Letters to the Editor

All of the sons of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were on active duty outside the United States when their father died. As soon as Princess Elizabeth was 18 she enlisted in the British army and drove a truck.

Are these girls too fine to serve? And if they should be killed or maimed their parents could comfort themselves, surely, by reminding themselves how necessary this war is, how noble the cause.

Katherine Keene
Seattle

President has abused his power in worst possible way

The latest revelation that President Bush was preparing to go to war against Iraq at least as early as November 2001 serves to confirm that he came into office obsessed with removing Saddam Hussein from power, no matter the cost.

This, combined with the fact that every reason he and his administration cited as justification for this war has proved to be unfounded, clearly show that he deliberately misled the American people and Congress in his unrelenting march to war.

As a result, our country has lost respect and support around the world and we have paid the price of hundreds of American lives lost and untold thousands of Iraqis killed. And the death toll is still climbing.

This war had nothing to do with combating terrorism. Bush has tried to make that case from the beginning, but like everything else he has told us about this war, there is no truth to his claims.

I urge everyone to ask their congressional representatives bring the president to account for his actions. He has lied to the American public. He has abused his power in the worst possible way. He is directly responsible for the deaths of the American soldiers killed in action and the Iraqis who have been killed by our unjustified invasion of their country.

He must be held accountable, and it is up to us to see that he is.

Charles Creasy
Issaquah

Only hope for Iraqis is takeover by U.N., NATO

It is clear that the Bush administration is incapable of assuring a liberated, free Iraq and has alienated the world against assisting in this worthy goal. The only hope is for the United Nations and NATO to take over with a plan that assures it is Iraqis who decide their future and not American empire.

It makes me wonder if this administration is invested in keeping Iraq insecure so no one else will become involved. With the talk of 14 U.S. military bases in Iraq, the largest U.S. embassy, Halliburton controlling the oil and reconstruction, how could Iraqis believe that we really care about their right to self-determination?

Again, Congress seems disengaged from this crisis and lacking the will to prevent more violence and deaths from an ill-guided foreign policy.

Susan Goldman
Seattle

SAND POINT MAGNUSON PARK

Fashion ball fields from empty asphalt

Do you really think building 11 new ball fields at Magnuson Park will reduce adult obesity? Seattle already offers a wide array of outdoor recreation options like kayaking, hiking and skiing and plenty of places to bike or jog to get rid of that gut.

Kids do deserve more places to play. Why not start by renovating rundown existing fields and then place new ones in several neighborhoods around the city. Why should we destroy a gem of an urban wildlife habitat so adults can play softball until 11 p.m.? Why not tear up some empty asphalt instead?

Christine Burkhart
Seattle

Blackberry thickets don't constitute precious habitat

I am writing to advocate for the sports fields plan. I am a resident of View Ridge and live close by the much-used playfield there. There isn't anybody around me who would want the View Ridge playfields to be off limits to sports.

I am involved with the North East Seattle Little League (80 teams this year) and there aren't enough of the View Ridge or Sand Point diamonds to go around. The 13- to 16-year-old leagues doubled their teams to 10 this year. The softball program for girls has also exploded. We have had to reduce practice time and drive to lighted fields north to have a game schedule.

My wife and I have attended scores of Sand Point public advisory meetings over the past 13 years; everyone agreed that more, better sports fields were needed there.

I consider the current state of most of the open parkland as neglected. I do not regard tall blackberry thickets as precious natural habitat. The "natural" Sand Point was entirely underwater until 90 years ago.

The answer to the argument from Kirkland about glare from Sand Point lights is to demand that they shut off their lights first, as that is all that I see on the east side from here.

Participatory sports provide direct benefits to anyone who takes them up. It may be a definite advantage to encourage more people to keep playing rather than following a deadly sedentary life.

Bill Alexander
Seattle

MENTAL HEALTH

Story on drive for insurance parity too simplistic

When I read an article like "Mentally ill seek equal coverage, Activists push for insurance legislation" (Monday), I am always amazed by what I don't see reported.

There is no mention of the surgeon general's statement there is no physical medical test for mental health practitioners to objectively identify health or illness. Nor is there mention of the recent controversy over the link between suicide and antidepressants and youth that the Food and Drug Administration is looking into. It would seem to me that creating health and educating people about the dangers of mind-altering drugs would be one of the major concerns of activists.

Look at the concerns we raise about tobacco, alcohol and street drugs!

One of the most glaring omissions, however, is that 40 percent to 50 percent or more of people diagnosed as mentally ill are misdiagnosed. What these people are really experiencing are diagnosable and treatable physical ailments according to doctors who dared to look for and treat causes rather than settle for psychiatric labels of symptoms. This is what really makes me question the motives of "activists" for mental health treatment, as all too often that means the doling out of mind-altering psychiatric drugs instead of facilitating a real cure.

Bert Schippers
Seattle

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Divvying up the blame among Bush, Clinton

So John Ashcroft may have been "largely uninterested in counterterrorism issues" prior to 9/11 ("FBI repeatedly 'failed,' angry 9/11 panel says," April 13). This is the same man who joined with a minority of Republican senators in calling into question President Clinton's motivations during the "Wag the Dog" outcry following Clinton's attempts to respond forcefully to al-Qaida following the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa. "Wag the Dog" was a movie about fabricating a war to cover up a scandal.

But Ashcroft got it wrong. Targeting al-Qaida back then was neither a cover-up nor a mistake. Clinton did, of course, make mistakes, not the least of which was his gross underestimation of the ruthlessness of enemies who were even willing to use entrapment to impeach an American president. Their strategy sidetracked us all and rendered impotent the former president at a critical time, and the distraction certainly did not enhance America's safety.

It is wrong-headed to "pin the blame" on Bush for 9/11, but you would have thought the new administration would have returned to taking care of business with al-Qaida. As to Ashcroft: maybe, as his aides claim, he's blameless: His boss simply didn't forward the memo.

Patrick O'Hara
Seattle

SMOKING

Tavern owner lacks empathy for his workers

Once again Gustav Hellthaler, owner of the Blue Moon tavern, finds isolated studies to support his claim that environmental tobacco smoke is harmless (Letter, "Credible science gives another viewpoint," Wednesday).

How could the owner of a tavern featured in the Post-Intelligencer for celebrating 70 years of leftist and pro-labor politics care more for his own bottom line than the health of his workers? Management seems to always find studies showing that there's nothing harmful with the chemicals we workers must come in contact with daily on the job -- trust me because I found this study from Australia that says it's really OK to inhale tobacco or asbestos.

Question Management, Eat the Rich & Unionize the Moon!

Michael Madin
Seattle

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