Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (January 13, 2006)

'Support our troops' doesn't mean Bush

Editor:

The oft-heard and seen phrase "support our troops" is not synonymous with support for the Bush Iraq war strategy. "Support our troops" has more to do with what a person believes and, more important, does for our soldiers. Those who use "support our troops" as a pretense to demean anyone who opposes the war simply fail to intellectually comprehend that people can genuinely support our troops while opposing the "cause."

The "cause" we oppose is a seriously flawed military strategy that has unnecessarily killed or wounded almost 17,000 courageous young men and women. Bush Iraq war supporters, who simplistically attempt to portray anyone who disagrees as unpatriotic and not caring about our soldiers, are guilty of the very worst type of jingoistic, self-congratulatory deception.

To avoid being labeled hypocrites, I suggest all "support our troops" advocates donate a meaningful portion of their tax cut received the last two years, or maybe recent Christmas gift certificates, to organizations that fund the families of soldiers who have died, been wounded or are now serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Doing so will be a more accurate measure of "support."

Never in history has our nation gone to war using soldiers from families of our poorest, while reducing taxes for families of the wealthiest. A society that asks soldiers and their families to sacrifice so much, while others grow personal wealth, has severe moral issues. For the first time in history, apparently, greed trumps patriotism. It really is time to give back. Robert Brown Diericx Drive

Residents look a gift horse in the mouth

Editor:

Catching up on my stack of Voice issues that accumulated over the holidays, I couldn't help but be astounded at the ingratitude and arrogance of a couple of letter writers. Unable to be content with Google graciously offering the city free Wi-Fi service and paying the city for the right to install it, they had the audacity to suggest that Google ought to throw in a few million for laptops and/or kickbacks to the city for the privilege of being generous.

I hope these two letter writers are an aberration and don't represent the majority attitude of those who live in Mountain View. Otherwise, Google would be justified to think about moving their headquarters to a locale where the locals appreciate generosity. Jonathan Biggar San Ramon Court

Remember the global community

Editor:

I appreciate how the Voice's annual Holiday Fund supports our local community. I applaud the contributions of the Voice and its readers in helping improve the lives of our neighbors. However, as we give generously to our local community, let us not forget the global community and how we can help our neighbors around the world.

Living in a well-off suburb of a rich nation, it is easy to forget that over 850 million people, almost 1 in every 6 people in the world, go hungry. Every day 30,000 people die of starvation. Yet our nation contributes only 0.15 percent, less than one fifth of one percent, of its income to international aid. In comparison, several European countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, contribute more than 0.7 percent, and other countries like England and France have committed to reaching 0.7 percent within the next seven years. Our nation has no similar timetable.

Let us try to see the world through a hungry person's eyes; if Mountain View were poor due to disease, war, or famine, how would we want our rich neighbors to respond? Xinh Huynh E. Middlefield Road

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