Surge is failing, despite reports
Editor:
Our media constantly state "the surge is working!" Not true! One thousand more soldiers have died. We are paying $12 billion a month as our economy slides into recession. Afghanistan worsens.
The troops will not come home in June. And now Iran-backed Shiites put down U.S.-backed al Maliki government Shiites. Tribal Sunnis we've armed wait to attack Shiites. Meanwhile, millions are refugees.
What is working? Corruption. For six years Republicans refused to allow congressional oversight committees to function. Billions disappeared into one agency and al Maliki government refused to prosecute.
The Nation magazine says U.S. airstrikes were five times more in 2007 than 2006. This year opened with 100,000 pounds of explosives dropped south of Baghdad.
Disaster won't happen when we leave Iraq. It's already there. When will we recognize "the self-evident barbarism" of our policy?
Elinore Taylor
Huntington
Dems will stop mountain mining
Editor:
I was disappointed by Sen. Clinton's failure to fully address the issue of mountaintop removal. I hope she takes time to understand the devastation that the practice causes. This is not a matter of economy versus the environment. To destroy the mountains, waterways, forests and even whole communities of West Virginia is not only immoral and illegal; it doesn't make good economic sense. There are better ways to mine coal. Deep mining employs far more miners. If only the UMW and the West Virginia politicians were not so corrupted by coal company money they would see this.
It's encouraging to see so many new young voters getting involved in the Democratic primaries this year. Maybe a Democratic president and Congress will have the foresight to put an end to mountaintop removal. With the voters on their side, there's no reason for elected officials to be afraid of the coal companies.
The Democratic Party needs to understand that if they give in to big-money special-interest lobbyists they will lose voters and we could get another Republican administration, something the country cannot afford in times like these.
William Dwyer
Glenville
Doctor outclasses CAMC executives
Surge is failing, despite reports
Editor:
Our media constantly state "the surge is working!" Not true! One thousand more soldiers have died. We are paying $12 billion a month as our economy slides into recession. Afghanistan worsens.
The troops will not come home in June. And now Iran-backed Shiites put down U.S.-backed al Maliki government Shiites. Tribal Sunnis we've armed wait to attack Shiites. Meanwhile, millions are refugees.
What is working? Corruption. For six years Republicans refused to allow congressional oversight committees to function. Billions disappeared into one agency and al Maliki government refused to prosecute.
The Nation magazine says U.S. airstrikes were five times more in 2007 than 2006. This year opened with 100,000 pounds of explosives dropped south of Baghdad.
Disaster won't happen when we leave Iraq. It's already there. When will we recognize "the self-evident barbarism" of our policy?
Elinore Taylor
Huntington
Dems will stop mountain mining
Editor:
I was disappointed by Sen. Clinton's failure to fully address the issue of mountaintop removal. I hope she takes time to understand the devastation that the practice causes. This is not a matter of economy versus the environment. To destroy the mountains, waterways, forests and even whole communities of West Virginia is not only immoral and illegal; it doesn't make good economic sense. There are better ways to mine coal. Deep mining employs far more miners. If only the UMW and the West Virginia politicians were not so corrupted by coal company money they would see this.
It's encouraging to see so many new young voters getting involved in the Democratic primaries this year. Maybe a Democratic president and Congress will have the foresight to put an end to mountaintop removal. With the voters on their side, there's no reason for elected officials to be afraid of the coal companies.
The Democratic Party needs to understand that if they give in to big-money special-interest lobbyists they will lose voters and we could get another Republican administration, something the country cannot afford in times like these.
William Dwyer
Glenville
Doctor outclasses CAMC executives
Editor:
I am a retired RN who gave the CAMC Memorial operating room 27 years of my life. I was there when Dr. R.E. Hamrick Jr. performed his first surgical procedure. This young man was not only a gentleman but also a very talented and skilled surgeon. He was a tremendous asset to the surgical staff and generated a tremendous amount of revenue for CAMC with his surgical abilities.
Bureaucrats, CEOs and vice presidents who spend their time attending meetings and making rules for all those who actually have direct patient care have not experienced what it is like to hold the hand of a dying patient or cry with a family member who has lost a loved one. May I say if a member of your family is in need of surgery, you had better pray Dr. R.E. Hamrick Jr. is there to take care of your loved one - instead of an overpaid administrator.
I left CAMC as I came there: no health insurance, no pharmacy insurance and no retirement benefits. But I did leave knowing I had the privilege and pleasure of working many years alongside one of the finest surgeons to ever walk through the operating room doors of CAMC Memorial Division.
Patty Morgan, RN
Summersville
Inmate anxious to rejoin family
Editor:
I will be released from the Federal Correctional Institution here in Morgantown today.
My son Derrick will pick me up at the front gate and drive me to the Bannum Place in Rand. This is a halfway house that will prepare me to re-enter the free world.
I have completed 61 months of an 87-month sentence for racketeering. I was granted an eight-month reduction for completing a residential drug/alcohol program known as RDAP.
It has been a long, hard road - one I will never forget. I have paid my debt to society and am looking forward in going home to my family, including my three new grandchildren.
One thing I don't have to worry about right away is gas prices, because I don't even own a car. I'm thinking maybe a scooter like Spider-Man rides.
Danny R. Wells
Federal Correctional Institute
Morgantown
