Contradicting Iraqi Opinion
In his letter to the editor in the Outlook last week, writer Ed Castro makes the point that President Bush, in speeches, consistently tried to link Iraq under Saddam Hussien and 9/11 together which, to Mr. Castro, is "trying to forge a link that simply does not exist." This is the most common line of thought that is put forth by many who were and are against our involvement in Iraq. This line of thought is not true; here is why:

A 1993 non-aggression pack between Saddam's Iraq and Al-Qaeda is well-known and not in dispute. At this same time, Osama Bin Laden is listed as an Iraqi Intelligence asset in documents from Saddam's Iraq. Bin Laden asked the Iraqi government (read: Saddam Hussein) for arms and training in 1994. The next year, Iraqi officials met with Al-Qaeda's Abu Majer Al Iraqi, one of the organization's leaders. Sept. 11 hijacker Khalid Al Mihdhar was photographed with associates of the Iraqi Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on his way to planning meetings for both 9/11 and the October 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.

Al-Qaeda members traveled openly and freely not only inside Iraq with the full knowledge of Saddam Hussein, but to a terrorist camp in Northern Iraq that was partially financed by Saddam's government. Top Al-Qaeda strategist Abu Musad Al Zarqawi traveled and operated unabated inside Saddam's Iraq in 2002, even receiving medical care at an Iraqi hospital. Abdul Rahman Yasin, an Iraqi involved in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, lived and was supported by Saddam's Iraq.

9/11 took years to plan. While Al-Qaeda carried out the attacks, they were aided--knowingly or not--by countless people in countries who, if nothing else, did zero to stop or even slow them down. That the links between Iraq and Al-Qaeda leading up to 9/11 are not well-known isn't surprising due to the secretive, clandestine nature of both Saddam's Iraq and ally below the radar, Al-Qaeda.

There were honorable, principled reasons to oppose the start of the Iraq war in 2003. That no link existed between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al-Qaeda, and that those links could not be tied to 9/11, wasn't one of them.

Shawn Flanagan
Tujunga

More On Iraq
Ed Castro is right to challenge the claim that those who do not support the war in Iraq are unpatriotic. Like many La Caņadans, I believed the president when he told us that the war was necessary to protect us from weapons of mass destruction. Even after the fall of Baghdad, I couldn't believe that WMD would not be found, with all the "proofs" we had of its existence. It is now glaringly evident that the grounds for the invasion of Iraq were contrived.

Iraq, which previously had almost no anti-Western terrorist organization, has now become a major center for terrorist training and attack, thanks to our invasion. The master of duplicity himself, Saddam Hussein, was "duped" by our president's duplicity. Hussein stated after capture that he couldn't believe that the U.S. did not know he had abandoned his WMD, and he was dumbfounded to find that the U.S. would actually risk destabilization of the Middle East by "taking down" Iraq, thereby allowing the religious extremist government of Iran to prosper, unchecked by secular Iraq.

Now we are left with the "monster" of our creation, we have destabilized the country, unleashing waves of unthinkable violence and mayhem. To abandon Iraq now would allow the religious fanatics to triumph. The U.S. already has the reputation of a dilettante who stirs up trouble in a region and then abandons it to thugs. We don't dare repeat our performance that followed the first Gulf War.

The men and women of our military are in the unenviable position of offering their lives in an attempt to fix the "unfixable" situation created by the Bush administration, and they deserve our support and our respect. Thankfully, they will not face the shameful treatment we gave to our Vietnam War veterans, although they too will probably not receive the federal support they deserve. Still, it is not in their interest to pretend that the circumstances leading to the invasion of Iraq were justified, despite the unquestionable evil of Saddam Hussein. After all, no one is proposing that the U.S. invade the Darfur region of Sudan where tens of thousands are murdered, kidnapped, and tortured on a routine basis.

The true patriot does not shrink from exposing the mistakes of our government. The true patriot loves this country enough to work to correct those mistakes, as did the Abolitionists of the 19th century who made this country better! The original "patriots" of 1776, after all, were reacting to the injustices of the mother country, Great Britain. They also questioned the wisdom of their leaders, yet we do not hesitate to call them "patriots."

Sandra Wallace
La Caņada Flintridge

Vicious Dogs
Last Sunday morning at approximately 8 a.m., my wife Shelly was walking our dog (which was on a leash) down our usual route, the Gould Avenue Debris Basin trail. All of a sudden, an unleashed dog (my wife thinks an Australian Shepard) being "walked" by it's owner attacked and seriously injured our pet.

"Sorry, I didn't see you" was the explanation and contrition offered. She then offered her name, but without any writing material and the state of shock of my wife (not to mention that our pet was bleeding badly), Shelly high-tailed it for home and the emergency pet clinic in Pasadena. The women didn't pursue any further aid at the time. Our pet is now missing a couple of inches off her tail as well as sporting several stitches in her leg.

At the very least, any responsible citizen would provide reimbursement of our $597.30 clinic bill as well as keeping her vicious dog on a leash in the future in order to save other law-abiding citizens the same disruption to their lives and pocket books.

Bruce Stone
La Caņada Flintridge

Slow Down!
My family and I moved to La Caņada Flintridge in February. We moved here for the schools, yes, like many, but also for the sense of community that everyone talks about. It has been very positive, so far, except for the lack of consideration shown by our fellow citizens regarding speeding on our street. We live on Olive Lane, between La Caņada Flintridge and Angeles Crest.

The speed limit is 30 MPH. The problem is that many people ignore this speed limit and this includes using our street as an onramp and offramp for the 210 freeway. I have talked to Sheriff personnel in our city and discussed my concerns, but I now realize that we do not have enough coverage for our area for traffic control, so I ask that our neighbors stop speeding on our street.

Many people are driving 40 miles per hour or faster and on top of that blabbing on their cell phones while they do it. I have children, a cat and a dog, as do many people that live in La Caņada Flintridge (wow, what a concept), and this is so unsafe, it's scary.

There have been studies done in our country that have determined that safe speeds for neighborhoods are 25 to 30 MPH, and the fact that you would ignore them every day (and you know who you are) shows a complete lack of respect for people's safety and quality of life.

I've also been very let down by the people who have sworn at me and "flipped me the bird" when I have asked them to slow down. I have learned that many of the people in this city do not have the class that they claim to have.

Matt Johnson
La Caņada Flintridge