The toll of war

Re “It’s losing we hate, not war,” Opinion, Nov. 30

Jonah Goldberg’s column is full of appalling positions on the “grotesque stupidity” of the comparison of the war in Iraq to World War II. Among the worst are “[Iraq hasn’t] cost very many American lives” and “Days don’t cost anything, lives do.” The loss of a single life in Iraq was too many based on the dishonesty, hubris and foolhardiness that got us there. As for days not costing us anything, let’s not forget the billions of dollars spent each month and the undeniable loss of respect around the world.

These problems (not to mention Iraqi civilian deaths) increase every day we stay in Iraq.

JOHN ASHBY

Woodland Hills

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I lost my father in Vietnam when I was a kindergartner in Pasadena, so obviously I have my personal concerns with issues of war and peace. Goldberg trivializes Iraq’s human toll with the casual assurance of a person who has never known firsthand the pain of losing a loved one to a time and place of someone else’s choosing. He appears impervious to the reluctant opinion shared by a growing majority of Americans that President Bush deliberately misled this country into initially supporting his whim.

Vietnam showed that we have neither a prolonged tolerance for incompetence nor the patience to suffer the fools who practice such as a matter of public policy. Sadly, that profound lesson has been ignored by the likes of Bush and Goldberg.

DONALD KOELPER

Honolulu