Letters to the Editor

Not one, but many

I usually agree with Tony Blankley, but this time, I must take exception (“Kerry’s fatal flaw,” Op-Ed, Wednesday). Sen. John Kerry doesn’t have “a fatal flaw.” He has a plethora of such flaws. Flip-flop by flip-flop, Mr. Kerry trudges toward his Waterloo — not Iowa, where primary voters believed he was their best hope against President Bush — but the Boston convention. On the final night, July 29, Mr. Kerry will walk to the dais and put the final nail in his electoral coffin as he sonorously pontificates on his acceptance of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. America will not understand exactly what Mr. Kerry said, or intended to say, that night. However, Mr. Kerry will go down in history as Massachusetts’ foremost authority, the Professor Irwin Corey of American politics.

HOUSTON SMITH

Lakewood, Colo.

Arlington will enforce law

S.A. Miller’s Monday article “Arlington to ignore law aimed at illegals” (Page 1) erroneously states that the Arlington County Police Department will ignore a new state law giving local police officers the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of a felony and deported. The article also misleadingly implies that the department’s policies and procedures leave Arlington vulnerable to gangs and terrorists. Finally, despite being provided with a copy of the department’s immigration enforcement policy, Mr. Miller omitted two of the five circumstances under which officers are authorized to work with federal immigration officials. Let me set the record straight.

To be clear, when the law goes into effect July 1, Arlington police officers will arrest known undocumented immigrants meeting the very narrow criteria set forth in the new law. It is important to note, however, that our current policy already authorizes officers to take action when they come into contact with undocumented immigrants who are convicted felons or are suspected of terrorism or gang activity. We are committed to using every available tool at our disposal to ensure the public’s safety.

However, far from being a “powerful weapon” to combat gangs and terrorism, the new law will apply only in extraordinarily limited circumstances and, at best, merely streamlines an existing process.

The issue of local police agencies enforcing federal immigration law is very complex. Separation of federal and local law enforcement authority, maintaining focus on the primary mission of enforcing state and local laws, making the best use of limited resources and ensuring the trust and cooperation of immigrant communities all affect how a department addresses the issue. This is reflectedinthemyriad immigration enforcement policies in effect across the nation.

Despite Mr. Miller’s best efforts to skew it otherwise, the Arlington County Police Department successfully balances these sometimes competing interests and will continue to keep the community’s safety and security as its focal mission.

M. DOUGLAS SCOTT

Chief of police

Arlington County Police Department

Arlington, Va.

Postnatal abortions

In answer to Dr. Hanes Swingle’s letter, “What wasn’t said at the rally” (Wednesday), I would like to point out what wasn’t said in his letter: Where is the concern for what happens to a child after he or she is born? According to an article that appeared in The Washington Times in November, a child living with his or her biological mother and a man who is not the biological father is 40 times more likely to be abused. Many such children are killed — what I call “postnatal abortion.”

Shouldn’t the probable future of the child be taken into account in the abortion decision? Many advocate adoption as an alternative. Yet have we solved the dilemma of whether the birth parents’ right to privacy supersedes the child’s right to know his or her parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.? (Can an adopted child unknowingly marry a close biological relative?)

I don’t like abortion, but with modern contraceptive techniques, there is little real need for it. Should a child be born to a girl or woman who is not responsible enough to take advantage of available contraception? And is it likely that in the foreseeable future, we taxpayers will be willing to spend more money for better enforcement of parental responsibilities?

ROGER D. LEONARD

Bowie , Md.

Vets honor North

As veterans of two of our nation’s wars, we would like to commend you for running Oliver North’s columns. His column from Iraq with the 1st Marine Division, “Faithful at the Frontier,” (Commentary, Sunday) was super. Camaraderie and resolve have been the hallmarks of our military forces (actually we noncareer folks often use the term “citizen soldiers”) for 250 years.

Without a doubt, those carrying on the tradition have every bit of the determination to complete their given mission that we experienced 50 and 60 years ago.

Will Mr. North be examining the current controversy about the Vietnam War record of Sen. John Kerry? Because Mr. North is a decorated combat veteran of Vietnam, his thoughts should be of interest to the public.

DONALD MCKEE

29th Infantry Division (World War II)

FRANK MCGRORY

1st Marine Division (Korean War)

Silver Spring, Md.

Is nothing sacred?

Your editorial “Photographs of heroes” (Thursday) surprised me, in that you and other conservative opinion makers do not understand what was wrong with displaying flag-draped coffins. The sick, vicious folks working to get Sen. John Kerry elected (such as MoveOn.org) will use those pictures to attack President Bush. For example: coffin after coffin being shown in a political TV ad with subliminal words attacking the president’s Iraq war policy. I would submit that showing those coffins is simply an intended “morale buster” by the antiwar crowd. Our valiant war dead deserve better than to be so used.

KEN WYMAN

Huntsville, Ala.

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I don’t accept your premise regarding photos of flag-draped coffins: that Americans need this visual stimulus to remind us of the ultimate cost of war and, second, that this display honors our fallen heroes, especially in this age of 24/7 news.

What it does do is open this sad result of war to media exploitation. Furthermore, such a focus showing sensitivity to casualties, thanks to the media, gives al Qaeda and its murdering ilk more propaganda material with which to recruit and encourage its cadre, confirming (falsely) that Americans have no stomach for casualties and are weak. Besides, flag-draped coffins are even more nameless and faceless than casualty lists.

Actually, I find media organizations supporting such photos to have a conflict of interest. They are in the business of making news, and anything seems fair game. The finest way to honor our fallen is to finish the work for which they gave their lives and endure our grief in private, with dignity, as we have done throughout our history.

BOB LOVELL

Cape May Court House, N.J.