Velma Berger – 1/12/07

This page was last updated on January 16, 2007.

Feeling no safer; Velma Berger; Beaver County Times; January 12, 2007.

This is the latest in a series of at least 17 Bush and Iraqi-bashing letters written by Ms. Berger dating back to February 2005. In one letter, Ms. Berger told us she was proud of John Murtha.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“Saddam Hussein has finally been put to death. He deserved to die, but at what price? We have lost more than 3,000 of our young servicemen and women.

“The reason for our invasion of Iraq was that it supposedly had weapons of mass destruction. None were ever found. There was never any connection to the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on this country.”

[RWC] No one claimed involvement in 9/11 was a reason to go after Saddam Hussein. All the reasons were given in the Iraq War Resolution, but folks like Ms. Berger like to ignore it.

“Then, the reason for the war on Iraq changed to capturing Saddam.”

[RWC] As noted above, not true.

“What about Osama bin Laden, who was directly responsible for 9/11? He is still out there. We hardly hear his name mentioned. He never was in Iraq. We have created a haven for terrorists in Iraq.”

[RWC] No one claimed bin Laden was in Iraq. Regarding the “haven for terrorists in Iraq” comment, Ms. Berger ignores history. She and her fellow travelers would like us to believe Iraq was a terrorist free zone before we invaded. When we invaded Iraq we found terrorist training camps and Saddam Hussein himself offered rewards to the families of suicide bombers. In addition, perpetrators of past terrorist attacks against the U.S. found their way to Iraq and safe haven.

“The Iraqi people have turned against us and want us out of their country. We have become their enemy.

“The president has been holding meetings while vacationing over the holidays. I hope someone will convince him that things are not going well in Iraq, as he insists, and staying the course is not the answer.”

[RWC] When in recent months has President Bush indicated things were going well in Iraq?

“Bring our troops home. Saddam is dead, but I don't feel any safer.”

[RWC] Ms. Berger doesn’t tell us how cutting and running will make her feel safer.