Sample letters to the editor

Scrolll down and look at each. Then send one into your local paper using our email system. Follow the instructions and then cut an paste the text into the field provided.

More War is Still Not the Answer

To the editor:

Most Americans and people around the world want to see President Barack Obama succeed in office. However, his escalation of 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, as well as the ongoing occupation of Iraq, threaten to make a shambles of his domestic economic agenda, as well as his presidency, as the Vietnam War did to President Lyndon Johnson's presidency. 

Haven't we had enough of war? We need to devote all of our energy and attention to addressing the global economic and climate crises, and to improving education, housing and health care in this country, not squandering $2 billion per month on the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Unsurprisingly, the people of Afghanistan oppose an escalation of US troops. An ABC News poll at the end of 2008 found that only 18% of Afghans support an increase in the U.S. military presence.

As to fighting terrorism, a RAND Corporation study released last year found that only 7% of terrorist organizations end their terrorist activities because they are defeated by the use of military force.

President Obama's announcement of his Afghanistan and Pakistan policy last Friday did include some positive initiatives, including increased support for regional diplomacy and economic aid to the two countries. Those should be the cornerstones of US policy to end the strife in the region, as well as an overall foreign policy based on building real security through international cooperation and human rights. More war is still not the answer.

Sincerely,

Jane Q. Public
Yourtown, USA

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What Would King Do?

To the editor:

This Saturday, April 4 marks the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but also the anniversary of his "Beyond Vietnam" speech one year earlier. In that 1967 speech at the historic Riverside Church in New York City, King decried the "triple evils" plaguing our country - racism, militarism and economic exploitation. 

Were he alive, I'm sure Dr. King would urge President Barack Obama to use his political and rhetorical skills to call on our citizenry to cure these ills, still so prevalent in our society, rather than to continue the US occupation of Iraq and send an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan.

President Obama's domestic economic agenda - investing in resolving pressing problems on jobs, health care, education, housing and climate change - is put at grave risk by our exorbitant (possibly over $3 trillion) and seemingly endless wars. We can't afford to forego the crucial investments we need to make our communities stronger. We can't afford more war. We can't afford for the President to fail and risk returning our country to right-wing rule. 

Sincerely,

John Makepeace
Mytown USA

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Will Sending More Troops to Afghanistan Make the U.S. Safer? 

To the editor:

President Barack Obama's announcement that he will send an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan appears to be an extension of the failed policies of the Bush Administration's "Global War on Terror."

Certainly, a president's first job is to keep the country safe, but will escalating the war in Afghanistan do that? 

Numerous studies have concluded that the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan is the main reason for resurgent support for the Taliban there. And the New York Times reported last Friday that the planned US escalation has brought the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into closer alliance to fight the U.S. military build-up. A RAND Corporation study last year found that only 7% of terrorist organizations gave up their violent activities as a result of military defeat. Instead, reconciliation into the political process is a far more effective route. 

President Obama has announced increased support for regional diplomacy and economic aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and those should be the cornerstones of US policy, not escalating the fighting in a desperately poor country that has known little respite from war in decades. 

Sincerely,

Will B. Vigilant
Everytown, USA