From The Cincinnati Enquirer
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/04/editorial_ed1blet.html

Tuesday, May 4, 2004

Letters: Iraq, economy pressing issues on readers' minds

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What you'd like the president to say - and answer - during his visit
to Greater Cincinnati today



I would like to hear the president admit that the war in Iraq had
nothing to do with al-Qaida. I would also like to hear how he intends
to hand over a peaceful transition of authority in Iraq and how he
intends to maintain peace in Iraq. I would like, in essence, to hear
the "exit" strategy. I would ask how he expects the cooperation of the
Arab nations, how he expects to alter the landscape of the Middle
East, when our leaders have no clue about the nature of Islamic
culture and history.

Kymberly Henson, Pleasant Ridge

I would like President Bush to come out and unapologetically explain
to people that while his tax cuts were fixing the bad economy he
inherited, which was made worse by Bill Clinton's eight-year
non-response to al-Qaida, Democrats were protecting the frivolous
lawsuits that were causing the health care crisis, blocking judges and
wrecking California.

Robert Moon, Montgomery

I'd like to hear President Bush accept responsibility - for listening
to the wrong people in rushing into Iraq, for ignoring his advisers
who cautioned that there was no way to exit Iraq without causing even
more turmoil, for fostering terrorism by confirming the Islamic
world's worst fears of the United States, and for all the young, brave
lives lost and yet to be lost because of his arrogance and errors. My
question would be: How soon can you leave?

Scott Knox, Clifton

Although President Bush will be overwhelmed with questions pertaining
to Iraq and specifically Matt Maupin, I would hope he sticks to the
questions that pertain to his visit, which is the campaign. Bush has
defended his actions and decisions time and time again. It is now time
to start focusing on the re-election. He has to start overcoming those
hurdles that he has caused himself and regaining those lost votes,
November is not that far off. I would like to hear a solid "plan" on
what his campaign will be focusing on. So I think that my question to
the president would be "What do you think that the No. 1 issue in this
election year is?"

Jenifer Kennedy, Clifton

I think a lot of people that are critical with the war on terror and
the actions that the United States has taken, particularly in Iraq,
simply don't understand what is at stake and why the United States
needed to take action. They only see what the media gives them, and
that is mostly negative. I would like the president to simplify the
reasons why the United States has to be proactive with Iraq and with
terrorists - basically, say to all Americans that we need to take it
to them before they bring it to us.

The question I would ask the president if I could would be, "Do you
see the continuation of the Patriot Act as essential to the future of
this country?"

Ben Stauss, Bridgetown

My questions for President Bush would be: What is the timetable and/or
plan for getting out of Iraq? And the follow-up would be: How far are
we going to go in the rebuilding effort in Iraq? Surely they don't
need us to rebuild everything for them. Third and last, if you are
re-elected and a civil war breaks out in Iraq and we are already out
of there and they ask for help, will we go back?

Carol Knose, Bevis

I would like to hear the president tell us that his administration has
a concrete plan for victory in Iraq and the Middle East: a plan that
will be aggressive and one that will reduce our American casualties.
Such a plan would have to include an all-out war against terrorists to
the degree that the entire world will understand that terrorism is
unacceptable. Period.

Second: In spite of rhetoric to the contrary, our economy is still in
a bad way. We know it takes time for positive moves to show up in the
economy, but the American need relief now. What can the president and
his administration do to help people now?

Henry Williamson, Fairfield

America leads the world in high technology, entrepreneurship and
can-do. We have eradicated polio and created the interstate highway
system, the Internet and the atomic bomb. If we are to make our
homeland secure, why is there no aggressive national push to develop
(and export, rather than import and fight over) alternative energy
technology, such as solar power? Why are clean air and alternative
energy not made priorities, instead of rolling back power plant
regulations and settling for minimal increases in fuel economy?

John Hutton, Mount Adams

I would like to hear an actual outline of how we, as a nation, intend
to address the upcoming stages of the war on terror - something that
proves we are not only reacting towhat happens to us. I would ask him
what his plans for unifying our relations with the world community
are. I would also ask him what he believes the current state of the
American spirit is.

George Corneliussen, Montgomery

I don't know what I would like to hear, or what I would like to ask
him, which in itself is interesting. I suppose it means I trust him to
do the job he was elected to do, and haven't any worries about the way
he is handling it. The economy is recovering - at least everybody I
know looking for work has found it, and we haven't had any more terror
attacks on our soil, so the war on terrorism seems to be going our
way. What else is there to worry about?

Russ Thomas, Melbourne, Ky.


While we have some foreign support in the war effort, we certainly do
not have enough, as demonstrated in April by the extension of service
of 20,000 men and women who, while preparing to return home, were told
they had to stay another three months. If the president had had the
foresight to understand such a possibility, would he still have
elected to conduct a pre-emptive strike? Does he know about Keith
"Matt" Maupin? What if, theoretically, our hometown hero was one of
those 20,000 returned to duty and is now held hostage? Does "mission
accomplished" apply to Matt? What would have been the cost of waiting
until we had more support? What is the cost of not doing so? Does he
think part of that cost is American lives?

Cliff Adams, Mount Washington

I'd like to know how President Bush responds to the reports that
America is now regarded as a danger, and that since this war has been
started, the world is not safe - according to Kofi Annan. I'd really
like to know if Bush understands just how polarized this country has
become, over this war, the gay marriage issue, to name just two. Very
hateful things are being thrown back and forth, all in the name of
"Republican" and "Democrat" - and I really don't think he has any idea
just how heated the environment is.

Margaret Brown, Norwood

The only question I would ask President Bush is how he can, in good
conscience, run the type of dishonest campaign he is running and still
sleep at night. I am referring to the Bush campaign commercials I see
daily that distort John Kerry's record and comments from surrogates I
see on political talk shows.

This seems to be a habit of Bush - he uses surrogates and paid
advertising to attack his opponents, questioning and belittling the
achievements of men superior to him, in order to make himself look
better. He did the same thing to John McCain in the 2000 Republican
primaries.

Mark Rogers, Westwood

I am old enough to remember many promises that were made and broken by
both parties over the years. I voted for you and I supported you. I
believe in your noble causes for the Iraq war. I believed you when you
told us there were WMDs in Iraq. I am worried about daily troop
casualties. For the right reason I, like most Americans, will support
you regardless of the cost.

a plan or if we are planning as we go along. I am afraid of losing
more precious American lives for nothing, as we did in Vietnam. I want
to believe you have a plan.

Henry Chai, North College Hill

I'd ask the president: If a marital indiscretion can be grounds for
impeachment, can lying to Americans about a war be an impeachable
offense? I'd ask if he thinks diverting money, without approval, from
the war in Afghanistan to fund the buildup for the war in Iraq is an
impeachable offense.

Eric McDaniel, Bond Hill

Where in his job description or the Constitution does it say a
president's job is to foster worldwide democracy? He launched a war
based on incorrect or fabricated information regarding weapons of mass
destruction ... why can't he admit the error? I respect his strong
religious faith, but I believe he is overstepping the boundaries on
separation of church and state by supporting and promoting causes like
right to life, abstinence-only education, and hetero-only marriage.

Eric Lose, Sycamore Township



I'd like to hear from the president that he is stopping his attacks on
John Kerry. Kerry, because of his voting record, is the most beatable
of the Democrats. If the Dems realize how vulnerable he is, they'll
nominate someone who might not be carrying so much baggage.

Chuck Klein, Downtown

Mr. President, you say that the invasion of Iraq was justified and an
important part of the war on terror. Initially your administration
claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that there was a
link between Iraq and terrorists organizations. Both of these claims
have proven to be false. How do you justify this invasion?

The number of U.S. military members killed in Iraq is nearing 800. Are
you willing to encourage your own daughters to enlist in the Army or
Marines given the importance that you have placed on this invasion?

Dale Adams, Franklin, Ohio


As a Bush supporter, I am looking forward to hearing the president in
person (this) evening. I believe the war in Iraq is going to be the
pivotal issue in this fall's election, so I'm anxious to hear his
remarks on Iraq - how the transition plan is proceeding, how much
longer we can expect our troops to be there, etc. As the mother of a
son with significant developmental disabilities, I would like to ask
him what assurance he could give me that SSI and Medicaid benefits
will be available to help take care of my son after my husband and I
are gone.

Kathleen Deyer Bolduc, Greenhills

1. I would like to hear his plans for a more simplified/equitable tax
system, one that just didn't shift the collection/burdens from the
central government to the states.

2. Would it take a constitutional amendment to eliminate the income
ceiling on Social Security withholding? Wouldn't that alone put us a
significant step closer to a true universal health care system if the
additional revenues were applied solely to that purpose?

Alan MacFarland, Tallmadge, Ohio


1. Considering the fact that communication in this world is now
instant and generally speaking the press will air a story before
actually checking it and double-checking for error, and also
considering the fact that a single company can now own multiple TV and
radio stations, don't you think that it would be highly beneficial to
limit the access that the press has, especially TV and radio, to our
soldiers and the war in general? The press has forgotten that
everything they say, do and produce has an immediate effect on not
only the families of the soldiers but also the soldiers themselves.

2. Mr. President: The suicide rate among the military has skyrocketed
in recent months. I feel that many of these can be traced back to the
fact that our military men and women are subject to watching all the
war debate on TV, reading about it on the Internet and hearing it on
the radio. Considering May is National Mental Health Month, can you
tell us what you are doing to help the soldiers in Iraq while they are
there?

Paul Jones, Green Township


During your present term, how have you fulfilled your Campaign 2000
claim of being a uniter, not a divider? Mr. President, do you condone
Rush Limbaugh's calling liberal Democrats stupid idiots at the same
time he daily sings your praises? How does your vision of what America
should be differ from Rush Limbaugh's?

Paul L. Whiteley Sr., Louisville


When are you going to acknowledge that you took us to war in Iraq
under false pretenses, that there are no weapons of mass destruction,
there is no link between Saddam and 9-11, that Saddam posed no
imminent threat to the United States - all reasons given to justify
the dispatch of American troops?

The reasons you offer now - Saddam was a horrific dictator, we are
bringing democracy to Iraq - were not the reasons you presented to the
American public before March 2003. When are you going to accept
responsibility for that misrepresentation?

Gerald E. Kerns, Deerfield Township


The president claims to be a follower of Jesus. What did Jesus say
about pre-emptive war?

What did Jesus say about war in general?

What did Jesus tell us about telling the truth?

***** Schladen, Aurora, Ind.

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Harry