Letters to the Editor
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‘What I’d Really Like to Hear’
What I hear from Mr. X – that he advocates conscription – tells me that he’s no friend of liberty [“What I’d Really Like to Hear,” Opinion, October 22, 2004].
Ignore the fact that neither the Bush administration nor the Pentagon nor the Republican Party wants to reinstate the draft.
Ignore the fact that conscription produces inexperienced, unqualified, unmotivated, unprofessional soldiers or that in our high technology military it takes longer than Mr. X’s two-year period of involuntary servitude to train them.
Ignore the fact that the only prominent advocates for the draft are anti-war Democrats, whose proposals were ploys to drum up sentiment against the war – proposals that were virtually unanimously defeated.
Focus instead on Mr. X’s cavalier contempt for individual rights.
America, the world’s first moral government, was founded to secure our rights – most fundamentally, the right to life. That is, the primary responsibility of government is to protect our rights, not to violate them.
To advocate the draft, i.e., the use of force, to send Americans to their death in a war they do not support – and to claim it in the name of “fairness,” is to make a mockery of the principle of the right to life. Conscription is a trait of totalitarian governments, where lives are the state’s to squander.
An individual’s life is not the property of the collective, to be disposed of for any allegedly worthy cause. No cause justifies violating the right to life.
EDWIN R. THOMPSON
Manhattan
‘Schumer vs. Kerry’
Yes, Senator Schumer cast one good vote, but praising him as the perfect anti-Kerry is a bit overboard [“Schumer vs. Kerry,” Editorial, October 18, 2004].
The fact is he supports Senator Kerry and he supports Senator Clinton and he voted to grant amnesty to many illegal aliens.
In the Senate race, only Dr. Marilyn O’Grady is willing to identify illegal immigration as a national security problem. Mr. Schumer and Howard Mills are mute on the issue, with Mr. Schumer having a bad voting record.
Furthermore, instead of getting something accomplished in the Senate, Mr. Schumer prefers to go the airwaves with his criticism of shortcomings in our national defense system.His priority seems to be to get personal publicity. Not to fix the problems.
For voters interested in sending a conservative message on national security,lower taxes,and an end to illegal immigrants I suggest voting for Dr. O’Grady and President Bush on the Conservative Party line.They are running mates.
ALLEN ROTH
Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Mystery Surrounds Kerry
I would like to see Senator Kerry demonstrate that his original discharge was not dishonorable. Based on the “Mystery Surrounds Kerry’s Navy Discharge” article that appeared in The New York Sun, I believe it was dishonorable [Thomas Lipscomb, Page 1, October 13, 2004].
After President Carter granted amnesty to the draft dodgers and later to others who received less than honorable discharges, Mr. Kerry received an “honorable discharge.” I base my concerns on the following:
(1) W.Graham Claytor describes Mr. Kerry’s discharge as being subsequent to the review of “a board of officers.” This is not necessary when one receives an honorable discharge,as I did from the Marine Corps.Therefore, he must have received a less than honorable discharge.
(2) Mr. Kerry refuses to sign Standard Form 180 that would release his military records and clear up this entire question.Why?
(3) I checked with the sheriff of Douglas County, Nev., and found that in order to become a deputy sheriff here, Mr.Kerry would be required to sign Standard Form 180.
(4) Mr. Kerry’s picture, until recently, hung in the North Vietnam museum that honors those who helped North Vietnam win the war. It has now been moved to a different location in the same museum honoring world leaders. Guess who wants Mr. Kerry to win the election.
(5) Mr. Kerry’s testimony and various news articles were shown to American prisoners by the North Vietnamese in order to harass and demoralize them.
(5) When one receives a dishonorable discharge, all pay benefits, medals, and honors are revoked as well.Mr.Kerry has claimed that he lost his medal certificates and that is why he asked that they be reissued. Oh, really?
If only Mr. Kerry would sign Standard Form 180, the entire question could be cleared up and I could then make a logical choice on my vote for the next president. As it is now, I’m left to consider Mr. Kerry’s activities after his return from Vietnam as traitorous and I certainly don’t want a traitor or one who received a dishonorable discharge as my president.
GLEN LARSEN
Gardnerville, Nev.
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