Letters to the editor

U.S. involvement in Afghanistan

The United States has been involved in Afghanistan since 1983, when U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas secured money for the Mujahideen to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.

The money came in three increments, the first was $40 million, second was $50 million and third was $300 million unused Pentagon money.

The arms were bought for the Afghan Mujahideen and piped through Pakistan which set up a strange bed fellow aliance with Pakistan that was already a tipsy relationship.

In 2006, with the W.T.C. bombing we commit some military and CIA operatives to Afghanistan to look for Bin Laden and at the same time starting the military buildup to Iraq under Pres. Bush.

In 2009, Obama becomes the President, the draw down of the U.S. military in Iraq begins under Obama at the same time Obama said the U.S. will commit to Afghanistan by choice.

We are into 2012 with a Middle East flame of war without the fire being put out.

President Karzai along with President Obama are throwing our military under the rear wheels of the bus by telling the insurgents when the military is leaving and limiting combat operations, which is treacherous.

What we needed in these conflicts was a president like Abe Lincoln who had a general like Sherman who marched through the south and tore it up and broke their backs.

If it was done Sherman’s way, there would be less widows, less fatherless children and less limbs lost.

Edwin Cornelius

Ronan

Thinkin’ like Lincoln

I am concerned that America is drifting far away from the spiritual values which blessed and perhaps preserved our country two centuries ago. A news commentator said that the new President elect was using the same tactic as Lincoln did in forming his cabinet; bringing around him those who had opposed his election.

Perhaps our prayers for the President elect should also include asking that Mr. Obama might have the same reliance upon God that Lincoln expressed in his Thanksgiving proclamation in 1863:

“It is the duty of nations as well as men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.

We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched as strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whold American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

Abraham Lincoln - October 3, 1863

Harvey A. Town

Polson

People want results, not Republicans

Now that the election has been decided and we have heard all the excuses from certain pundits as to why Romney did not win, something comes to my mind in all this.  And this particular ‘trend-of-concern’ was not picked up by the media, not realized, and certainly not expected.

This unrealized trend-of-concern has nothing to do with the issues, be they moral, economic, social, religious, or of environmental concerns.  This trend-of-concern is solely about how our nation’s political legislative bodies are functioning.  And non-function is probably the right word to use here.

My thesis in this particular letter is to suggest that America, especially younger people, are so fed up with the inaction, the extreme partisanship in congress, the lack of passing even the most basic and sensible legislation by our legislative bodies, that they came out in droves to vote against the party, the Republicans, which is the current party to absolutely block every bit of legislation that the other party, the Democrats, put forth.

This is not to say that if the ‘shoe were on the other foot’ that Democrats would not have done the same thing.  The point is, this extreme partisanship at the expense of “The Will of the People” touched the sensibilities of so many Americans that this could almost be considered an election to punish the Republican party.

Punish the party of inaction.  Punish the perpetrators of paralysis.  Punish the guilty.  Did you see any of these headlines?  Did you hear any of this being spread out over the airwaves by our great political pundits?  Did we talk about this seriously among ourselves?

Well, my take on all this is that this particular phenomenon energized millions in our nation to get out and vote against one party rather than for the other.  And until there is a change of attitude, a change of mind-set, and a change in political behavior among our legislators, we will simply continue down the same path of big money interests trumping “The Will of the People”.

Bob McClellan

Polson

Pilgrims’ recipe for success

Approximately 156 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a small group of people set foot upon a new land. One cannot observe Thanksgiving without being reminded of this group of people called Pilgrims. Never has there been a group that did more in establishing a way of life in this nation nor has there been a gorup that has so profoundly influenced a society for as long as it has.

In retrospect one cannot help asking what these people had, what was their character, how could they have faced such odds to have a part and such a great influence in forming this nation? We are familiar with the stories about the Pilgrims. The seemingly insurmountable obstacles this band of people overcame surely provide a lesson for us today.

The very foundation the Pilgrims rested their hopes on was Christianity. No nation has been blessed of God like ours, due much to this devout group of Christians bringing with them the vital foundation of faith in God on a new land.

Three mighty institutions were brought to this land by these people; the home, the church, and the school. It is important that we notice that each of these institutions had a common goal. There was the value of work, the value of faith, and the value of knowledge.

Three institutions which are separate and distinct, yet united so that when one diverts from the course its effects are immediately felt. Each institution is independent, yet inter-dependent with specific tasks and goals going in the same direction. The home, where faith, work, and discipline in love are taught. The church, where the love of God’s doctrines are taught and learned through study and the intellect of each individual. The school, where in concord with home and church, the three R’s a taught, faith in God is recognized, and duty, honor, and patriotism of country is instilled.

What results from this? This writer would say great men and women, great fathers and mothers, great leaders and citizens, a great nation and fine heritage.

Other questions: Where have we come from these humble yet powerful beginnings? Have our basic institutions remained true to the course? Do the homes remain faithful to family responsibilities, churches to the doctrines of faith, schools to the basics, citizenship, patriotism? Are these three institutions the indestructible triune structure that the Pilgrims brought to America in 1620.

Be thankful, be thoughtful, and may God bless America.

Jack Hane