Report contradicts views on Iraq

To the editor:

A recent, marginalized news item illustrates a typical problem these days. A report by the Defense Science Board for the Pentagon -- an organization under Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld -- states several findings that contradict Fox News and much of what commonly passes for the truth out here in the red states.

The report states that the war in Iraq is creating more hostility toward the United States and more terrorists.

Also, terrorists do not "hate us for our freedoms," but rather for our history in the region and our policies.

Those watching the details during the last two years also know that the White House has admitted that there were no significant links to al-Qaida and no WMDs.

A little reading also reveals that the justifications for going to war were not intelligence failures, but White House-related manipulations of the data.

We are engaged in war without end, a war which began with an unnecessary invasion of Iraq, a war which has nothing to do with fighting terrorists. There will likely be a draft. There will also be budget deficits without end, probably leading to a devaluation of the dollar or some similar economic catastrophe.

The perplexing thing is that people voted for and continue to believe in President Bush -- even in the face of the latest Defense Department report and all of the reports that preceded it. Bush has led us to disaster. Lies and distortions represent neither moral nor family values.

JUSTIN HEAD, Cape Girardeau