AUSTIN, Texas -- It's quite difficult to convince people you are killing them for their own good. That's our basic problem in Iraq.

            You can try explaining that you are killing them in order to bring freedom and democracy to their nation -- "Freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in the world. And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom," said President Bush. However, this argument is less than convincing if an American bomb or bullet has just killed your child. Or if you were among the 70 percent to 90 percent of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib who were there by accident.  

            Team, our national debate on this occupation is approaching the hopelessly dotty. This is no longer a matter of trying to decide if the glass is half-empty or half-full, or whether our media are looking at this through rose-colored glasses or through a glass darkly. What is, is. The trend lines get steadily worse.

As an attorney, I am asked about important court cases, including Brown v Board of Education (May 17, 1954; 50th anniversary is near).  No one can measure the monstrous impact of government schools imposing racism and teaching racism as official policy for so long.  Government school racism did much more damage than private enterprise could ever have afforded to do. It would have been better if government had stayed out of the schools altogether.

    The Brown decision ignores how government schools started the problem that Brown ended.  When government began socializing schools in the late 1800's, it expanded government-mandated racism.  Brown is another example of government peeing on everyone and then claiming that it was rain.

    The Pledge of Allegiance was written (1892) by a bigot who was a self-proclaimed national socialist and advocated that government should operate all schools as a socialist monopoly and end all of the better alternatives.  The government forced children to attend segregated schools where they recited the Pledge using it's original  straight-arm salute.

A Delegation from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) visited Haiti from April 12-19, and documented serious continuing violations of human rights, including killings, disappearances, burning of homes and intimidation, often directed at supporters of Haiti's elected government. The Delegation found a high degree of insecurity affecting all Haitians, as criminal gangs, often lead by convicted killers, control large parts of the country and operate with impunity.  The Delegation also found that the Multinational Interim Force (MIF) in Haiti was not acting to curb violence by paramilitary gangs, and was involved in illegal, warrantless arrests and holding of prisoners without documentation or legal justification.  The delegation issued a report available on the National Lawyers Guild's website, www.nlg.org.

On February 29, 2004, Haiti's democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forcibly removed from power.  In response to reports of serious human rights violations occurring in the aftermath of this coup d'état, the NLG sent two delegations to Haiti to investigate and

I would just like to comment on the Wasserman article "Put George W. Bush in Prison"   Is he serious!  Put The President of the United States in prison for something an undisciplined, vigilanti MP battalion did?   Come on!  Did Wasserman clamor for Pres. Clinton's imprisonment when his air force was scandolized by numerous sexual assaults on female cadets?   Or any of the other of military scandals in the last dozen years?  No way!  I understand he doesn't agree with the war; and is legitimately concerned about Bush's Iraqi policy.  But he doesn't argue his case objectively.  His article is 99% left-leaning, political rhetoric.  And for you to call yourself "freepress" and yet give voice to such bias opinion is rediculous.    What a joke.  Pathetic.

Bill
Greenville, SC

I guess his column draws readers and that's what you want.  I see him undermining the morale of our troops and the resolve of Americans in this war on terrorism, a war that we did not start.  Put any U.S. President in prison....NEVER HAPPEN !

I won't waste any more time reading his radical hatred and condemnation of America's past, present and future.

Never forget 911.

Thanks, Lorne W. Gustafson