Friendly Fire Letters

Letters (Feb. 15) about Conrad’s cartoon captioned “Friendly fire” (Feb. 6) suprised me because the writers apparently missed the point. “Friendly fire” is the perfect oxymoron.

The obscene term friendly (designed to replace the accurate description which would be “accidentally killed by our own fire”) is what should be attacked by all of us! The politicians and military high-ups should have to tell the truth (omitting security information) instead of all this doublespeak and “newspeak,” which seems designed to diffuse, disguise and soften the harsh facts. We all have to pay for and suffer the consequences for the actions of our elected and appointed officials who are not always wise . . . the public relations control being used on the press and the citizens of this country is real shameful culprit.

The political cartoonists are usually clever and brave even if it’s “difficult to look at,” as one writer stated. They try to present the truth, painful as it might be, by getting our attention. Conrad ranks with the best.

ARTIE KANE

Los Angeles