War: Been called a coward by better

It never fails to amaze me that people result to name calling, an adolescent behavior that probably should have been concluded upon graduation of grade school, when they don’t understand all of the facts. I refer to Mr. Rush’s response (Letters, Jan. 18) to the war against Iraq protest.

Mr. Rush accused me of being responsible for the deaths of Iraqis and of being a coward for exercising my right to freedom of speech. That’s fine because I respect Mr. Rush’s right to thoughtlessly voice his irrational hatred on issues he has not a clue. After all, we live in America.

I would like to point out I have been titled a coward by much more important people than Mr. Rush. I was called a coward by Saddam Hussein during operation Dessert Storm. I was also called a coward by Ayatollah Khomeini when he took 52 hostages from the American Embassy and he called me a coward when we were in Iran to rescue the hostages. I was called a coward by Mu’ammar Qadhafi when we bravely crossed his “Line of Death.” He also called me a coward after our two planes shot down two of his planes.

Oh, did I mention that I was called a coward by the American people when I came home after a year in Vietnam? I was not only a coward, but I was a baby killer as well. I can honestly say though, I have killed as many Iraqis as I have Vietnamese babies. Prejudicial, ignorant, hatred spewing out of the mouths of people who simply did not have a clue, kind of like Mr. Rush.

Had Mr. Rush taken the time to ask me what I was protesting before calling me names, I would have reminded Mr. Rush that his President promised to get those responsible for the 3,000 murders on Sept. 11. A promise he has not kept. I would have explained, very slowly to Mr. Rush, that Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda attacked the US on Sept. 11 and that Saddam and N. Korea had nothing to do with the attack that has been proven.

Fact is, coward or not, after the Mighty Bully Bush turns Iraq into a shopping mall parking lot, Bin Laden will still be a free man and his Al-Qaeda will be even stronger than they are now.

George W. Pardington

Oak Harbor

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