Patriots should speak out with courage

To the editor

I agree with Robert Polack Jr. and wish to express my support for the right to political dissent. Being a small-D democrat is not a matter of party allegiance. It is rooted in the concept that makes people free in their thoughts and actions.

The overall intent of the Constitution and the ideal of American liberty was to thwart tyranny and support moral idealism. We need more often to refer back to the original ideals and try to display moral rectitude in our actions. If we are believers in true democracy, we need not act as economic tyrants or imperialists, using the banner of freedom to supplant the underlying motive of fear or greed.

Simple lust for power and control seems to be advancing our current and long-standing policy toward the Middle East. In true democratic ideology and practice, this is unconscionable and indefensible on any grounds.

I support the president of this country to the degree that his actions (and statements) are logical and prudent, not the words and actions of a belligerent or a bully. I agree with Polack that containment is possible for Saddam Hussein, if in fact Saddam presents the threat that some would have us believe.

I urge all patriots to speak out with courage. Perhaps some logic will bear fruit in an effort to bring peace to a region and to the world. Are we warriors for peace or warriors for war? It seems that simple.

JOHN W. FORD

Jackson