Web Letters: Obama vs. the Smart Guys (and Dumb Wars)

Giving a speech a few years denouncing entering into a war with Iraq is one thing. Talk is cheap. Many Americans knew then it was based on lies. But no one knows how Obama would have voted on the issue, which is the crux of the problem I and others have with the guy. We just don't know him. However, we are beginning to now, with his recent support of FISA--contrary to earlier avowals to the opposite--and his support of extending even more government funds to faith-based programs. "Obama vs. the Smart Guys" is an affront to those of us have been much smarter than mainstream media, six years ago and now. The war was wrong, and we knew it then. Obama is an unknown quantity, and some of you are learning it now. I am not surprised.

Dana Stoker Cochran

Bramwell, WV

Obama voted against invading Iraq, but has voted for all budget support of the military occupation. That's smart war?

Morgan Stanley, in its latest ad, touts that the US gets a D rating on infrastructure and that it will cost $1.6 trillion to rebuild our infrastructure. What Morgan Stanley doesn't note is that $1.6 trillion is just about the cumulative cost of the Iraq invasion and military occupation to date.

Morgan Stanley also fails to note that the dramatic coastal highway bridge in its ad photo is in Madeira and was built entirely with EU subsidies.

Obama has not given us any specifics on how he intends to rebuild US infrastructure, while paying down the current $1.6 trillion Iraq war cost, as well as maintaining a military presence in Iraq, which he supports.

Smart? Or just politically smooth scamming?

R.H. Weber

Geneva, Switzerland