I write letters

Here's a letter that I just sent to my Senators and Congressman. I'm also mailing the same, and I'll be calling when I get the chance. If you like the letter and think it represents your views, feel free to steal it, alter it, whatever. Just send something to your representatives to let them know that the current US response to the situation in the Middle East is not acceptable.

Senator Barbara Boxer
SH-112
Washington, D.C. 20510-0505


Dear Senator Boxer,

The United States of America has a long tradition of brokering peace through diplomacy, especially in the Middle East. Since the creation of the state of Israel, US Presidents have brought Arabs and Israelis together in attempts to forge a lasting peace in the region. At the present, George W Bush is tarnishing this tradition, perhaps irreparably.

Whenever hostilities have broken out in the past between Israel and the Arab world, the US and the United Nations have been at the forefront, trying to achieve a cease-fire and resolve the conflicts diplomatically. This is the much more reasonable approach, as it removes from the leaders the stresses and emotions of open war, and spares the population from needless death and destruction.

I encourage you, therefore, to support all measures in the Senate which would call on the President to use diplomacy in the current conflict between Israel and Lebanon. If no such resolutions are pending, I suggest that you sponsor or co-sponsor one.

It seems, at present, as though the US position is to give Israel time to rain death and chaos upon Lebanon. The stated purpose for this is to weaken Hizbollah; the actual result is to undo decades of progress in Lebanon and to terrorize the innocent population of that nation. As a country which used to value diplomacy over making war, the United States can not allow this to continue, and we cannot allow the President to stand idly by.

Thank you.

[The Disgruntled Chemist]
Irvine, CA