Web Letters: The Balance Begins to Tip Against Cheney

The unspeakable crime of Cheney is that with CIA help, he and Gen Rashid Dostum quite possibly secretly and illegally engineered the early-2001 events of Dasht-i-Leili, in Afghanistan. This may prove a fruitful avenue of enquiry, and even if it doesn't pan out, that massacre certainly hasn't gotten the notice it deserves.

Stephen G. Frischmuth

San Antonio, TX

In re the involvement of VP GHW Bush in Iran/Contra: remember that one of the first actions of Bush the Younger was to prevent the release of Daddy's papers.

Maybe the senatorial Democrats are finally getting enough calcium to take on some of these issues. There's so much public evidence against Cheney, even the timid Sen. Feinstein cannot avoid taking up the cause.

Stay tuned.

Madi Green

Arlington, VA

On September 11, 2001, 3,000 Americans were murdered by a group of psychopaths who still want to attack us and would love to do so with a weapon of mass destruction. These crazies don't want to kill a few dozen Americans and would love to kill tens of thousands--or more. What's incredible about this story is that the plan was never made operational. Does the left wing believe the best thing to do would be to capture the terrorists and bring them to trial? Since their leadership is surrounded by dozens of armed terrorists, that will never happen. America has every legal and moral right to go after terrorists with all its might.

We send predator drones over Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan to take out high profile targets, but for some reason we seem to have a problem doing so on the ground. Leon Panetta was correct in informing Congress about the plan, and Congress should never have been kept in the dark, but as an American I am furious that our top intelligence agency scrapped a plan that would gone far to prevent future attacks. That alone should be the subject of a behind-closed-doors Congressional investigation.

We have a president who has reached out to the Moslem world to let them know America is not their enemy. and that is good. but the problem is not 1.2 billion Muslims but instead a small minority who are bent on our destruction. These people are not going to stop trying to hit us again, no matter who is president, no matter how much we pressure Israel, and no matter how much we take our outreach to Muslims in the Arab world. They hate America, they hate our freedoms, our way of life, our assumed permissiveness, and the only reason we have not been attacked again has been because of the dedication of our intelligence personnel and because, frankly, of good luck.

What the American people need to know is not only why was Congress kept in the dark, but why on earth the program was never made operational. Going after those who committed mass murder and want to commit murder on a larger scale is something our government should be doing, not avoiding.

Mark Jeffery Koch

Cherry Hill, NJ

Please, please, let it be so! I have been waiting since before the election in 2000 to see justice be served for these crooked sons of bitches.

I could be wrong, but am willing to bet a dollar against a dog turd and let Herr Cheney hold the stakes in his mouth for eternity that every Rethuglican son of a bitch who served under the fascist Bush administration is guilty of high treason. They all need to be tried judged and pay the price for their malfeasance.

I was born in the United States, but immigrated to Tahiti as I could take no more of the Republican form of government. I still vote in the USA, hoping against hope that one day America will see the light and come to its senses.

I worked for the past decade trying to change matters, and with President Obama at the helm, I think you have that chance. Now all you have to do is keep his feet to the fire and watch his back.

Just this old chief's 2¢.

Kenneth R. Jackson

Uturoa, Raiatea, ISLV French Polynesia

As I came online, I noted an article that quoted retired intelligence operatives saying that the program was a result of a presidential finding to kill or capture Al Qaeda leaders. Since a number of them have been killed or captured, I do not see why Congress would not be notified. This "explanation" sounds like disinformation to me. There is something very illegal, and, probably, very stupid about this program. If Cheney was involved, it was probably illegal and stupid.

Pervis James Casey

Riverside, CA