Wednesday, March 5, 2003

We, as Americans, like to consider ourselves honest, fair-minded, and just. We assume that our government shares our individual values and acts accordingly. We all hope that this is the case, especially in a time of crisis or turmoil.

We expect that our President acts in our collective best-interest and with prudence. We expect that our President is truthful when a major announcement is made, when a major commitment is made, and when the integrity of our nation is at risk. We have been mislead and lied to by various presidents on many crucial occasions. Here are a few instances that come to mind.

President Clinton asserted: "I didn't have sex with that woman." This is a lie about a personal matter, but nevertheless, a lie just the same which embarrassed us as a nation. President Nixon announced a ban on any further biological warfare research with great fanfare while in office. We now know that this research never ceased. Should U.N. inspectors scour our country as they are Iraq?

President Kennedy made a "big deal" of the need to explore space, the new frontier. We now know, from recently released tapes, that Kennedy couldn't care less about space exploration; Kennedy states on the tapes that we needed to beat the Russians and this is the only reason to go into space. We can be thankful that a great achievement of the human race occurred although based on a lie and petty competition.

Our Congress voted us into war with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This resolution passed because they were told that we were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. Tens of thousands of American citizens went to war and were maimed or killed based on a lie. No such attack ever occurred.

Vietnam isn't the only war we have waged based on a lie. "Remember the Maine" was the slogan that sent Americans to war before the turn of the last century. Headlines in the New York Times proudly announced "Remember the Maine," a ship that was sunk in Havana harbor. The culprit was never identified; nevertheless, America went to war, fueled by the "yellow journalism" of the time.

President Bush now announces over and over again that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. American families are torn asunder as we mobilize for war. We must ask not where's the beef, but where are the weapons of mass destruction?

President Bush says, yes, indeed Iraq has them, senators say they see no credible evidence even when given secret briefings. So, we must ask as Americans if this President is lying as previous presidents have?

Peter Duran

Fayetteville