Opinion

Posted on Sun, Nov. 01, 2009

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Letters to the editor on Afghanistan, trash, mental health, health care, traffic tickets, 'curb' offense, bike racks

Take high ground, leave Afghanistan

Matthew Hoh's recent resignation from the U.S. Foreign Service made a statement important for all of us to hear and for President Obama to act on.

Hoh's resignation was not based "upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end." He was referring to the war in Afghanistan, and his resignation was a protest based on his experience as a Marine captain in Iraq and his service at the Pentagon and the State Department.

Hoh says the United States is backing a corrupt and weak national government, and for eight years has been sending soldiers to die in a 35-year-long civil war. The Americans are seen by Afghans as occupiers, and the result is the growth of a so-called insurgency trying to defend their families, homes, villages and valleys.

I believe there is no way to assure U.S. families of fallen soldiers, nor this country as a whole, that we have any business adding more troops, killing more civilians and spending billions more dollars when there are no answers to the questions of "why" and "to what end."

Let's take the moral high ground and get out of Afghanistan now. Let's have a foreign policy with more integrity and less blood.

MICHAEL POAGE

Wichita

Trash discount?

I appreciate Wichita City Manager Robert Layton's struggle to get a franchised trash system going in Wichita (Oct. 24 Eagle). I am more than 80 years old. Because I take all my recyclables to Dillons, I hardly have much trash. When I called my trash hauler to see if I could get some sort of discount, it informed me I already was getting one. With my bill at $66.71, I find that ludicrous. City Council, take note.

MARY PRESTON VAN ARSDALE

Wichita

Cost of closure

Thank you, Eagle, for letting the public know that the state is considering closing its hospitals for the mentally and developmentally disabled in Topeka and Parsons in hopes of saving money ("Panel calls for closing hospital for disabled," Oct 28 Local & State). It is considering sending all patients to residential group homes. But at what cost?

Anyone with a third-grade education knows it costs more to operate multiple sites compared with only one. Who is going to oversee the quality of care in each location?

Is it not true that a large number of our homeless population are mentally disabled? And is it not true that this population clogs up our judicial system and our emergency rooms every day at a high cost to taxpayers?

Though the Facilities Closure and Realignment Commission does not say the current patients will be released, many of us remember exactly that happening when the state decided to close many of our mental hospitals years ago. So what fox will be in charge of this henhouse?

JUDY YOUNG

Wichita

Model program

There are many services for the mentally ill in Wichita, but the people who run them can make a huge difference. The staff at Venture House is made up of individuals who are truly compassionate and enjoy a good laugh when appropriate. They have counseled me about how to budget my money, and they have the people skills that are sometimes lacking in other organizations.

When our former president supported "faith-based" charities, they were often of the crackpot variety. Venture House is an example of how faith-based programs should be.

TROY COX

Wichita

Need public option

A realistic public health insurance option would act both as a safety net for those currently uninsured and as a bottom standard for private insurance companies to be judged against. The failure of private insurance companies to provide fair and reasonable low-cost insurance is at the root of the current national health crisis.

ALDEN CONSOLVER

Wichita

Low profits

I really get disgusted when the Democrats and various news organizations keep bashing the health insurance industry as greedy companies that love to deny coverage to their policyholders, raise their rates anytime and cancel their policies at will, and that are raking in big profits at the expense of our citizens.

Financial profiles online show that health care plans have an average net profit margin of only 3.3 percent. In comparison, drug manufacturers have a 16.7 percent average net profit margin, and railroads have a 12.7 percent average profit margin.

Please stick with the facts, not what most of the news media and the Democratic Party are trying to convince you is true.

DONALD L. NORRIS

Wichita

Care free

It is a pity that the proposal by state Rep. Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, was not adopted before I retired ("Group seeks state amendment on health care," Oct. 28 Local & State). Think of all the years I would have been spared making those government-mandated contributions to Medicare. By now I could have been totally (health) care free.

With the help of my anti-government friends, I may still achieve it. Perhaps physicians and other health care workers will be able to find gainful employment in some more worthy field.

DAVID CHILDS

Kechi

Database gossip

I understand freedom of information. However, The Eagle posting a searchable database for traffic tickets serves no purpose but to get the city of Wichita gossiping (Oct. 25 Eagle). Though I agree that it's entertaining, it really only opens the door for nosy people to check out you and your loved ones and make judgments.

RYAN DAVIDSON

Wichita

Insulting Christians

In a recent episode of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the main character accidentally urinated on a picture of Jesus. What astounds me is that we live in a country in which more than 70 percent of people identify themselves as Christians, yet apparently people find it humorous to urinate on a picture of the leader of that religion, Jesus Christ, and simply excuse it away by saying that the show is full of parody and satire.

I would find it very hard to believe that any other religious leader would be denigrated in such a way. In fact, the New York Times and Yale University Press refused to print the cartoons depicting Muhammad because they did not want to offend Muslim Americans.

I have no desire to see other religious leaders insulted. My concern is that it seems the only religion that is fair game is the one with which most Americans identify. Are we only to be tolerant and respectful of religions that are in the minority? Well, I am in the majority, and I am offended.

CLIFTON CURRY

Haysville

Bicycle benefits

The bike racks being added to Wichita buses, as reported by Visioneering Wichita, are a potentially significant benefit to Wichitans and visitors. Bicycle riding is an excellent form of exercise, promotes health, does not pollute the atmosphere and is good for the local economy.

However, there are not many bike paths in Wichita. In addition, many automobile drivers seem unaccustomed to bicycles and routinely ignore them on city streets; these drivers subject bicyclists to risks of unnecessary injury and even death.

To correct this situation, police must substantially upgrade their enforcement of traffic regulations. A few friends who have moved to Wichita from other cities have stopped bicycling because they have seen, or been involved in, so many accidents and near-misses.

DWIGHT K. OXLEY

Wichita