Krista Moyer – 7/6/05

This page was last updated on July 6, 2005.

Facing the truth; Krista Moyer; Beaver County Times; July 6, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In response to Alan Byers’ letter (‘Get off it, already,’ Thursday [sic]), I would like to state that his supposed ‘no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to al-Qaeda bandwagon’ is no bandwagon; it is facing the truth.

“We must realize that this country was taken to war on false premises - and the Bush administration would like us to forget this and believe the intent was always to be liberators of Iraq.”

[RWC] Ms. Moyer needs to read the Iraq War Resolution passed by Congress.

“The decision to invade was wrong, whether or not Congress and other countries supported it. While I do support the military, I cannot support placing these brave individuals in harm’s way for a lie. My wholehearted belief is that we must wait for irrefutable proof that a country is an imminent threat before we send troops into combat.”

[RWC] This is more of the “I support the troops, not the mission” BS. With her “wholehearted belief … that we must wait for irrefutable proof,” Ms. Moyer wants us to wait for Pearl Harbors and 9/11s before we take action. For the record, the Bush administration never claimed Iraq was an imminent threat, though some Democrat senators did. In fact, President Bush stated we needed to act before Iraq became an imminent threat.

What’s the “lie?” You can credibly argue the intelligence we used to make our decisions was flawed, but after seemingly a zillion investigations there’s been absolutely no evidence to suggest either the President or Congress lied about – or tried to influence – the intelligence provided to them.

“The continuing belief that Iraq is a justifiable war is foolish. Why do we allow Bush to continue to decide which direction to take the war on terror when he has proven that his administration is incapable of handling it properly? Acknowledging the truth will ensure that we do not make this mistake again.”

[RWC] Ms. Moyer gives us name-calling and accusations with no supporting facts. Ms. Moyer calls a fool anyone who believes the Iraq War is justifiable. I believe Ms. Moyer is wrong, but I wouldn’t call her a fool.

“Yes, we have had almost four years of no attacks, but that assertion implies there were very frequent attacks prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and Iraq. The terrorists are not in one country, but sending troops to start a war on impulse opens the door to war all across the Middle East, something our military is not equipped to handle.”

[RWC] Ms. Moyer has a selective memory. Let’s take a look at the eight years leading up to 9/11.

· 1993: World Trade Center - six dead civilians

· 1993: U.S. peacekeepers in Somalia - 18 dead soldiers

· 1996: Khobar Towers military barracks in Saudi Arabia - 19 dead soldiers

· 1998: On February 23^rd, Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States.

· 1998: U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania - 224 dead African civilians

· 2000: USS Cole - 17 dead sailors

We started “a war on impulse?” Did Ms. Moyer miss the nearly year-long build-up and the continuous debates and resolutions in both Congress and the United Nations?

“Finally, how is the United States not the ‘bully’ now with our false war that has killed more than 100,000 innocent people? To question one’s government is not unpatriotic; to seek the truth and hold government officials accountable to the people is being a responsible citizen.”

[RWC] Questioning your government is not unpatriotic, though how you do it can be. Is it patriotic to demean the mission of men and women in harm’s way?