‘The right to criticize' is a hard-won freedom

To the editor: This is a reply to Mary Makofske: • America would cease to exist without our military. • Your freedom of speech and religion is primarily the result of America’s military. • America has trained its troops for warfare, peace keeping and to assist in nation building. The positive aspects of the war in Iraq are a result of this. • 72 percent of returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq support those wars and a large percentage would like to rejoin their units. • Osama bin Laden may no longer exist. No one is sure about this. • President Bush has repeatedly made it clear the war on terrorists, with its many complexities, is not going to be easy, however necessary to pursue. • Please keep in mind that terrorists are determined to destroy America. If we really love our country, we are going to defend it. The American Legion creed states, in part, “For God and Country.” • For 12 years before the war in Iraq, all negotiations failed. The U.N. was part of this. • Our current economy is at an all-time high and unemployment at an all-time low. A natural cause-and-effect to this is that literacy is also on the rise. (See Newsmax April 2006 issue, page 51) • Along with all our freedoms, the right to criticize is among them. Expressing a deep concern for America, we would all benefit from constructive suggestions as to how best to remedy perceived poor decision-making. Publicly criticizing the war effort emboldens Al Qaida and terrorists everywhere. It will only cause greater prolonged danger to our troops and this is something all veterans are concerned about. Mary, please join us in supporting our president, our nation and our troops. Bob Fletcher and Robert Ritzer Nicholas P. Lesando Jr. Post 214 American Legion