Demand an end to drone strikes
The U.S. military admits that the Aug. 29 drone strike in Afghanistan that killed 10 innocent civilians, seven of them children, was a tragic mistake; yet our government suppresses the whole truth about the drone war program.
President Joe Biden assures us that that the program will continue so that Americans may be kept safe from terrorist attacks.
We hear little about former U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst Daniel Hale, who revealed to a journalist that, for the period he was able to document, 90% of drone strike victims were civilians. Many were children. This latest strike was a mistake, but hardly an aberration. It was in fact quite typical.
Daniel Hale was convicted of violating the WWI-era Espionage Act. He is now in prison for telling the truth.
Drone strikes donβt make us safe. We the people must demand an end to them.
Kim Mathews
East side
Sinema fights for Big Pharma
Who is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema fighting for these days? ALSIC, a Pharma dark money conduit for campaign donations to elected politicians in Congress, sent a flyer to Arizona households a few months ago. The flyer announced that ALSIC had awarded Sen. Sinema a β2021 Health Care Innovationβ commendation. Maybe because she is the sixth largest Senate Democratic recipient of campaign cash from the industry this election cycle?
In two recent Arizona polls, significant majorities favored passage of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, which in part allows the government to lower drug prices. But Sinema has told the White House she opposes the plan to lower prescription drug prices as part of the bill.
Sen. Sinema needs to fight for the people by supporting the reconciliation bill, and stop fighting for the drug monopolies! Get out of the swamp, senator.
Richard Kaiser
Midtown
Stop depending on Fox News
Re: the Sept. 23 letter βWhite House stumbles along.β
This is just one of several letters that have a false idea of the role played by the president and his staff. The author asks, βAre you better off than you were 10 months ago?β Well, Biden was sworn in on Jan. 20; thatβs eight months ago.
The author claims the Afghanistan withdrawal was poorly planned and executed; this is the job of the military. The role of the president is to set a date for withdrawal. Donald Trump set the withdrawal for May 1, which would have been a debacle. Joe Biden delayed that by four months, providing a little breathing room.
The author also mentions the immigration problem at the southern border. Ho-hum, weβve had immigration problems there going back to President Reagan legalizing undocumented immigrants.
The author raises a number of other issues which he deems important. A suggestion: Stop watching so much Fox News propaganda.
Walter Mann
Marana
Make newcomers get vaccinated
My thoughts are not about the how or why or the legality of immigrants. I am thinking about protecting both immigrants and Americans. As I think about all the diseases we have under control in this country, I reflect that all parts of the world are not as fortunate.
If we can require that millions of Americans get COVID vaccine, then we can ensure that we are not inundated with many more possibly COVID positive and at-risk people.
We need to protect all newcomers with COVID vaccinations and also think to the future. As we send the children to school and the adults to the workplace, we need to require measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccines and chickenpox vaccinations. Letβs require this protection before we set possible disease loose on the country. Maintaining herd immunity requires this, now and at the borders. It is negligence by this or any administration to not act now.
David Germain
East side
Milleyβs failure and lives lost
Gen. Mark A. Milley proudly stated that βChina is not our enemyβ; that alone should have had him fired. How can he be in charge of the military if he doesnβt even know who the enemy is? He said that we did not need Bagram air base and that lead to dead Marines. He was in charge of the surrender that was, and still is today, a complete disaster. He was in charge of a drone strike that killed seven children and other innocent people. This is a partial list of things that show that Milley was incompetent. But when he stepped over the line and called China, telling them that he would give them a warning if we were going to attack them, he became something worse, he became a traitor. Period.
Jack Hingstrum
Marana
