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Henry Jaglom’s View of War Protest

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Henry Jaglom manifests the newest incarnation of McCarthyism in his Feb. 25 Counterpunch article when he implies that those who opposed the Gulf War did so only because it was our government policy. Through this device he automatically disposes of any serious examination of the reasons underlying opposition to the war.

Few would disagree with Jaglom’s characterization of Saddam Hussein. Yet most peace advocates--recognizing that 90% of the casualties in modern warfare are civilians and that military conflicts ultimately create far more problems than they solve--oppose war as a means of resolving differences.

Furthermore, many of us are distressed by President Bush’s rejection of peaceful means--sanctions and diplomacy--to address the problems of the Mideast; we fear that military means will become the automatic mode of conflict resolution in the future.

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We are troubled by the death of the American Dream as our nation labors to pay for its wars, past, present and future. And, finally, we are disturbed by the fact that under the guise of patriotism so many Americans were willing to scrap elements of the Bill of Rights, favoring instead military thought control and the manipulation of information by the government.

Jaglom’s approach precludes any reasonable dialogue with those having opinions different from his.

As a liberal, he laments the fact that he finds himself on the same side as “conservative Republican Presidents, militaristic Pentagon hawks and Charlton Heston.” What he fails to recognize is that by this approach he is not merely on the same side, he is actually one of them.

NORMA LITMAN, Whittier

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