•Lingle left us walking • What about Iraq? • Measuring justice • A real scenario Lingle left us walking I am one of the striking Wilcox nurses and when I heard that Gov. Linda Lingle was visiting our picket line,
•Lingle left us walking
• What about Iraq?
• Measuring justice
• A real scenario
Lingle left us walking
I am one of the striking Wilcox nurses and when I heard that Gov. Linda Lingle was visiting our picket line, I was hopeful Hawai‘i’s top elected official was visiting our picket line and willing to talk with us nurses.
While I am glad she came to visit us yesterday, I was quite disappointed. She did not want to learn about the details of the negotations nor the details of HPH/Wilcox’s recent cruel and punitive proposals. She said numerous times that she would not take sides, but said very little about the serious concern regarding quality healthcare for Kaua‘i’s people.
Gov. Lingle, this strike is not about money, it’s about quality patient care for Kaua‘i’s people. While the vast majority of Kaua‘i’s people recognize this is what we Kaua‘i nurses are striking for, you disappointed and puzzled me by not making a clear statement expressing concern about Kaua‘i’s healthcare situation.
I picked up a copy of Sunday’s The Garden Island and saw the article titled “Lingle war chest dwarfs money raised by Democrat challengers” on page A3. The article listed the Campaign Spending Commission Web site and I was curious to see who contributes to her campaign. To my dismay, I discovered that Hawaii Pacific Health’s CEO and President Charles (Chuck) A. Sted has contributed $5,500 to Gov. Lingle’s campaign.
Gov. Lingle, is this why you won’t take a stand regarding Kaua‘i’s healthcare crisis? Is this why you won’t get involved in helping to end the strike? Do you support Chuck Sted almost insulating himself in Honolulu? Do you support him making all the key decisions in Honolulu while not even coming on Kaua‘i?
Please show this isn’t so, by demanding that your supporter Chuck Sted comes to Kaua‘i to settle this strike immediately.
What about Iraq?
What is happening in Israel and Lebanon is important but it is a diversion from what is happening in Iraq.
Since this has become the hot news item, there is nothing being reported on what is going on in Iraq.
Is this another government cover-up for what they are doing there?
I believe this is a diversion from the real facts.
Measuring justice
Reasonable people can disagree, but Janos Samu’s “localized” example regarding Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon, the destruction of infrastructure and mounting civilian death toll may not be as far off the mark as suggested by the writers of “A local perspective on the Mideast” and “Apples and Grenades” (Letters, The Garden Island, Aug. 1, A4).
On Dec. 16, 1989, one U.S. Marine was killed by Panamanian Defense Forces for allegedly fleeing a checkpoint. On Dec. 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama. The United States kidnapped Manuel Noriega, Panama’s head of state, took him to the United States and convicted him of drug trafficking. The United States invasion destroyed El Chorrillo, a heavily populated neighborhood in Panama City.
What is the measure of justice in innocent civilian lives to put a CIA-connected, drug-dealing dictator in prison? Depending on whose numbers you believe, between 200 and 4,000 Panamanian civilians were killed in the invasion of Panama by U.S. forces. Measuring justice in years is far more accurate. Noriega is expected to be released from a U.S. prison on Sept. 9, 2007, after being in custody for 17 years. Depending on whose numbers you accept, that’s one year for every 12 civilians killed, or one year for every 235 civilians killed.
Evidently this cost in innocent foreign civilian lives is a price government leaders believe is worth paying. They justify such killings as unintended and unfortunate collateral damage.
My question is how many innocent people need to die from the collateral damage caused by governments attempting to bringing a few evil-doers to justice before the victims families and friends develop a bad attitude, become ticking time bombs, and are then labeled terrorists that need killing? Must we destroy our global village to save it?
A real scenario
In response to the “Paying for the War” letter published this Monday by a Kalaheo resident, here’s your letter of support for Israel.
First, apples and oranges. If you want to complain about the cost of war and how you feel our government is wasting tax dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hop on that band wagon all you want. If you want to point out how much money we give to Israel, the only real democratic nation in the Middle East, that’s fine too.
Blow your horn.
But to compare the Hezbollah to “pakalolo growers?” Your ignorance of the Middle East situation is greater than your comparative reasoning in this conflict. To put it quick, here is a correct “localized” scenario:
Imagine if you would, the whole world basically against us, the United Nations wants us to allow a radical extremist group access and land rights in our country. They claim Washington D.C. as their capital and no country will set up an embassy in D.C. There is conflict as to whose capital it really is. This group has written in their charter that their goal is our destruction. Mexico and Cuba have attacked us a few times, along with some other central American nations.Then Canada, our supposed friend, allows another radical extremist group to set up their own mini country right on our border. They are also sworn to kill us and have grown so powerful, Canada can no longer control them. Both groups undermine our nation, launch suicide attacks against our people constantly and receive weapons and support from other nations. This group launches random attacks against our border cities, then one day launches a raid into our country, killing people and kidnapping two of our border patrol officers. As we begin to retaliate they launch Soviet and Chinese made missiles at our cities. What do you think we would do? We would not give a crap what the world thought, we would pummel them into the Polar Caps and own Canada. Period. This is Lebanon and Hezbollah. Hezbollah, Hamas, PLO are all pledged to the destruction of Israel and they have the military and financial support of almost every nation surrounding them. Only the U.S. supports Israel full time. You’re damn right we give them money, or else there would be no Israel. There was another radical extremist group that tried to do that a few years back, maybe you remember them: Nazi Germany. But maybe you feel there was no Holocaust? Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I sat in Beirut, Lebanon as a U.S. Marine and watched Hezbollah drive car bombs into buildings, toppling them and killing innocent civilians. Over and over again. They shoot their rockets from schoolyards and hospitals and use innocent women and children as shields. Pakalolo growers and feds?
I don’t think so.
