Readers write for Sunday, Aug. 1

So Republican activist Craig Westover thinks governments don't create jobs ("Jobs don't come from government," July 25). Huh? Does an educated workforce create jobs? Do paved roads and bridges that stay up create jobs? How about children who grow up healthy? Police and fire services?

All these government actions and more create the framework that private businesses need in order to grow and prosper.

TOM NELSON, MINNEAPOLIS

Americans didn't need the publication of the Afghanistan WikiLeaks documents to realize how fruitless our war efforts have been. All we had to do was examine Russia's 10-year occupation and humiliating retreat. For America to think it could do better was arrogant and just plain stupid. When we invaded Afghanistan, we had a president who didn't read and disregarded history. We now have a president who presumably does read, but still disregards history. When will we ever learn?

WAYNE MARTIN, PLYMOUTH

As a chemistry teacher I try to teach ... well, chemistry. The American Chemical Society, which is the largest professional association of chemists on the planet, has published a statement on climate change that can be found on its website, portal.acs.org (tinyurl.com/22pg83q). Broadly summarized, the ACS policy states that the climate is warming and that human activity is at least partially partially to blame. The policy includes recommendations for continued study, cutting carbon emissions and planning for the changes that are already inevitable.

The American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society have all issued similar statements. If a retired meteorologist such as Peter J. Havanac ("Warming alarmists can't stand the heat," July 26) feels that climate change is not a scientifically settled issue, perhaps his first appropriate step would be to convince the American Meteorological Society.

Katherine Kersten's column portrayed Christians as being oppressed in Morocco for proselytizing ("Is our man in Morocco up to the job?" July 25). If the people in Morocco have to deal with the endless proselytizing we have to deal with in the United States -- in the newspaper, at my front door, even on the Twins radio broadcast -- who can blame them for getting annoyed? If Christians, Muslims and all other religions would simply mind their own business, the "oppression" would likely stop and the world would be a more peaceful place. One person's proselytizing is another's oppression.