**** You

I was wondering how long it would take the invertebrates on the political right dwelling in the deep, dank recesses of their caverns to evolve a spine. Finally, in the pages of the our local newspaper four troglodytes knuckle dragged their way out and began pounding their clubs on the ground screeching and grunting their groundless and empty headed opinions about my view of this so called war on terrorism. One would hope that these “right” thinking cavemen could do better than rehash cold war ideological nonsense. But, like a played out uranium mine where one hopes to find some high energy ideas laying about, these trogs, instead, give us densely packed lumps of lead.

Among the many lumps of lead Dan Huston serves up, Huston writes the following,” Name one country we have invaded and occupied with our military, just the US alone....” Go back and read the list again (A Hundred Years of American Interventionism 11/16/2001 ), Dan. Dan goes on to write: “The action in Russia after WW I was a League of Nations intervention to distribute food and aid.” The United States never belonged to the League of Nations. The isolationist Republicans in the Senate never ratified our participation in the League. Dan then writes, “He mentions Chili (sic). The UN stepped in and conducted free elections, put the ruthless dictator out and the World Court still has him on trial at the Hague.” The UN never supervised any Chilean elections and the ruthless general Pinochet lives in splendor in his villa in Chile. Under Chilean law Pinochet is immune from all legal prosecution. Finally Dan ends his illiteracy with the following: “I will and will (sic) be displaying My (sic) American Flag-a proud veteran.” For a hand of bananas I can teach a chimp to wave a flag. If you are willing to do it for for free, Dan, go for it.

Ed Perry, who I have no quarrel with, wants to know my background. Aside from the fact it is none of your business and the only thing that matters are the ideas written, I will tell you this: In the 1970’s, I did two stints at the NATO School (SHAPE) in Oberammergau, Germany where we taught NATO commanders the efficient use of battlefield nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (NBC for short). I met and married my wife in Germany, resigned my job, and we honeymooned by back packing across southern Asia including 10 days in Afghanistan. There were only two things we did a lot of during those four months. They were reading history and you can guess the other. We are still happily married and hopelessly in love.

Sorry about your humbling experience in Kashmir, Marc DuQuette. Everywhere I traveled in Southern Asia I found sincere people asking the same question everywhere. Why does your government hate us so much?

Next time, David M. Evans, read my letter instead of the column heading. That way you can avoid making such a bone headed error.

Mathew Macul writes, I am...one of those conspiracy folks who believe everything they read.” Sorry, Matt, not true. For example, I don’t believe a thing you or Dan Huston, or David Evans, or Marc DuQuette write. In fact, I also don’t believe the vast majority of the American electronic press. That’s why I prefer reading the world press to get a less bias and jingoistic view of this “war.” Matt then writes, “Those (me again) without their own ideas are usurpers of reality and just the sort of individuals whom Bin Laden recruits to perform his evil acts.” Matt, not only is that sentence meaningless gibberish, but to equate me with a Bin laden stooge requires that I again express a not so original idea of my own:" **** you!"