Sharing The Letters Page

Happy to see my letter printed in the Post Star today. Even happier to read one from Wayne Judge, as well. I've read Mr. Judge's letters and enjoyed them in the past, so it was an honor to share the page with him.

In addition to Iran and ISIS we should add the name of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) to the list of those who pose grave risks to the future of the world.

Sen. Cornyn’s commentary in this paper on Wednesday criticized the terms of a proposed agreement between five nations and Iran even though he knows next to nothing about the terms of the final agreement being negotiated. He proposes, instead of negotiation, that the U.S. “bring to bear devastating sanctions on Iran with the credible threat of decisive military action as a backstop” — a “backstop.”

The senator ignores the fact that Russia, China and probably India will not agree to the “devastating” sanctions and will ignore them. That will leave the Iranians free to continue their nuclear development unchecked, and it will leave only war as the remaining American option. I suppose at that point the senator would have the U.S. “unleash” Israel which already has nuclear weapons, having built its first nuclear weapon in December 1966. That might be a nice way to end the world.

The commentary might also be just another ludicrous attempt to undermine just about anything accomplished by this American president.

H. WAYNE JUDGE

And yours truly,

So, John Cornyn says the White House is insulting the intelligence of the American people by saying Republicans want to rush to war with Iran. Why would anyone think that? Let’s see. After the Bush administration successfully propagandized the country into the Iraq war, a common quip among neoconservatives was, “anyone can go to Bagdad, real men go to Tehran.” Then there was 2008 GOP nominee for president, Sen. John McCain, singing “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.” I’m delighted that sanctions are good enough for Republicans like Cornyn and Charles Krauthammer now, when they were insufficient in March 2003. War was the only solution then.

Inspections in Iraq correctly told us there were no WMDs. An agreement with Iran will allow inspections there. No agreement, no inspections; and continued sanctions gives them no reason not to pursue nuclear weapons if they desire to.

Cornyn mentions an Iranian connection to the barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983. He doesn’t mention the Reagan administration secretly shipping arms to Iran two years later. I’d worry about the intelligence of anyone putting faith in the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party to make good decisions in the Middle East. More diplomacy may lead to less foreign entanglement.

KEVIN ROBBINS

And what Charles Pierce says, as always.

Call this. Do it now. Tell them their money is no good here any more. Give these brigands the 86 the way any respectable saloonkeeper gives the heave to a chronic deadbeat who's run up an unpayable tab. Show the country in simple (and not necessarily civil) words what these people really are. Demonstrate, speech by speech, that they have no loyalty to the political entity that is the United States of America, that they are stateless gombeen bastards who would sell this country's democracy off like a subprime mortgage to put another ten bucks into their pockets.