Dear Sir, this article is in response to the article “The State of America.” At first glance I thought this article was a satire, it was so riddled with bizarre statements and backwards logic I was sure the author was pulling our legs but I was sadly mistaken. Let me begin by pointing out the inaccuracies of the article. Oh, and, I would also like the readers to note that as with most left-wing critics of America and President Bush the author complains and attacks but offers no solutions of his own. In the letter to the author, Maxwell Owen Clark, poses the question “If the American march of democracy is the same dreadful lampoon of Afghanistan, Palestine and now the elections in Iraq, what confidence can we have in democracy here at home?” I had trouble with this question because of three major things. One, the election in Afghanistan was a great success with a peaceful and orderly vote that included women for the first time.

Two, elections in Palestine are the only way to stabilize the region. Again, the elections there were not perfect but they were a great step forward, a step towards peace. Three, I fail to see any connection between foreign elections and the validity of our own democratic process. For one thing, as you know, America just had yet another successful election and peaceful transfer of power. In his article Clark fails to bring any evidence to the table as to why these elections could be indeed classified as he put it “dreadful lampoon[s].” The next part of Clark’s article is even more mystifying to me than it is self-defeating towards him. Clark states, “If the Bush administration cannot spend the monetary equivalent of even one tenth of a month in Iraq to aid the deep tragedy of the Indonesian tsunami, can we securely say that our health and safety are worth anything more?”

First of all this figure is incorrect given that the Bush administration has pledged 350 million dollars to aid countries hit by the tsunami, second only to Japan’s 500 million. But if indeed this figure were even true it really hurts Clark’s argument because the U.S. would be the second highest provider of relief despite fighting a costly war in Iraq. In others words we provided enormous relief when we ourselves were feeling the pinch. Clark also calls the liberation of Iraq “parasitic,” this of course is false because we are giving, not taking from Iraq. Again, Clark makes this claim without providing any evidence to support it. The most likely cause of this lack of evidence is the fact that no evidence exists to support his claims. After all that is the nature of false claims. The next part of Clark’s article includes the most shocking, disgusting and offensive statement that I personally have ever heard. I call on all in our community, both right and left, to denounce it. Clark says, “…the Iraqi people are in a desperate self-defense, predicated by the barbarism of a parasitic empire. Beyond simply protecting the lives and family, they have before them the truly democratic fight to regain an independent military, and economic and political determination of their nation. Any attempt to vilify these strong people as incapable of realizing such dreams is to the most debased racism of our times.”

This is completely erroneous and backwards. The insurgents in Iraq are not protecting their families or trying to engage in anything democratic. They are against democracy in Iraq. They target innocent civilians, women, children, Iraqi police; Iraqi poll-workers even aid workers. The most shocking example of this is British aid worker Margaret Hasson who ran the CARE relief organization in Iraq. This organization had been helping the suffering people of Iraq for over 30 years. The insurgents kidnapped the 60 year old relief worker and beheaded her. Because of this CARE was forced to pull out of Iraq. Just think about this for a minute. If “attempting to vilify” this type of violence is racism then I’m all for it.

The insurgency is not helping the Iraq people at all and is mostly made up of foreign fighters and Saddam supporters. The real heroes of this fight are the brave U.S. and British forces as well as the Iraqi police and poll workers, working with the U.S. to bring democracy and peace to Iraq. Even if one does not support the war in Iraq, why would one be against democracy there? I suggest that in the future Mr. Clark does more research, and chooses his words carefully before writing an article if he does not want to hurt his own cause. Clark’s article represents the hate filled unproductive, and incorrect speech that has been coming from the far left and as the last election has shown it has hurt their party to the highest degree. Post Script: The phrase “four more years” has been used by supporter’s of every U.S. President looking for a second term in recent years and is in no way “boorish”. God Bless America and George W. Bush (still the President at the request of the People.)