Letters to the editor

March 11, 2003

The following letter is in response to Jonathan McCay’s letter entitled “Protesters’ anger misdirected,” which appeared in the March 4 edition of the Herald.

Anti-war protesters not drug users

Mr. McCay, I agree with part of your letter. Peace will never be secured without “rough men stand(ing) ready to do violence.”

You were wrong, however, to insinuate that all peace protesters are drug users. Many of them have “put down their bongs” and do volunteer for groups such as The Salvation Army, which, of course, makes the world a better place.

As a U.S. Marine, I had to deal with politicians who would use us to do their dirty work, without making one bit of difference.

The United States has not waged a war to completion since World War II. Look at the results. The Korean Peninsula is on the brink of war. North Korea is acting more and more aggressively every day. In Somalia, U.S. forces were subjected to impossible rules of engagement and oversight by the United Nations, and people are still committing genocide and starving.

Some of the protesters are naive, some are scared of war and others are genuinely pacifists. But maybe some are like me and will only support a war that is intended to make real change.

Whatever the motives of the protesters, they have a right to express themselves without someone like you or me telling them to put their bongs down.

Dissent is what makes our country great, but it should be done in good taste.

Morgan Phelps

Morgantown sophomore

Chalk artists missing the point

Over a month ago, I was walking home from the Preston Center when I saw one of the sidewalk chalk signs that grace our beautiful campus.

This one stated, “Saddam Loves You.” Needless to say, I had to take another look to see if what I thought I saw was real. Unfortunately, my first impression was correct.

I’m simply confused by some of the statements I see on a day-to-day basis. Another liberal slogan that made me laugh, just based on the fact that whoever wrote it thought it would be funny, was, “If a hornet stings you, and you kill it, does it make the pain go away?”

I would like to answer this question by saying no, it doesn’t, but it makes me feel … a lot better knowing that it won’t sting me again.

President Bush is not pro-war, nor has he ever been pro-war. However, if you think that protesting with anti-war signs is going to stop Saddam Hussein from developing chemical and biological weapons, then I’m sorry to tell you that you are living in a dream world.