‘Time for dissension is before a war, not during it'

To the editor: After reading Richard Bennett’s diatribe on the supposed failures of the Bush presidency, while at the same time extolling the leadership of Bill Clinton, I have one question to ask: Just what is it that he is drinking? Mr. Bennet starts by saying that President Bush is threatening the Constitution (an obvious reference to the Patriot Act), inferred that the president was personally responsible for the torturing of prisoners, that he is first and foremost a “civil servant,” and that the war was completely and single-handedly forced on our Republic with “skewed” intelligence. Then for good measure, he shares with us his thoughts on the greatness of Bill Clinton. I think Mr. Bennet needs a history lesson. Can you imagine during World War II people complaining about wiretapping the enemy, especially those that may be on our shores? Or our Congress not showing a united front against our enemies? Do you think that the commander and chief of the armed forces can control what some overzealous, low-on-the-totem pole soldier does (which by the way wasn’t torture ... humiliation and wrong, yes, but if you want to see torture, watch our enemies and how they like to behead innocent people)? Perhaps Mr. Bennett feels that Clinton’s response to attacks that led up to 911 was preferable. In other words, do nothing and maybe they will go away. And of course the fact that Osama Bin Laden was offered to our illustrious past president on a silver platter (by Sudan) really has no place in this discussion because he was such a great “communicator.” And to top it off, Mr. Bennett’s jaded remarks that this war is about nothing more than a money grab is more leftist nonsense than I am willing to tolerate. The president’s first responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. The “skewed” intelligence Mr. Bennett speaks of was not skewed at all (recent intel from Hussein’s top general shows that the weapons were moved to Syria before we attacked). In my opinion, the actions of the Democratic side of the aisle in Congress has for the most part been treasonous. The time for dissension is before a war, not during it. It is sad that most of the left care more about their political power than they do of this country. There, I said it. If the shoe fits .... Jerry Berman Warwick