Letters

Cover Kudos

Reading your March 15 Reader. Excellent article by Siobhan Braun on the cover, “The Recruiter Loved Me.”

Franco Albuero
La Jolla

Elitist Bumper Stickers

Re “The Recruiter Loved Me” (Cover Story, March 15). In 1991, when Bush Sr. invaded Iraq, I was out in the street listening to my neighbors discuss the so-called Desert Storm. When I expressed my disdain for that war, a woman pointedly asked, “But you support the troops, don’t you?” All eyes turned to me and I answered yes.

I thought about my inherent response to that question for a long time. How could I be totally against a war and support the troops waging that war?

The bumper stickers and placards read: “Support our troops,” “Freedom is not cheap,” “Soldiers have died so you could be free,” etc. The elite establishment, by rewriting history, formulated these maxims that have been echoed by our teachers, churches, and politicians for generations.

Many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans (not to mention Vietnamese, Japanese, etc., totaling millions) have died. The elite establishment realizes higher profits and increased market share. We get fathers who think being a Marine is good for young men, young men who view the Marines as a way to get their foot in the door to land their ideal job working for the DEA, and endless war.

Name Withheld by Request
via email

Crack Vs. Marijuana

I would like to comment on your recent cover story titled “Bad House,” by Kitty Winn (March 8). I’m sure other readers and myself are wondering how can Ms. Winn put up with this crack house, this meth house, in her neighborhood for so long. I’m sure many readers are wondering why she simply couldn’t have called the San Diego Narcotics Task Force. They’re the ones who’ve cracked down on the free medical marijuana establishments in the past couple of weeks, or perhaps Kitty Winn should have called one of the U.S. attorneys who are cracking down on establishments providing medical marijuana to certified patients. Whatever the case, it seems that a crack house seems to be somehow immune to the same sorts of regulations that ordinary marijuana dispensaries have.

Vivian Marlene Dunbar
Playas, Tijuana