My older son just returned from an Iraq tour, with two years in Okinawa before that. My younger son is deployed to Okinawa on a two-year tour now but got his Web orders to Camp Lejeune when that’s up on January 2009, and from there to Iraq (unless that’s changed for the Afghanistan surge). If we have the same leaders and generals the entire seven years, without a shake-up like with getting Gen. David Petraeus into Iraq, nothing will change. It will just mean more young troops in the Afghanistan “surge” with the same leadership, which hasn’t gotten the job done in seven years.

It’s scary for me, as a Marine mom, to send my active-duty son into that, or to have my other son, who just got out after four years and is in the Individual Ready Reserve for three years, activated. They could possibly be in Afghanistan together, if there is a surge. And if the leadership is not changed, they could be under the same ineffective generals.

Marijane Green

Kansas City, Kan.

Vote for Obama if …

Vote for Barack Obama if:

•You’re satisfied that one of the top achievements on his resume is “community organizer.”

•You share the opinion of some of his closest advisers that America is a horrible country.

•You agree with Hillary Clinton, who describes his position on Iran as “irresponsible and naive.”

•You’d be happy with massive, blanket entitlements with huge tax increases on the very people who provide jobs to Americans.

•You support the senator with the most liberal voting record during his short tenure.

•You can name three significant, president-worthy things he’s accomplished during his public service career. (Hint: Community organizer isn’t one of them.)

•You’re satisfied that looking good in a suit and giving good teleprompter speeches are qualifications for the highest position in the world.

Gary Pederson

Kansas City

McCain ads stoop low

John McCain’s constant, snide attack ads are more than I can take. Comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton? That’s a rhetorical trick no politician should be stupid enough to resort to. This sort of sleazy innuendo, character assassination and guilt by implication won’t change anyone’s vote.

McCain prides himself on his honor. You wouldn’t know it from watching these commercials.

Marc Robinson

Prairie Village

Read Obama books, then decide

I often hear that not enough is known about Barack Obama to elect him president. In addition, there is a plethora of false stories about him.

The real Barack Obama is readily available to everyone. He has written two very self-revealing books. If you want to know his stand on the issues, read The Audacity of Hope. If you have ever wondered why he seems so comfortable in his own skin, read Dreams From My Father. The latter is especially significant, as it was written more than a decade ago before Obama was a politician.

Barack Obama is a real, wise and intelligent person. After you read his books, you still may not want him as your president. But at least your decision will be a knowledgeable one based on truth.

Gary Schrag

Overland Park

We need to rise above divisions

In 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, he said that Democrats would lose the South for a generation. At that time, the South was solid “Yellow Dog” Democrats.

When segregation ended and black people were finally able to register to vote, they registered as Democrats. The “Yellow Dogs,” angry over the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts, switched to the Republican Party and eventually became known as “Reagan Democrats.” So the line between North and South was redrawn.

It is well past time that we, as the American people, rise above these divisions. We should emulate the words of our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

So let’s discuss the important things that we need to do together to get our country out of this mess we’re in. We’ve been working against each other for too long. We can’t afford divisive politics any longer.

Red, yellow, black, brown or white, it is time for us to pull together with our countrymen. As Americans.

Glenn E. Carrender

Independence

Applaud academic ‘gold’ too

Every other year, each time the Olympics comes around — winter and summer — there is a sense of pride and enthusiasm in the accomplishments of our athletes. Medal counts — gold, silver and bronze — make front-page headlines to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are the best at what we do.

It is not my goal to detract from the accomplishments of our athletes; much the opposite. I applaud their dedication to their craft to hone it to such a fine art. We have crowds cheering them in sports bars and corporate cafeterias, and they deserve the accolades.

We, as a nation, seem to have no problem calling the world’s attention to our athleticism. But why we don’t do the same with our education systems? Athletics can be fun and rewarding, but very few people can make a living from it. If we can take such pride in our athletes and our athletic programs, let’s take similar pride in our students and educational system and create schools and academic programs that are truly world class as well.

Greg Marcotte

Buckner

Doha trade negotiations

The recently concluded Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations has once again reiterated the apathetic attitude of rich World Trade Organization member nations. Developed and developing nations blame each other for the failure of the talks, and the Indian Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath is made a scapegoat. An editorial comment that appeared in the 7/31 Wall Street Journal stated: “More Indians will stay poorer longer because of (Nath’s) obstinacy” is undeniably absurd.

Here are some facts. The farm sector in India employs two-thirds of India’s teeming population. Small and marginal farmers constitute 78 percent of the farming community. Since the last decade of post-globalization, more than 166,000 indebted farmers in advanced agricultural states of India are reported to have committed suicide.

The Doha Development Round purports to enable developing nations access to international markets, and thereby benefit from the gains of trade. It is unfortunate that pro-market protagonists are oblivious to the economic predicament of indebted farmers in developing nations.

For the Doha round of trade negotiations to succeed, developed nations must strive to promote trade that will emancipate farmers from debt, not lead them to further deprivation.

Jacob Kurien

Visiting associate professor of economics,

Rockhurst University

Kansas City

Roosters forced to fight

In regard to The Star article “Nowhere left to fight; Animal-rights groups have pressured the state on the issue for years, but enthusiasts say the move wipes out a cultural tradition” (8/11, A-2), I noticed a disturbing quote about the ban on cockfighting in Louisiana. Rooster breeder Chris Daughdrill says, “It’s another one of the rights that big government has taken away from the people.”

The people? Daughdrill can crawl into a pit and fight another man. He just cannot force an animal to fight another for his entertainment.

De Werner

Kansas City, Kan.

Kemper makes KC library great

Crosby Kemper III gave a terrific lecture one recent evening at the Central Library. His library. I swear. That man has created the most beautiful and dynamic library situation I have ever come across in any city. Lectures, script-in-hand dramas, movies, music — all in addition to a great book collection — and resources arranged so well that people are always there. It’s hard to find a seat sometimes. And cafes, too. I could live there happily.

In a city that tends more toward being a pretty girl than a smart one, the Kansas City’s Library’s Central and Plaza locations are a unique, marvelous, always-free resource for culture and intellectual fun.

Sometimes it is just good to hear all about someone else’s passion, be that passion Winston Churchill or Preston Sturges or Italian mobsters in Kansas City’s heyday or schools in the rough urban core. Everyone should go to the library and listen in. Go to a movie. Hear some music. And if you see him, tell Mr. Kemper that he makes Kansas City great.

Weber Reeff

Kansas City

Um, like people don’t talk right

Recent letters have worked on our grammar. Let’s also correct our speech.

The president of the United States, the ’08 candidates, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, members of Congress, the priests at church, CEOs and other executives, countless news and sportscasters, can’t put together complete sentences without “ah,” “um,” “you know,” “I mean,” “I’m like” and “he goes”

The news and sportscasters are paid thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars to speak, yet they can’t do so articulately and correctly. I’m sure their job description calls for “excellent communications skills.”

Tried to talk to a teenager lately? Listened to an athlete’s interview? What’s happened to our ability to talk?

Tony Kovach

Lenexa

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