Letters to the editor for Saturday, March 22

IRAQ PLUS FIVE

We must win

I was amazed at the poor showing of war protesters at the Lake Street Bridge on March 19, the fifth anniversary of that war's start. As I walked the bridge in my personal counterprotest, carrying my "Liberate Iraq -- Support Our Troops" lawn sign, one of the 30,000 we printed and gave away in 2003, I heard media and police estimate the crowd between 600 and 800 people. It struck me that in a metropolitan area of nearly 3 million people, this was a very small crowd to show up when the weather was so mild.

It becomes more obvious each day that the people of Minnesota realize that the change in strategy and tactics by the "surge" are now working. Even the mainstream media, which many accused for so long of slanting the news to the negative, are now reporting the success of both the military and political advances in Iraq.

No matter how you feel about the events that took us to war, we are there and must succeed. We are faced with an election this year that will decide whether the Iraqi people will actually succeed in their efforts to build a safe and secure nation. An independent democracy in Iraq is in the best national interest of America. We as a nation have sacrificed too much to turn tail and run away.

JOE REPYA, EAGAN

President Bush said that the world is a better place because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He should try telling that to the estimated 2.5 million Iraqis who are either refugees or are internally displaced as a result of our invasion and occupation of that sovereign country.

The truth is Saddam Hussein was no threat to the United States and was even considered an ally by the Reagan administration as he gassed his own people.

STEPHEN KRIZ, MAPLE GROVE

FISA LEGISLATION

Beware of Big Brother

Thank you for the March 21 Counterpoint by Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, who described how House Democrats are attempting to balance the need for tools to allow surveillance and our citizens' constitutional rights to privacy in reauthorizing the electronic surveillance legislation.

This administration has run roughshod over our most basic rights under the guise of "national security," and we need Congress to protect all of us from the abuse of power. Our constitutional rights should not be sacrificed to the cause of Big Brother.

TIM BRAUSEN, ST. LOUIS PARK

OBAMA'S PASTOR

The sin of hypocrisy

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's words are no more vitriolic than those being uttered to crucify Barack Obama's association with his man. Enough already. As my mother used to say, "Sweep before your own door." If these self-righteous people looked under the doormat, they would likely discover enough dirt to knock them off their high horses.

SANDRA NELSON, MINNEAPOLIS

McCain's turn

I suspect that those refusing to forgive Barack Obama for not leaving his church because of the Rev. Wright's comments are motivated politically, not morally. Otherwise they would remind us that John McCain, who once denounced the Revs. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as "agents of intolerance" because of their "corrupting influence on religion and politics," has now fully embraced both.

I fully understand and accept Obama's eloquent explanation. Now I'd like to hear McCain's.

STEVE MARK, MINNETONKA

The people of the church I serve as minister -- a shared ministry of the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church -- attend worship each week at least as much for the community they find among the other members as for anything I might say from the pulpit.

Many, like Barack Obama at Trinity UCC, have been members for more than 20 years. Some have remained members and continued to attend worship even though they might disagree with me over certain issues. They see themselves as members of a church who come to worship the God of Jesus the Christ.

It seems to me that many who criticize the relationship between Obama and the Rev. Wright are making the mistake of thinking Obama has been attending church to worship his minister.

My goal as a minister is to point folks beyond myself to God and help them become more spiritually connected to God. Disagreement with their minister is not only allowed, it's often a vital part of the intelligent, thoughtful, faith-seeking life of our church.

THE REV. GREG KAPPHAHN, GLENWOOD, MINN.

Let those who make the claim that pastors' views shouldn't be an issue or affect Barack Obama's views ask themselves this question: If this was John McCain we were talking about and his minister espoused the views of the Christian Identity Movement, and he continued to go to that church for 20 years, would you still be of the opinion that it that it does not reflect negatively on the candidate and should not be an issue?

SCOTT SKEESICK, WHITE BEAR LAKE

The Rev. Wright may or may not be a racist, but from his sermons he most certainly is a hatemonger. His church sermons weren't about spiritual enlightenment; they were no more than political hate speech to indoctrinate and incite unrest.

ROBERT KELLEY, PRIOR LAKE

DEBATING PHOTO COP

Cars don't own roads

A March 19 letter writer from Eden Prairie is angry that he was nabbed for not stopping at a red light before turning right ("Photo cop / It's too strict"). He believes the law that requires a driver to come to a full stop is "too strict" and "doesn't make sense."

If his contention is that the spirit of the law is to prevent accidents, he might consider that stopping and looking before proceeding will prevent him from running over pedestrians and bikers who may be out of his line of vision.

As a walker and bike-commuter, I am so glad I don't live in Eden Prairie and have to risk being smacked by this self-centered driver, who seems more concerned about wear and tear on his car than the safety of those who share the road with him.

ALISON RASCH, ST. PAUL