I found Representative Mike Thompson”s letter to the editor (Record-Bee, Sept. 11) published on the anniversary of 9/11 to be ironic. He calls for “redeployment” of our troops and “finding a diplomatic strategy for quelling the violence in Iraq and rooting out terrorism both in Iraq and around the globe.”
It was al-Quida that was responsible for the deaths and damage that occurred on 9/11. It is the same al-Quida that we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. And quite well since the surge has fully ramped up. How in the world do you find “diplomatic solutions” with people who find glory in the slaughter of innocents and who find paradise in martyrdom? How does our quitting the fight (redeployment) protect “our own safety and that of the Iraqi people?”
I can respect Thompson”s position on the war even though I disagree with him. But I found the timing of his letter on the anniversary of 9/11, the date of al-Quida infamy, rather odd.
Albert F. Bernal
Clearlake
Editor”s Note: The Record-Bee received Rep. Thompson”s statement Monday evening for publication Tuesday as a response to General David Petraeus” report to Congress earlier that day.
