To the editor
One of the great lies perpetuated by the so-called peace movement is that their voices have been muted for fear they will be labeled "unpatriotic."
Now the Hillsborough members of the Somerset Voices for Peace and Justice, writing in the March 27 Beacon, are upset that they may be hated for their anti-war views and have been called traitors. Well, boo-hoo-hoo.
Let me get this straight. It’s OK for the peaceniks to:
call our president a murderer, terrorist and a baby killer;
accuse our government of war crimes, imperialism and spilling "blood for oil";
suggest that the United States, because of its foreign policies, was ultimately responsible for terrorists ramming passenger planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon;
declare that America is the most dangerous country on earth.
But calling someone unpatriotic or a traitor is somehow an insult that goes beyond the pale?
I fear the peaceniks do protest too much. Or perhaps a guilty conscience needs no accuser?
Actually, I’m curious why so many, but certainly not all, of the peaceniks, who have nothing good to say about America, even care that they are thought to be unpatriotic? I would think that they would be wearing the label as a badge of honor.
No matter. Unlike Iraq, this still is a free country, and it’s your right to call President Bush just about anything you like without the risk of literally losing your tongue. And it’s likewise other Americans’ right to call you traitors and unpatriotic. Yes, name-calling can be a nasty game, as any adolescent will tell you.
So if you’re going to give it, you better be prepared to take it. And if the authors of last week’s letter have not personally engaged in such name-calling, they have chosen to align themselves very closely with those who do if you crawl into bed with dogs, you will get fleas.
So instead of chanting inanely "No blood for oil," perhaps the peaceniks could engage in a more meaningful dialogue and offer realistic alternatives to war. Otherwise they just might want to consider taking Lincoln’s advice about it being better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
Meanwhile, regarding Dr. Ann Kindfield’s letter and her obviously earnest concern about the children of Iraq, I’m not exactly sure how many Iraqi children have died today if it’s one, it’s one too many. I’m even surer that Saddam Hussein is responsible for each and every one of those deaths.
I only wish Dr. Kindfield would not entwine her heartfelt desire for peace with left-wing propaganda that the war is being fought by the poor and minorities for the sake of rich, white people. Such allegations are demonstrably untrue and serve no useful purpose but to undermine the credibility of those opposed to the war.
Flemming Drive