Letters to the editor for Thursday, Sept. 13

SPECIAL SESSION '07

Remember it in '08

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, worried that he might lose control of the legislative process, sent a letter to the Minnesota Legislature at the beginning of the special session Tuesday night nervously stating, "I hope a deal is a deal." He had effectively limited the special session to flood relief measures.

Come election day 2008 it is my hope that voters say "a deal is a deal" and they go to the polls knowing that Pawlenty has squandered many chances to make Minnesotans safer and smarter during his administration. This special session was yet another missed opportunity!

SUSAN ESTILL, BURNSVILLE

PETRAEUS BEFORE CONGRESS

Iraq policy debate

I wish that a congressman on Monday or a senator on Tuesday had asked Gen. David Petraeus, "Do you agree that the invasion of Iraq was a monumental foreign-policy blunder?"

That question and his answer would have set the stage for a rational discussion of the war's current status.

RAY WARNER, EDINA

Numbering the deaths

In light of Gen. David Petraeus' report to Congress on the progress of the war in Iraq, I have a question: How many more Iraqis must be killed in order to bring democracy to Iraq?

Perhaps a second question is more appropriate for America: How many more Americans must die to accomplish this unattainable goal?

GARY DUNN, ANDOVER

Why progress is unlikely

The responses by Gen. David Petraeus seemed honest. He honestly does not know if and how America will be safer by continued pursuit of the Bush administration's unprovoked war. As an Army veteran, I would have gladly served under his command.

However, true improvement in Iraq will be self-evident, if it ever happens. The dog-and-pony shows earlier this week in Washington won't be necessary, and we won't have to be subjected to charts and statistics to convince us that we can "win," when the reality seems quite the opposite.

The Iraqi "government" (if you can call it that) has likely been the recipient of massive bribes from L. Paul Bremer and Paul Wolfowitz, and they want us there for a long time, in the situation that now exists. Not because they think we're helping them, but because every sentient being in the world knows that this is sapping us militarily, economically and personally through loss of life, limb and loved ones. The sects that exist there have absolutely no reason to stand down now. If they do, they'll never get another chance to garner control over power and resources. So they continue.

Americans have been inundated ad nauseam with the argument that the terrorists will wait us out if we establish a deadline for withdrawal. We get to see most of the career Republicans lining up as lemmings behind President Bush's travesty in Iraq, in desperate hopes that improvement will happen. It is not happening, and won't happen until Iraqis decide to quit killing each other. By attacking this sovereign nation that had nothing to do with 9/11, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have created a terrorist haven in Iraq. Proponents of this administration's failures say that we must fight them there so we don't have to fight them here. It seems like the terrorists also want us there, so that they don't have to fight us here either.

MARK POMMIER, HIBBING, MINN.

STRIKE BY U WORKERS

Just getting their due

There is one thing that people need to know about the strike by AFSCME members at the University of Minnesota. We're simply trying to get money for cost-of-living raises that the university has already received from the Legislature. It really is that simple.

MIKE TOFT, MINNEAPOLIS

AIM photocops on faces

And bring in the money

I can't understand why the red-light cameras don't get turned back on. There is all this talk about needing extra funds for states and cities, yet in the eight months that the cameras were turned on Minneapolis made over $1 million. And accidents in the intersections where cameras were installed went down considerably.

Cameras are installed in over 150 cities across the United States. Some cities take a picture of the driver as well as the plate, so that the ticket will be issued to the driver and not the vehicle (a moving violation). That is the issue in the courts last year. With a face camera that priority can be met.

Why not just install face cameras and be done with it? If the cameras were turned back on and increased to more intersections, cities and the state could start generating funds without much investment.

BOB JONES, COON RAPIDS

AIRPORT NOISE

Home buyers beware

I suppose it was to be expected that someone in south Minneapolis would propose making the temporary change in runway use permanent "in the interest of fairness" (Letter of the Day, Aug. 31).

Well, in the interest of fairness, allow me to point out that when folks in southwest Minneapolis buy a home under a flight path that is used by 200 to 300 aircraft per day it seems a little silly to then complain about all the airplane noise. In the interest of fairness, if St. Paul residents buy a home under a flight path that is used by a 10th of that number they have some right to expect that pattern will continue. In the interest of fairness, if the suggestion of the Minneapolis resident to make the change permanent is adopted, St. Paul residents should be compensated for their loss. By the Minneapolis resident.

I'm really sorry that the Minneapolis letter writer who made this suggestion didn't take the few minutes necessary to research runway use before buying a house. But that's no reason to penalize those of us who did.

BRIAN ASHLEY, ST. PAUL