Letters to the editor
The wrong policy
It’s amazing how pundits who raved about Donald Trump’s promises to keep us out of foreign wars have so easily switched and are now fully supporting his war on Iran. They continue to criticize the policies of past administrations who attempted along with our allies and the International Atomic Energy Agency to control and monitor Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Iran claimed its program was for peaceful purposes. It is reasonable to doubt that claim, but they had not enriched uranium to weapons grade. After the bombing of Iranian facilities last June, the administration declared their program had been “obliterated.” Analysts concluded Iran could not produce a nuclear weapon anytime soon.
Despite no evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, Donald Trump along with Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, have initiated a war of choice.
Due to the public unrest and demonstrations that had been occurring in Iran there was some hope the oppressive regime might in time fall. Instead, Trump and Netanyahu’s war is causing the deaths of our soldiers and innocent civilians including school girls, the displacement of more than 700,000 people in the region, huge increases in gas prices and increases in the authoritarian government’s hold on Iran. The economy of the whole world has been placed at risk; still, the loss of innocent lives is the biggest tragedy.
Past policies did not lead to a quick solution but did provide peace and hope for a better future. Now we have war, destruction and uncertainty. It’s clear that the wrong policy is Donald Trump’s.
Don Fitch
Amity
More divisive words
When Donald Trump denigrates someone after their death, spitting on their graves, you can bet that they were decent, honorable people.
Robert Mueller now joins the ranks of the late John McCain, John Dingell, and Rob Reiner, as the president, who is supposed to be a moral leader responding to Director Mueller’s death with, “Good, I’m glad.”
Mueller enlisted to go into battle in Vietnam after the death of a friend in that war, the war that the president evaded. Mueller dedicated his life to law enforcement, serving his country with distinction and the utmost integrity, including as the respected leader of the FBI. Donald Trump is not a small fraction of the man that Mueller was.
What does a responsible parent say to an impressionable child when the leader of the free world demonstrates that he stands for division and hate?
Oren Spiegler
Peters Township
A breach of trust
In response to Froma Harrop’s March 25 op-ed, Harrop argues that the GOP unfairly vilifies the Internal Revenue Service and portrays it as an enemy. While there may be some truth to that characterization, it is important to remember why this skepticism exists.
The IRS itself contributed to that distrust. In 2012, the agency admitted to subjecting certain nonprofit groups — particularly those with right-leaning or conservative names — to heightened scrutiny during the tax-exempt application process. Subsequent investigations found that the IRS used inappropriate criteria, and the controversy ultimately led to the resignation of Lois Lerner. At the time, even Democratic lawmakers acknowledged that serious mistakes had been made.
That episode represented a significant breach of public trust, and such trust is not easily rebuilt. So when the IRS later sought to expand its enforcement capabilities, many Americans — especially conservatives — viewed those efforts with understandable skepticism.
Recognizing this history does not mean opposing fair tax enforcement. It simply means acknowledging that concerns about the IRS are rooted in real events, not political invention. Any serious discussion of tax policy should take that context into account.
Cameron Downer
Allenport