Diplomacy better than quick policy

To the editor:

Part of my life experience includes having lived around terrorists in Sri Lanka for two years with the CIA ultimately using me as an informant. As terrorism is no mystery to me, I'd like to share some of what I've learned.

Confronting terrorism with violent force is like throwing gasoline on fire. The more you strong-arm the oppressed, the less they and their progeny have to live for except revenge. Veteran CIA analyst Ray McGovern's likening terrorists to mosquitoes in a swamp during his recent speech in Cape Girardeau was an apt characterization. See RayMcGoverninCape.org. You must address the root causes.

This view is shared by many others. All 16 U.S. intelligence agencies have now spoken out formally through a national intelligence estimate, concluding that the Iraq conflict has bred "a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and [cultivated] support for the terrorists." This is not a partisan opinion. The director of national intelligence signed the document. It's reality.

Senators Talent and Bond and Representative Emerson were invited, along with Mr. McGovern, to present their views on the Middle East at the event last month. Our congressional representatives could have explained their ongoing support of Bush's war policy, the loss of life and the massive federal deficits generated. Instead, they chose to conveniently duck the issue and stay away.

If security is the goal, we should vote for those who'll demand diplomacy, not partisans who rubber-stamp short-sighted foreign policies that daily make Americans everywhere less safe.

JOY BELL, Cape Girardeau