Letters to the editor

Folly of war

Unwinning strategy: Push resistance from all sides

Editor, The Times:

War between Israel and Hezbollah does not serve U.S. interests ["Israel: Ground war ahead?" Times, News, July 21]. Israel cannot protect itself from Hezbollah rockets without controlling Lebanese territory; it cannot invade Lebanon without reprisal by its other neighbors; it cannot win against the combined forces of its enemies without U.S. support; the U.S. is unable to secure Iraq, much less Lebanon and/or Syria.

Nobody I know wants the U.S. to fight a bigger war in the Middle East, or pay higher prices for gasoline, or police more Arab communities, or contribute to the deaths of more civilian families in our pursuit of democracy worldwide.

We have no leverage on the Arabs, but it is time we told Israel it'll be fighting its own battle on this one. If we convince Israel to settle down, then we would have more leverage with the Arabs, too.

— Andrew Dunn, Normandy Park

Fighting paper tigers

Should journalists wonder why they are trusted less and less by the general public, let them look no further than "Deaths mount as Israel, Hezbollah trade attacks" [page one, July 17].

The [Los Angeles Times] baldly criticizes Israel for striking "a lighthouse, grain silos, power plants, bridges, airports and a truck filled with children, targets with no apparent relationship with Hezbollah."

Assuming the children were not being used has human shields, we are left to wonder why [The L.A. Times] thinks the other targets are not related to Israel's war aims.

Amateurs and armchair warriors are obsessed with tactics. Professionals, from Sun Tzu to Gen. Tommy Franks, understand that wars are won and lost based on logistics. Hollywood focuses, understandably, on brave men charging the enemy's guns. Real-life military planners focus on denying the enemy the food and ammunition he needs to fight.

Hezbollah is an army. It will be defeated like any other army. Having denied the enemy both the means of resupply and the means of escape, Israel will soon move in, encircle, and crush it.

I know nothing about opera, which disqualifies me as a opera critic. I am mystified why newspapers employ people who plainly know nothing about warfare to critique the military.

— Robert Lyman, Medina

The partial watchdog

The [Los Angeles] Times' reporting of Israel's targeted killing of civilians in both Lebanon and Palestine, and its deliberate destruction of Lebanon, is shaded to show Israel in the best possible light ["Hezbollah tells Israel: Now it's 'open war,' " page one, July 15].

If any Arab country dared to do what Israel is doing now, the U.S. would bomb it.

It's obvious that Israel is trying to see how far it can go, before our country protests. It's also obvious that there is no limit to the latitude we allow, as long as Israel kills Arabs only. Do we really feel safe letting a country like Israel possess nuclear weapons?

In addition, Israel is using U.S.-made weapons in these attacks, in direct violation of the U.S. Arms Export Act and the Foreign Assistance Act. What Israel is doing is not limited to legitimate self-defense, and is primarily targeting civilians.

Congress was mighty quick to put sanctions on the Palestinians when it disagreed with the results of their democratic election — but Israel can use our billions in aid and weaponry to starve and slaughter civilians and destroy infrastructure in other countries, with complete impunity.

Our government's unconditional support of this makes me ashamed to be an American.

— Anita Ross, Seattle

The rules of the game

Time out for misbehavior

So Howard Schultz is disappointed about the "disrespectful" treatment he received at the hands of our community leaders as he attempted to ram a self-serving KeyArena deal down our collective throats?

Has it occurred to Schultz that the behavior demonstrated by Sonics Team President Wally Walker and him greatly contributed to the acrid negotiating environment in which he has toiled for these many months?

Time for a little introspection, Howard. The world is not solely comprised of self-congratulatory millionaires with a laser focus on profit. Take a lesson from Bill Gates.

— Michael Douglas Ramage, Seattle

Winners' bye

Ah, what a step back in time. "If you don't want to play my way, I am going to pick up my game, and go home." This type of behavior has been around for generations. It brings to mind another old saying, "Don't let the screen door hit you in the behind on your way out!"

Bye, Sonics — Seattle will survive just fine!

There are many citizens here who really don't care where you play basketball, and the city and state have many more important needs for their money than pumping it into KeyArena so out-of-state millionaire investors can make more bucks.

"See ya!"

— Ed Baptista, Kent

Bad trip

Can they buy our magic bus?

As a daily bus rider in Seattle, my feelings about the recent spate of window-covering advertisements on the Metro buses [are that] they're horrible and a big mistake, for a variety of reasons.

To the riders (the customers!), they make the bus a dark and depressing place to be. One of the best things about riding the Metro buses is looking out the window, especially in our beautiful area. With those ugly window coverings, now it feels as if it's the dead of winter even on a glorious summer day.

We live in an amazing place, and we're all proud of the natural beauty that surrounds us. Our transit system should support and even promote that pride. What kind of message are we sending to our visitors when we cover up the windows? We certainly aren't letting them know that we feel they've arrived in paradise.

I don't understand how Metro can run ad campaigns saying how taking the bus is such a pleasant way to commute, and then turn the bus into a dim cave. When you look around a bus with those covered windows, you can see that the passengers have an air of dispiritedness that isn't usually there, and it's a shame.

I'm sure that those full-bus ads bring in a great deal of revenue, but at what cost? Let's not lose sight (literally) of what's important and wonderful about our beautiful town.

— Eve Rashby-Pollock, Seattle