Lessons Of History

To the Editor:

I am inclined to agree with Mr Rajczewski, who wrote passionately in The Bee last week about Iraq’s bleak future in the wake of a US withdrawal. We part ways when he fails to acknowledge how equally bleak the situation is currently and how tragically misguided President Bush’s Iraq policy has been.

Mr Rajczewski continues to defend this war, a war which is widely believed to be the biggest foreign policy blunder of the United States by thinking persons from all political persuasions, by making tiresome attacks on “liberals” in general and Ms McCormack-Clifford in particular. His patronizing speculations on Ms McCormack-Clifford’s response to D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge were as egregious as they were presumptuous, and if he is a gentleman, he will apologize.

Since Mr Rajczewski chose to make a World War II, analogy I offer my own for his consideration. The Japanese army refused to surrender even though they were soundly beaten with no hope of victory after Iwo Jima. The military leaders of Japan could not accept their failures so they lied about their success, and exploited the patriotic fervor of the population. In so doing, they exposed their civilians to extraordinary suffering and of course lost the war anyway. Must we continue to risk our lives, our military, our economy, and our moral goodness to protect the honor of this President and his administration?

Americans supported the military efforts in World War II in good and bad times, because Franklin Roosevelt was a capable leader and an authentic Commander in Chief. From the onset he asked all Americans to sacrifice. He did not promise a quick victory, and did not declare Mission Accomplished after Midway. President Roosevelt compelled American industry to contribute to the war effort, not profit by it. The cost was financed through war bonds instead of debt instruments sold to China and Saudi Arabia (at $8 billion a month, the cost of the Iraq war is as much a national security threat as a failed Iraq).

As for Mr Rajczewski’s call for Ms McCormack-Clifford to remember September 11, I urge him to do likewise. The attacks of September 11 were successful because this President and his administration were asleep at the wheel. Indeed Al-Qaeda and Iran are palpable threats to this country, but we still have to finish the job in Afghanistan. We also need to secure our borders, our cargo, our railways, and our nuclear and chemical plants. All of this requires resources that were squandered in Iraq. Mr Rajczewski might know this if he had read Richard Clarke’s Against All Enemies instead of drinking Rush Limbaugh’s Kool-Aid.

May I respectfully suggest, that instead of beating-up on “liberals,” a dubious pastime which fell out of fashion last November, Mr Rajczewski might reexamine the last 70 years of American history with an open mind unblemished by the ignorance and belligerence of Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Dinesh D’Souza, and their ilk. I wish our President might do so too.

Martin Blanco

8 Pheasant Ridge Road, Newtown                          January 24, 2007­­