Best option is not to
believe Iran war hysteria
I’ve again started to hear the drumbeat of war, this time with Iran. It reminds me of the lead-up to the disastrous war in Iraq in 2003, prior to which 65% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers.
Now I hear the recent assassination target Quassem Soleimani was responsible for the IED weapons that injured or killed many American servicemen and women in Iraq (DP-Saturday, i.e., Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito’s statement) and that he was “… plotting unspecified future attacks …” against American interests ). The only attribution for this blame seems to be “ … according to the Pentagon.” In Eli Lake’s column, The Dominion Post saw fit to print Saturday, he goes so far as to say: “He planned the intervention in Syria that saved Bashar al Assad’s war machine.” Wow! No Russian involvement? Where is the verification prior to fomenting war hysteria again in the U.S.?
Supporters of President Trump may be in favor of his policies— deregulation, tax cuts, border walls — but I doubt very much that they actually trust our commander in chief to make wise choices during a crisis.
What we’ve seen in the last three years are impulsive decisions that baffle not only the military chiefs, but also Congress and most of the American people. We should have little faith in Trump administration proclamations, just as we’ve learned, in retrospect, that we should have been more skeptical of the warmongering that led to the war in Iraq. As my brother says, “There is no education in the second kick of a mule!”
I propose we need an honest and thoughtful determination of whether a dramatic escalation of conflict with Iran is the best option and not to believe offhand, the hysteria.
Peter Bittenbender
Morgantown
Streaming not the best
way to treat fan base
In discussing WVU sports broadcasts solely via ESPN+, WVU’s athletic director noted “We have roughly 1.8 million people, 1.4 million of them have the streaming capabilities.”
Having the capability, actually subscribing to the service that provides it, plus paying to view WVU games are three different things to potential viewers. The new WVU approach means you have to do all three, a costly proposition for many.
FCC data, which shows West Virginia ranks 47th of all states in broadband capability, indicates 30 percent of residents have no internet access. 48 percent of those without access live in rural areas where neither cable TV nor internet access are available at costs that may be affordable.
The athletic director hopes everyone will have access in the future. The internet access issue has been studied to a fare thee well by numerous state committees since the turn of the 21st century. Conclusions reached have not changed — the topography of the state makes it difficult to deliver internet access to the hills and hollows. Progress has been made in spots and slowly advancing technology may indeed allow more coverage. Eventually.
Even so, the three basic issues noted above will remain. In essence, the WVU approach divides folks into those who have or can have and those who can’t have. Some portion of loyal fans will be abandoned for the sake of revenue.
That approach may make fiscal sense and be the way the world works these days. To this fan who has followed Mountaineer sports for over 60 years, it does not seem like the best way to treat the WVU fan base.
Lew McDaniel
Morgantown
Day of Prayer could be
memorialized elsewhere
As a resident of Kingwood, I would like to support the point of view expressed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation regarding the use of Preston County’s web site and the courthouse lawns to promote the National Day of Prayer (DP-Thursday).
As a Christian, I strongly believe in prayer, but this very personal and religious activity should never have even the slightest appearance of being sponsored by any level of government. Kingwood has many lovely churches and private homes where this worthy Day of Prayer could be memorialized.
The separation of church and state is a fundamental tenet of America’s Constitution and our freedom. I believe events like the one described in the article risk an insidious erosion of this essential American value.
Sheila Mays
Kingwood
