Letters to the editor
Columnist’s reasoning on Iraq is faulty
While a reasonable person could argue that America’s involvement in Iraq was a mistake, Tony Magliano’s [Feb. 8, page 16] “reasoning” leads to some strange conclusions. He seems to imply that the Iraq war and WWII are equivalent because the time of U.S. involvement is about the same in each war.
He mentions over 3,000 American fatalities in Iraq but fails to address the 400,000 lives we lost in WWII. One might even conclude from his selection of papal quotes that America was wrong to engage Japan and Germany in WWII.
He also implies that the U.S. is to blame for all of Iraq’s problems. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed since 1980 by Iraq’s aggression against Iran, Kuwait and its own citizens. Many were taken out by chemical and biological weapons.
Finally he states that Iraq’s salvation lies with Syria, Iran and the U.N. Where can we find support for this strategy? In Syria’s heavy-handed treatment of Lebanon? Perhaps in Iran’s deceptive cover-up of its nuclear program. Or maybe in U.N. leadership in Bosnia or Darfur. This is not a plausible strategy for solving Iraq’s problems. Even the democratically-elected government of Iraq is against an immediate U.S. pullout.
Jim O’Malley
Whitehouse Station
Pleasure to read
I am e-mailing to let you know that I enjoy reading Tony Magliano’s column. I always look for his column first when I receive The Catholic Spirit.
Thomas Gillen
Sayreville
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