Stripes letters: Tell why extensions hurt/Direct dialogue preferred

[lebkuchen]

Tell why extensions hurt

I’ve read with a sad heart the letters of frustrated families who feel the Army and Department of Defense leaders have let them down. No words can actually comfort them or make their pain any easier. My prayers are with each of these families.

As a retired Air Force member, I understand and sympathize with them. I also recommend they not stop with letters to Stars and Stripes. I highly encourage them to send letters to their hometown newspapers and their elected officials. While this may not bring their loved ones home any faster, they can share the real truth with other Americans.

I’ve seen on television too many interviews that lead the average American to believe such last-minute, poorly thought-out extensions are OK. It’s time these families tell their fellow citizens this situation isn’t as “wonderful” as certain networks and leaders want them to believe.

Jim Riner
Bolling Air Force Base, D.C.

Direct dialogue preferred

A few days ago in his prime-time news conference, President Bush began by stating he wanted to “speak with” the American people. I ask you, my fellow Americans, to reflect on what “speak with” means. Doesn’t it imply some kind of dialogue?

For instance, when I was younger and had a plan that needed approval from my parents, my father often said: “You had better speak with your mother.” This meant my mother and I would talk — have a conversation — about what I wanted to do and why. Often I had to answer difficult questions until my mother was satisfied.

Clearly Bush was not having a conversation with us in his news conference. Perhaps he should have said “speak to” rather than “speak with.”

Some may say I am being far too technical on this point, but I must not be the only American who feels that our current president very rarely speaks directly with average Americans. Indeed, when was the last time Bush held a town hall meeting and took questions and/or statements from the people who elected him? He works for us, yes? Are we supposed to sit back and believe that our government always has our best interests in mind?

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