Hi Larry:
I did not know about the earlier PDB that Clinton received. I wonder why this was not talked about more seriously. I am not sure of my dates, but was this before or after the embassy bombings in Africa? It would seem to me that if the embassy bombings preceded this PDB, it would be hard to justify not being more proactive on this warning.
Something else I have wondered about is the number of top military people that seemed to have been ushered into retirement with the beginning days of Secretary Rumsfeld. Many of these people now show up as analysts on the network news. It looks like Rumsfeld cashiered everyone that subscribed to Powell's theory of "overwhelming force." I think there is a story here that is worth telling. Our Iraq experience could have been very different without this happening.
I think the "left," or whatever you want to call them are confused about Iraq. They were sucked in from the beginning as many of us were. It was just too close to 9/11. As a nation, we did not stop and really look at what we were getting in to. I wish people like Skowcroft, Baker, and Powell had said more at the time. We needed to have this debate that we have never had. It has only been very recently that we could talk like this without accusations flying around about a lack of patriotism.
Anything less than the "company line" painted you as un-American.
I think most Americans would not quibble if we put all our energies into finishing the search for Bin Laden. Why it is ok to leave that job as it is makes no sense to me. I understand the risk that this would pose with Pakistan's stabilty, but I think we owe it to everyone to bring those people to justice.
I believe the world would support us with doing this. Because of this, I do think we took our eye off the job that should have been our priority.
I am not an "east coast liberal," although I see nothing wrong with being one. I am an American. I have voted Republican more times than not, but I have a hard time agreeing with this current administration. I think it was the perceived arrogance that first turned me off, and then the substance followed.
I come from a family that served in the military. My uncle spent over thirty years in the 82nd Airborne. He went in just before WWII started, became an Army Ranger, served in Korea, at least two tours in Viet Nam, and finally retired to a home just outside Fort Bragg. He died shortly after and his ashes were taken up in a plane and dumped out over the fort.
My father served in the Army Air Corps during WWII. He turned 18 on Dec. 7, 1941. He was a freshman at Dartmouth at the time and the Emperor of Japan's son was a student there as well. The State Department hustled him out quickly before the students would have killed him. Most of my father's class enlisted right away. Those that survived the war, came back and finished after.
I started college in 1969 and my birthday was drawn #11 in the first draft lottery. I had student deferments until I graduated. At that time, Nixon had started to bring people home from Viet Nam so I received a letter from the draft board saying that I no longer needed to report for induction after graduation.
What I am trying to say is that I have tried hard to support our country and our country's leaders. I come from a family that would expect nothing less, but I have sure had a hard time with this bunch. Clinton was clearly morally challenged in many ways, but damn it, these guys are not much better. It may not be about sex, but it sure is about power.
America cannot hide behind our oceans. I think Tony Blair recently said that the world desparately needs an America that is involved. This, I agree with, but I do think we can be smart about our involvements.
best regards,
Ed Pirie
West Topsham, Vermont
