The following is a selection of recent letters to the World Socialist Web Site.
On “The Democratic Party and the struggle against war: A reply to a reader”
This is an outstanding rebuttal for the apologists of the Democratic Party who are in denial that it is a pro-war, imperialist institution. Please reprint this as soon as possible in Russian for the many immigrants from Russia in the States who have illusions regarding the Democratic Party.
EC
San Jose, California
8 December 2005
* * *Brilliant analysis! Thank you for the clarity and the historical perspective.
VA
San Francisco, California
8 December 2005
* * *Thank you for your insights. I initially tended to agree with EG, but had an awful feeling about Murtha and wanted to believe the Democrats were finally coming around. You definitely set us both straight. Keep up the good work. I forwarded this article to a bunch of fellow Dean supporters who I hope will see the light too. The struggle is far deeper than most of us temporarily comfortable Americans believe.
Thanks again,
LG
Pinckney, Michigan
8 December 2005
On “Democrat denounces opposition to Iraq war: What is troubling Joe Lieberman?”
You’re absolutely correct to link Lieberman’s extreme pro-war position with the Senatorial leadership of the Democratic Party. Biden, Hillary Clinton and Lieberman are the DLC triumvir that sits atop the other party of war and empire. That Lieberman has always been even more bellicose and open than his partners I’ve assumed is related to his intense Zionism. So I was surprised that you neglected to mention the role played by the hard-line pro-Zionism of Lieberman, and by extension, the Democratic Party as a whole.
BM
Newton, Massachusetts
6 December 2005
On “Study finds hundreds of toxic chemicals in umbilical cords of newborns”
I would like to compliment you on a very well-researched article in an important and, as yet, little understood field. The Environmental Working Group study, although small, was very significant in providing concrete evidence that extremely common man-made chemicals are passing the placental barrier into the foetus. The potential impact on the chemical industry is immense. The work has important implications for a wide range of illnesses such as those you mention in children, and also those that may result from life-long exposure to these same chemicals. Organophosphates, which were introduced to replace organochlorines in such things as pesticides, have been connected by some researchers to Gulf War Syndrome, CFS/ME and even to BSE and nCJD. I hope you will write more on this subject on the WSWS.
AT
Huddersfield, UK
7 December 2005
* * *Interesting article. Thank you for your investigation. One criticism: Why blast the Christian community, and in such harsh language? It seems to me that you have a personal axe to grind with them and used this topic as an avenue to that end. Your article was excellent with that one exception. Your article is most thought-provoking, and I garnered additional information on pollution due to it.
SM
Cheyenne, Wyoming
7 December 2005
* * *While I have been aware of this, the facts in this study are staggering. On a very personal level, my wife is an OB/GYN who could be held “responsible” for a bad birth outcome that is related to these toxins. In the sue-happy world we live in, any defect is immediately laid at the feet of the doctor. Then, let the courts sort it out!
A defect from this type of toxicity would probably never be investigated because the insurance company would not go to the trouble, settling out of court instead. Thank you for your work.
TC
Connecticut
9 December 2005
* * *I teach autistic children. I have an autistic son (now much less autistic the further away from his vaccination years he becomes), and am now watching the first wave of pesticide-damaged babies enter our special schools after the three-year span of aerial pesticide spray over our city. They must give our “pesticide is as safe as houses” report-writing doctors “stupid pills” at medical school.
JB
Waitakere, New Zealand
11 December 2005
* * *In Ireland, we are very much into allowing big multinationals to wreak havoc on our environment. We have an alarming amount of cancers and debilitating diseases that seem to be on the increase. People seem to be unconcerned and not want to know the problem exists or to do anything about it. In my view, if people could be galvanised into not voting for politicians who allow this to continue, then maybe we might take control of our country again. Politics in this country is divided by a polarised view that comes down from a civil war long since over but kept alive in the minds of the people for votes. Keep up the good work.
EB
Kinsale, Ireland
10 December 2005
On “Australia: thousands attend funeral for Van Nguyen”
You reporters at WSWS are great. I totally agreed with you. I believe we must stop this capital punishment hanging. We must fight for stopping it. Don’t let Van Nguyen die in vain.
RY
Bulleen, Australia
8 December 2005
On “A day in the life of a Sri Lankan tea worker”
It was a great article. It’s really true what you have written. Actually, we have to blame the British and the Sri Lankan government for this. I read some government info magazines that say these workers are of “recent Indian origin.” It is a shame. I think the real people who are discriminated against are these people. I think these innocent people should go to international courts of justice and sue the Sri Lankan and the British governments. It has been more than 50 years, and they are still living like working beggars who earn less than real beggars.
LV
Preston, Australia
9 December 2005
On “A valuable and compelling antiwar film—Gallipoli: The Front Line Experience”
A very moving and poignant article on the realities of warfare. We need more of such pieces to balance off the type of writing on war as exemplified by historians such as the English military historian John Keegan, who fails to convey the horrific nature of warfare. We also need a focus on what economic underpinnings of societies lead countries to war. In my opinion, WWII resulted from the need to contain domestic unrest through mobilization for war.
RLB
Bradenton, Florida
7 December 2005