The following is a selection of recent letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.
On “Another damning admission from the New York Times: whitewashing Iraq war”
Regarding the critique of New York Times reporting, the WSWS article is, as usual, on target. But one important item goes unmentioned, and this is pervasive, not only at the Times.
We never hear reports of how many Iraqis were killed or injured by American soldiers. Occasionally, we hear how many died in an American bombing run, if the incident makes the news, but never a daily tally like we get in regard to the deaths from bombings and other “insurgent” attacks. The media and the Pentagon can call the dead whatever they like—insurgents, terrorists, the enemy, just as all the dead in Vietnam were Viet Cong. But not even this is reported. It is as if American soldiers rarely kill anyone, despite the fact that American firepower is far greater than anything the resistance can mount. Thus, American responsibility is washed away.
JB
Lubbock, Texas, USA
19 March 2007
On “Stop the carve-up of Chrysler! For workers’ control and public ownership of the auto industry!”
While we are about it, let us re-emphasize the call by the SEP to nationalize the entire energy industry. Wouldn’t it be so much better if Exxon were nationalized?
Now Exxon and Cheney have privatized the federal government for profit. They have taken the country to war in the Middle East and Central Asia for oil profits and hegemonic control. In the process they have nearly bankrupted the country, drained essential social programs, destroyed what few constitutional rights existed, and brought the country to the brink of a depression.
To deal with global warming, corporations will have to be brought under control. Without a complete transition to an ecologically sustainable economy there is no hope for a sustainable future. Socialism has become essential for human survival.
JW
15 March 2007
Your story documents what veterans experience when they go to the Department of Veterans Affairs in the US. The bean counters, not the physicians, decide when and if a veteran is to get an expensive test like cardiac catheterization or a CAT scan, how long a veteran is hospitalized and the drugs to be used for treatment. The administrators have no concern for the veteran’s welfare or knowledge of the veteran’s health. “Do it on the cheap” is the bean counters’ motto.
LL
Whitehall, Penn., USA
15 March 2007
On “Planned US missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic intensify European tensions”
Living in Prague, I would be willing to write to you some details on the resistance of Czech citizens against the plans for the US radar base in this country. For the time being, a few corrections: The Initiative Against the Bases—of which I am a member—is collecting signatures in support of a referendum on the base in the belief that a clear majority would say “no” to the plans. The number of visitors of its web page has just reached 100,000.
Alexandr Vondra is a deputy prime minister but not independent—he was elected as senator on the ballot of the ODS and applied for its membership. He is a fiercely pro-American diplomat who also served as Czech ambassador in Washington and is officially responsible for “European affairs” (beside the minister of foreign affairs, Count Schwarzenberg).
SS
Prague, Czech Republic
17 March 2007