The president on Afghanistan; safe climbing for children; a jury duty scofflaw

Obama’s war escalation

Re “Obama vows to break Taliban,” Dec. 2, and “Obama puts Afghan plan in motion,” Dec. 1

At last, a president who speaks to us as if we are adults. It seems clear there are no good choices regarding Afghanistan, but we know the president listened to multiple points of view and required participants to provide alternatives and data to justify those alternatives.

I have believed we should get out now, but the president made clear that the situation in Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons, is a key element driving his decision.

No matter what he decided, he would be criticized, but at least we did not have to listen to another “rousing” call to battle. He laid out the mess we confront and did not sugarcoat the problems.

I don’t like his decision to add more troops, but I can accept that it may be the best of the bad choices available.

Catherine Burke
San Gabriel

My plan is to smother Afghanistan and Pakistan with constructive kindness.

I would replace the estimated 100,000 American fighting men and women with an equal number of construction workers, architects and educators. They could build model villages and cities, improve the infrastructure, create schools and recreation facilities, and generally create a new environment and new hope for the masses there.

What I am describing creates jobs both for Americans now out of work and Afghan citizens.

Would it persuade Afghans to change their hostility to us and to one another? I don’t know. America’s Marshall Plan after World War II certainly influenced former enemies and friends and helped replace bullets with ballots.

Imagine turning rocky Afghanistan into a sunny San Fernando Valley instead of a cemetery.

Jacob Pressman
Beverly Hills

The Allies won World War II because of determination and will. Everyone pulled on the rope in the same direction.

I fear our well-meaning president is trying to be all things to all factions. That is said to be a formula for failure -- and it well might be in Afghanistan.

Either go in to win or get out. Stop trying to please everyone all the time.

Bob Aronoff
South Pasadena

I’m having a horrible dream. I’m dreaming that George W. Bush is still president and that in a speech, he announced he was ordering 30,000 more American soldiers to Afghanistan.

As usual, he gave the speech to a pro-war audience: an auditorium of cadets at West Point. He contended that the boost in troops will be temporary, a means to create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans for securing their own country and, most important, to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda at bay.

Someone please, please wake me. Thank goodness we elected Obama to stop this madness.

Robert Castro
Simi Valley

It was refreshing to listen to the president speaking about his plans for Afghanistan. Good content. Well thought out through meetings with his staff. Excellent presentation without tons of charts. Selected an excellent audience at West Point to make his sales pitch.

Finally, we have a president who has more than “oil” between his ears and can get his message across to “all” of America.

Robert F. Hudson
Perris, Calif.

Obama has a clock running, and the terrorists have the time to run out the clock.

Roy Fassel
Los Angeles

During the campaign, Obama said that as president, he would send more troops to Afghanistan.

Progressive Democrats expected that Obama would be like most other politicians and break campaign promises.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, we now know that the person we elected is really George Bush with a brain.

Lynn Kessler
Sherman Oaks

Winning in Afghanistan is an illusion. You do not defeat Al Qaeda or the Taliban. There is a threat, which must be addressed, but we cannot afford to get mired in a morass virtually forever.

Setting a time frame is exactly the right move. The Afghan and Pakistan governments know that they must evolve to control their own destinies. During the 18 months, our task is to take it to the enemy, not allow them to “wait it out.” We need to create local alliances.

We need to be firm in the timetable to allow those countries time to demonstrate they can effectively govern. If they can’t do so, our position is that these countries are at risk should there be any attacks on Western targets, and they shall be subject to consequences of harboring the enemy.

Sid Pelston
Marina del Rey

A front-page story reports Obama will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

In the Business section, we learn that the government provided billions of dollars for COBRA to help unemployed people with their health insurance payments, but the money will soon run out.

So millions of unemployed will now be without health insurance. I have an idea. Send only 5,000 troops to Afghanistan and use the billions saved to help unemployed Americans.

William Schmitendorf
Irvine

A slippery child-care slope

Re “Day-care license in the balance after boys tackle steep slope,” Nov. 29

Interesting article about the day-care provider in trouble for letting her charges climb cliffs near Santa Barbara’s Arroyo Burro Beach Park.

If I were 7 again, I’d be scared witless but having the time of my life climbing with the others.

But adults know those cliffs are profoundly unstable. Big slides happen all the time. The difference between little kids out for fun and licensed, supervising adults paid to care for them should be caution, knowledge, due diligence . . . qualities the person in question (at least on that June day) forgot.

Lee Moldaver
Santa Barbara

I’ve been climbing rocks, walls, fences, cliffs and trees my whole life. I am dumbfounded at how ignorant this day-care provider is concerning sports safety.

It’s excellent that she encourages and trains kids to learn climbing skills, but such activities must employ all appropriate safety precautions:

Allow the kids to climb 5 feet or so up the rock wall, then to climb laterally across the wall. Any kids who lost their grip would fall on nice, soft beach sand. Or bring appropriate climbing gear and set up a belay station. Connect a rope to an experienced belayer who can make sure the kid is safe.

Matt Horns

Venice

Jury duty is no laughing matter

Re “OK, I’m guilty, I dodged my jury duty,” Opinion, Nov. 28

OK, I got a full dose of Peter Mehlman’s narcissism and immaturity in his Op-Ed article on ducking jury duty. We enjoyed laughing at these qualities on the TV show for which he was a writer. But here he seems much more interested in getting laughs from his fellow prospective jurors than rendering justice.

Sure, the run-up to serving or not serving on a jury is a frustrating experience. You bet we get cynical; being herded around for three “wasted” days is wearisome.

In the end, jury selection is by nature a tedious process made that way by every attempt possible to provide a fair trial. Perhaps if Mehlman ever makes it to the big show, he will understand what it was all about. I know I did last year after finally getting to serve on a jury.

And it wasn’t the least bit funny to join fellow jurors in sentencing one of three young defendants to 50 years in prison.

Mick Rood
Moreno Valley