The following is a selection of recent letters to the World Socialist Web Site.
On “A grim milestone in the Iraq war: 2,500th US military death”
One of the many distortions of combat in Iraq, put out by the Pentagon and abetted by the mainstream press, is that while it may be true that 2,500 US troops have died in Iraq, that number may be three times higher when one takes into account the number that have died elsewhere (most notably Germany, where most of the fatally wounded are air-lifted) as a direct result of wounds suffered in combat. While even these adjusted figures pale next to Vietnam War casualties (about one sixth or less the rate during the high point of that conflict), they would probably add even more to the current antiwar opinion in the US if made widely known.
BS
Springfield, Oregon, US
18 June 2006
On “The Toronto terror plot and the Canadian establishment’s political agenda”
My congratulations to Keith Jones for his “Terror Plot” piece that appeared on June 16. I have searched in vain since the story first broke in Toronto for any meaningful insight into what happened.
To read the versions published in the Canadian dailies is akin to getting the truth from Judith Miller’s distortions of Iraq in the New York Times. You don’t even have to be a socialist to appreciate the research that went into the article. I was so impressed by someone actually honestly researching the facts in the case, that I e-mailed it to several major Canadian newspapers. Of course I didn’t get any acknowledgment from them, but I didn’t expect to. After all, when you are projecting propaganda, the last thing you want are facts to get in the way.
SY
17 June 2006
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Hello, I found your article very interesting and logical. I think you hit the nail on the button.
GF
16 June 2006
On “The Guantánamo suicides and their impact on American political life”
The WSWS repeatedly takes the US media to task for its cynicism and pandering to the current administration. This must be done, and I admire the site for continuing to underline the shabby state of American (and international) politics and media. One of the most recent examples: I was astounded, floored by the sick statement issued in the wake of the Guantánamo suicides that they were “an act of warfare.” Just when you think it’s impossible for the administration to sink to a new low, they continue to impress. I live in Korea, and we get CNN and the BBC—both pretty appalling, and both reported these twisted comments very dutifully, with very straight faces, a little blip, quickly forgotten, and then on to the latest developments in World Cup action.
I see these things, and it depresses and angers me how all these awful things are given flippant treatment, whitewashed, treated as inconsequential, while the inconsequential is treated as important. The WSWS depresses and angers me for a different reason—by exposing the complete stories behind the mainstream media’s stray sound bytes, and by reporting that which isn’t mentioned at all. But I wonder if you see anyone in mainstream American media or politics who is making a firm, courageous stand against the tide. There must be someone worth supporting, someone fighting the good fight. Who, if anyone, in the mainstream do you feel is making a positive effort? It’s understandable that the news on the WSWS is overwhelmingly not pretty, but there must be something worth being optimistic about.
Regards,
KSK
15 June 2006
On “Unanswered Questions in the Killing of Zarqawi”
Excellent. If the whole situation in Iraq wasn’t so bloody tragic it would be laughable.
KL
Malden Bridge, New York
15 June 2006