A Message From John McCain

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/opinion/12fri3.html?ref=todayspaper

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 2:53 PM
Subject: A Message From John McCain
To: letters@nytimes.com

To the Editor:

    Faced with torture, home foreclosures, warrantless wiretaps and stop-loss orders, I had looked forward to a substantive campaign in the issues. Instead, senator McCain has sought to drown the issues in questions of character. Does his campaign of lies. organized by the same people who abused him eight years ago speak to his failing memory, or to his failing ethics? Either way, I judge, his is not the character for the job.

Barry Levine

Bhutto's Widower, Viewed as Ally by U.S., Wins the Pakistani

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/world/asia/07pstan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=zardari%20ally&st=cse&oref=slogin

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 3:26 PM
Subject: Bhutto's Widower, Viewed as Ally by U.S., Wins the Pakistani
Presidency Handily
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
 As far as has been reported, president Musharraf was eventually
forced from office by the Pakistani people; their rejection was fueled
in part by his bid to suborn the Supreme Court. If it were to turn out
that it was the U.S. government that put Mr. Zardari into office, I
would look to this newspaper to report it. If--as seems likely--he was
duly elected by the Pakistani people, this newspaper account seems
embarrassingly provincial in stressing his relationship to Washington
over his relationship to Pakistani jurisprudence. Where is the
discussion of chief justice Chaudhry, whom Musharraf ousted and whom
Zardari had promised to re-instate?
Barry Levine

Trail of Evidence Points to High Civilian Toll in Afghan Raid

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/world/asia/08afghan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=trail%20of%20evidence&st=cse&oref=slogin

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 8:55 AM
Subject: Trail of Evidence Points to High Civilian Toll in Afghan Raid
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
 The U.S. military made a policy of overcounting enemy dead
throughout the Vietnam conflict. Doing so, it managed to prolong the
death and destruction there for years. Now it has been caught
undercounting the civilian deaths in Afghanistan. If senator McCain
means to claim our "success" in Iraq as a reason to vote for him, he
will need to first find a credible witness to that "success". It's not
the U.S. military, nor is it the captive embedded press corp on the
military's leash.
Barry Levine
1142 Brown Ave
Lafayette, CA 94549

Running Against Themselves

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/opinion/04thu1.html?scp=1&sq=running%20against%20themselves&st=cse

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 9:52 AM
Subject: Running Against Themselves
To: letters@nytimes.com

To the Editor:

    This paper persists in tallying the cost of earmarks at their face value only; the real cost is far greater. An earmark of a few millions can bring a lawmaker aboard for legislation that would otherwise have failed. Bad laws and irresponsible budgets are enacted by a patchwork of deals, each cemented with our federal dollars. In pursuit of this pork for their constituents, our representatives in congress forsake their role as national leaders.

Barry Levine

Handshake Defuses a Standoff in Baghdad

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/world/middleeast/04iraq.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=handshake%20defuses%20a%20standoff%20in%20baghdad&st=cse&oref=login

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Subject: Handshake Defuses a Standoff in Baghdad
To: letters@nytimes.com

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To the Editor:

   Two years ago, the U.S. changed tactics in Iraq. Instead of emphasizing non-sectarian national institutions, we poured money into sectarian groups who offered to pacify their own people in their own areas. Now that the national government wants to extent its sway, there is tension. Should we be surprised? Those who have hailed this last year as "progress" need to define where we're heading. This is progress towards an Iraq partitioned. To hold it together as a nation-state would require an indefinite presence of Americans to keep prevent sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing.

Barry Levine

A Star is Born? 2

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/opinion/01kristol.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=kristol&st=cse&oref=slogin- Hide quoted text ----------- Forwarded message ----------From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>Date: Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 8:21 AMSubject: A Star is Born?To: letters@nytimes.com - Hide quoted text -To the Editor: As I live and learn, today I agree with William Kristol. Mr. Kristol tells us ""McCain doesn't need a foreign policy expert as vice president to help him out". Never mind his reliance on senator Lieberman to explain (again and again) the difference between Shia and Sunni; senator McCain would bring far more to the presidency than did president Bush. America now has seven years experience of a co-presidency in which our nominal leader has tried to lead on issues he doesn't understand. It's time for the vice president to resume the job of being ready in case the worst happens to the president. This is the role for which governor Palin isn't ready.Barry Levine- Hide quoted text -1142 Brown Ave.Lafayette, CA 94549

A Star is Born?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/opinion/01kristol.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=kristol&st=cse&oref=slogin
- Hide quoted text ----------- Forwarded message ----------From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>Date: Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 8:21 AMSubject: A Star is Born?To: letters@nytimes.com

- Hide quoted text -To the Editor: As I live and learn, today I agree with William Kristol. Mr. Kristol tells us ""McCain doesn't need a foreign policy expert as vice president to help him out". Never mind his reliance on senator Lieberman to explain (again and again) the difference between Shia and Sunni. America now has seven years experience of a co-presidency in which our nominal leader has tried to lead on issues he doesn't understand. It's time for the vice president to resume the job of being ready in case the worst happens to the president. This is the role for which governor Palin isn't ready.Barry Levine- Hide quoted text -1142 Brown Ave.Lafayette, CA 94549