Readers React: Americans want it all without wanting to pay for it all

To the editor: Andrew J. Bacevich shares vital truths too long unspoken — and ignored — in Washington. (“A halfhearted U.S. war effort in the Middle East,” Op-Ed, Nov. 1)

Whether his well-reasoned views on fighting wars halfheartedly will resonate with the electorate, however, appears doubtful. Problem is, voters time and again have shown that they want our politicians to secure the prize without having to pay the price.

Too many expect vital government services to remain intact while demanding cuts in the taxes that fund them. Our military’s noble objectives in the Middle East and elsewhere, moreover, are sold short — amid pious support-the-troops palaver — and so many oppose reinstituting the draft.

Distaste for collective sacrifice undermines our military’s efficacy and ultimately our country’s viability. Bacevich couldn’t be more right: If you will the end, you must will the means.

Kendra Strozyk, Cameron Park, Calif.

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To the editor: Becevich is correct: We must choose.

With infrastructure crumbling nationwide, a 5.9 % unemployment rate, veterans sleeping under bridges or waiting months to see a doctor, chronically underfunded schools, vast numbers of children going to school hungry, higher education out of reach for many or saddling graduates with years of debt, cutbacks in vital scientific and medical research fields, and a record of failed nation building, it is not a hard choice to make.

Peter Sturken, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Bacevich shows clearly that U.S. efforts since the 9/11 attacks have been aimless and useless. More than that, he pretty much shows that without using nuclear weapons in the Middle East, a military solution is just not going to work.

We speak of a consciousness rooted in the Middle Ages, where women are stoned to death, enemies are enemies for ridiculous reasons (then beheaded), and hatred and more hatred are ruling passions. Is a bombing campaign going to change that? Or will it intensify those feelings?

Maybe now it is time to rethink how to effect change. Could we find higher ground and inspire or at least call for a change of consciousness? It is not that we need to be more violent with our military; we need to be more honest in calling out the ridiculousness of certain barriers to a sane world.

Is it to our, or their, advantage to be politically correct while we bomb innocents?

Dorothy Walker, Calabasas

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