Readers Write: US also shot down a civilian plane; Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl鈥檚 return to duty; Americans united against gridlock
Letters to the Editor for August 11, 2014 weekly magazine:
Kovach: In 1988, Iran Air Flight 655, a civiian plane, was shot down by the USS Vincennes.
Uberuaga: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will return to active duty only until it is determined if he will be court-martialed.
Geist: Congress might be divided, but the American people aren't.
Letters to the Editor for August 11, 2014 weekly magazine:
Kovach: In 1988, Iran Air Flight 655, a civiian plane, was shot down by the USS Vincennes.
Uberuaga: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will return to active duty only until it is determined if he will be court-martialed.
Geist: Congress might be divided, but the American people aren't.
US also shot down a civilian plane
The tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, discussed in the Aug. 4 editorial 鈥淟esson of Malaysia Flight 17: the conceit of control in war,鈥� recalls the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes. The US Navy warship was in Iranian territorial waters when it launched its surface-to-air missiles. All 290 civilians on board the airliner died. The captain of the Vincennes, William C. Rogers III, was subsequently awarded the Legion of Merit by President George H.W. Bush.聽
Yugo Kovach
Winterborne Houghton, England
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl鈥檚 return to duty
I am writing in response to the Aug. 4 letter 鈥淪gt. Bowe Bergdahl paid his dues.鈥� Bergdahl did not serve multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, he never was sent to Iraq and was in Afghanistan for only a month; he arrived in May and deserted in June. He is being returned to active duty only until a determination can be made as to whether or not to court-martial him for a charge of desertion. If he is not court-martialed he will be discharged and will be free to go.
Rick Uberuaga
Hailey, Idaho
Americans united against gridlock
I concur with the Monitor鈥檚 conclusion in the July 7 & 14 editorial 鈥淎 few icebreakers to warm up Washington鈥檚 frozen politics鈥� that Americans themselves are much less divided than Congress. My husband and I have good friends who are Republicans; we are Democrats, and yet we agree on a surprising number of issues. What your editorial doesn鈥檛 mention is that Congress has been hijacked by the interests of corporations and the wealthy, thus its low approval rating. As the Supreme Court has enabled that hijacking, it, too, has lost people鈥檚 confidence. Meanwhile, the president is helpless to get the two sides to agree. Low approval ratings all around suggest that the American people are, above all, united in their understanding that their government doesn鈥檛 represent them anymore.
Kathe Geist
Brookline, Mass.