opm_69-70.qxp_Other Peoples Mail 12/3/20 8:45 PM Page 69
Other People’s Mail Compiled by Dale Sprusansky REPORT SHOWS GHASTLY COSTS OF POST-9/11 WARS
To The Register-Guard, Oct. 28, 2020 The catastrophe that is the U.S. government's involvement in Iraq is even more catastrophic than we realize. The Costs of War Project at Brown University has just released its analysis of the true price of our misguided obsession with 9/11 revenge. The “highlights” of the report are devastating. The budgetary cost through 2019 has been $6.4 trillion, with interest on the resultant debt estimated to be $8 trillion by the 2050s. The human cost, using the crudest measure—body count—has risen to 801,000 people killed, fewer than 1 percent of whom are U.S. service persons. The number of refugees attributable directly or indirectly to the U.S. government’s Middle East wars has, according to other recent reports, mounted to more than 37 million displaced persons. The environmental cost, which includes the 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases released by the U.S. Defense Department since 2001, is even more staggering when other forms of ecological assault are added in. If the enormity of these measurable damages is not enough, what will it take for America to shed our hubris and repent of our worship at the bloody altar of military might? Tom Stave, Eugene, OR
TRUMP RIGHT TO REDUCE TROOP LEVELS IN AFGHANISTAN
To the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 19, 2020 The war in Afghanistan has lasted nearly two decades, been overseen by three American presidents, cost more than $2 trillion and resulted in more than 22,000 U.S. casualties. Our troops are placed in the untenable position of fighting in a country during a civil war. (“Trump’s pullout from Afghanistan is rushed and self-serving,” editorial, Nov. 18) Your editorial states the U.S. has 4,500 servicemembers training, advising and assisting Afghan forces. It says the incoming Biden administration should decide troop levels in Afghanistan, not the outgoing JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021
TELL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WHAT YOU THINK PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW WASHINGTON, DC 20500 COMMENT LINE: (202) 456-1111 WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT
SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2201 C ST. NW WASHINGTON, DC 20520 PHONE: (202) 647-6575 VISIT WWW.STATE.GOV TO E-MAIL
ANY SENATOR U.S. SENATE WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-3121
Trump administration. One could reasonably state that after nearly 20 years and $2 trillion, the Afghans are not learning from us or, as the adage goes, their country is indeed where empires go to die. The leadership of a new administration will not change that. Michael Rubino, San Pedro, CA
ISRAELI POLICY, NOT THE BDS MOVEMENT, IS THE REAL ISSUE
To The News & Observer, Nov. 23, 2020 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently visited an Israeli settlement and declared that the U.S. would consider any supporter of the boycott movement against Israel as “anti-Semitic.” I support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and I’m not anti-Semitic. Throughout the years I’ve had the privilege of serving alongside many Jews in social justice work, seeking truth, justice and love. Calling nonviolent advocates for Palestinian rights anti-Semitic is just a cheap shot done to divert attention away from the real problem, which is the rightwing extremists in the Israeli government who relentlessly grab land owned for generations by Palestinian families. It’s a right-wing government that fails to treat each individual who resides in Israel and Palestine as a human being who is owed basic human rights and dignity. Kathy Huffstetler, Raleigh, NC
POMPEO’S CYNICAL LABELLING OF BDS AS ANTI-SEMITIC
To The Washington Post, Nov. 23, 2020 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent comparison of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to “cancer” is a reprehensible attempt to position himself for future political gain (“Pompeo calls boycott of Israel anti-Semitic, compares it to cancer,” news, Nov. 20). Following President Trump’s obsequious groveling to please big donors and right-wing evangelicals, Mr. Pompeo apparently sees the utility of this future voter bloc. Equating the BDS
ANY REPRESENTATIVE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON, DC 20515 (202) 225-3121
movement with anti-Semitism ignores the fact that major Jewish organizations, both within Israel and beyond, vocally support the BDS movement. The vast majority of the world has recognized that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is legally and morally wrong. Mr. Pompeo’s visit and official recognition of an Israeli business built on stolen Palestinian land should be condemned as the craven political posturing that it is. Cynthia Favret, Williamsburg, VA
FALSE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CAMPUS ANTI-ZIONIST MOVEMENT
To The Butler Collegian, Nov. 3, 2020 Over the past few weeks, Butler students all over campus have heard about issues related to Palestine and Israel. You may have learned about many of the violent human rights crises that Israel is causing in Palestine, as well as one of the most effective methods of protesting these crises: the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks you have also seen countless attempts to silence Palestinians from speaking about their oppression. There have been social media campaigns to force the university to cancel events being held by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Here at Butler, several Senate resolutions were written in an attempt to suppress the free speech of Palestinians. Worst of all, there has been ongoing defamation of Palestinian students and their allies through false accusations of anti-Semitism. This strategy of personal attacks, defamation and the suppression of free speech is one that is being used by Zionist organizations on campuses across the country. The strategy, which inaccurately equates opposition to and criticism of the crimes of the Israeli government with antiSemitism, has sadly been proven to be an effective way to push Palestinians out of the conversation and suppress a movement for justice led by students of color.
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
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