In his letter of Sept. 5, Dr. Paul Corrao compared the New York convention to the 1968 convention of the opposite political party. In addition, he talks about the “stupid and senseless war in Iraq” and that we need “born-again leaders.”

I’m appalled at the professional ignorance, which is only matched by Hollywood. Aside from his political views, I will respond to his two other statements.

He compares Vietnam (his war) to Iraq. If he would recall, there was too much politics concerning Vietnam, so we pulled out and lost everything we had fought for. Please, let the military do its job. I am in Iraq. I have talked to some of the people of Iraq and, unlike Vietnam, I do not wish to sacrifice the Iraqi peoples’ nor our own soldiers’ lives in vain. Let’s finish what we started. Give me an order and I will follow, but we do not need wishy-washy leadership.

I may be uneducated in this arena, but the “born-again” types that I know have the same holier-than-thou attitudes (closed mindedness) that have kept religious wars going for centuries. That is something we do not need.

As for a leader, maybe someone like Lee Iacocca, who proved himself as a dedicated visionary and who was willing to put money aside to prove himself. Until then, let’s not let history repeat itself.

Rich Hatch, Mosul, Iraq
Editor’s note: Staff Sgt. Hatch serves with the 133rd Engineer Battalion, C Company in Mosul, Iraq. He lives in Hebron.

Copy the Story Link