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Bush was wrong on Iraq and wrong again on Iran

I was against the Iraq war as soon as I learned of President Bush's intention to invade that sovereign nation.

Bush is now sending an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. This will only increase casualties of U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians.

If U.S. armed forces remain in Iraq for years to come, it will make no difference.

A U.S. combat soldier recently interviewed in Iraq for television said, "When we leave here, it will be chaos."

The U.S. is training and equipping the new Iraqi army. When the U.S. leaves, this army will divide along religious lines and will be experts to battle each other.

Bush is dispatching a second aircraft carrier task force to the Persian Gulf to threaten Iran. He will not allow the U.S. to talk to Iran.

I do not think the American people want a war with Iran. Let's talk peace with Iran, not threaten Iran with war.

The people in that part of the world do not want us there and will fight until we leave.

Lighten up! Smokers aren't the only polluters

In response to the Feb. 2 letter to the editor "Smokers don't have a right to pollute the air," by K.W. Kern:

For starters, smoking is not a medical problem. It is an addiction just like shopping, but no one tells Kern not to do that. So, what gives Kern the right -- or anyone for that matter -- to tell us we can't smoke out in public?

Everything people do is an addiction -- from eating to shopping.

As for interfering with the quality of air, that's a joke. Does Kern not even realize that when you start your car that you are polluting the air?

How about the airplanes, even the trains and the chemical companies? But that is OK. I think that is a double standard if you ask me.

It takes a nonsmoker -- someone who has nothing else better to do with their time -- to come up with something so childish.

No apology required

I am an African-American and a native of New Jersey. Bing Grindle (Feb. 5 letter to the editor, "Excuse me for being") needs to understand that neither he nor any other American of any ethnic group needs to apologize to yours truly for whatever transpired in days past in the United States.

My God-fearing parents taught me to always do that which is right and right will follow you.

Even though I was compelled to ride in the rear of public transportation while serving in the U.S. Navy in Norfolk and in uniform in the early 1950s, no apology needed. I served with honor and dignity and received an honorable discharge. In fact, the Navy begged me to re-enlist, but to no avail.

My point is quite elementary:

No one in this country needs to apologize to African-Americans for slavery or anything else. God created everything and everything belongs to him, including the human race.

Nowhere do I recall in the Bible where God asks us to apologize to him. However, he does say that every tongue must confess.

If a segment of the American population feels justified for slavery or any other act, tell God you did the right thing, not an apology to the African-American people.

Check the source before relying on the 'facts'

Robbie Watkins' Feb. 4 commentary "Take a critical look at Islam's teachings" is symptomatic of America's latest flirtation with nativism.

From the 19th century's anti-Irish Catholic violence to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, these outbreaks are always regarded by later generations as shameful.

Watkins admits to having done but "a little study of Islam," and it shows. His analysis echoes the small cartoon pamphlets left in phone booths and other conspicuous places.

Known as "Chick tracts," they tell how Catholics, Mormons, Masons, "unredeemed Jews" and Muslims are all going to hell.

What is it about this present age that sends people scurrying about for scapegoats? Is it the endless -- and disastrous -- exporting of American jobs? Has the fall of the Soviet Union left some Americans feeling sad and enemyless?

As we teeter on the brink of war with yet another nation that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks, we as citizens owe it to ourselves to explore less biased sources (one could do far worse than the Encyclopedia Britannica).

So much for the theory of 'crony capitalism'

In Tommy Denton's Feb. 4 column "Oil and trouble," The Roanoke Times gives its embarrassingly looney, lefty, progressive, liberal, socialist slant on basic economics. Can't he do better than "crony capitalism?" Is that what passes for critical thought at The Times?

The 2006 elections are over, yet pump prices remain around $1.95 a gallon. (Maybe Democrats are controlling gasoline prices and cold weather.)

Another investigation of the U.S. oil industry to go along with the previous 12 or 13? Perhaps "price gouging," like liberal "truth," really is out there. U.S. pump prices clearly track the world oil price.

Yes, ExxonMobil had record profits for 2006 (no screaming headlines?), but its profit margin was a quite modest 10.5 percent. And "big oil" owns a whopping 2 percent of U.S. gas stations.

Will The Times "enlighten" us ignorant and unwashed masses in the basic economics of free market capitalism? Sadly, it's hard to know which term The Times fears the most: free market capitalism or free citizens as consumers.

U.S. oil is competitive and efficient at getting its product to market, in spite of U.S. government "help." No "gouging," just ridiculous regulation and taxes to achieve political ends. I am quite sure The Times applauds both.

"Crony capitalism" indeed.

Paper or coin? People don't need a choice

The U.S. Mint is certainly persistent with its third attempt to sell the public on yet another dollar coin.

The first two attempts, Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea, did not succeed and the new presidential dollars being introduced this month will not succeed either. The reason is, people are being given the choice between dollar bills and dollar coins.

Banks are not eager to stock dollar coins that businesses are not asking for, especially when their minimum order from the Federal Reserve for these coins is $2,000.

Also, businesses that need dollars for their commerce prefer to handle 100 bills rather than 100 coins.

The only way for dollar coins to be successful is to remove the dollar bill from circulation. Our decision-makers have been way too slow to figure this out.

As long as we have the option of dollar bills, the dollar coins will remain a costly effort, resulting in lots of unused inventory being stocked at our Federal Reserve banks.

The warming isn't all that dramatic

Concerning all the present dire predictions concerning global warming, I think it is interesting to note what the National Climatic Data Center has to report on the subject of average annual temperature in the United States.

Among other data on the subject, the top six warmest years on record since 1921 included the years of 1921, 1931 and 1934.

While the NCDC points out that the year 2006 was the warmest on record, they also state that 1934 was the third warmest behind 2006 by a mere 0.10 degrees and behind 1998 by 0.03 degrees.

Admittedly, there has been a gradual increase in annual temperature over the past century. The question, of course, is this simply a matter of normal climatic change that has occurred many times down through history?

The Wall Street Journal points out, for one thing, that there has been a significant cooling of the oceans since 2003, which is the opposite you'd expect with global warming.

I have an open mind on the subject but remain unconvinced that, unless some drastic action is taken that could adversely affect our economy, gloom and doom are just around the corner.