The Guardian 5 April, 2006
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Letters to the Editor
More Americans want troops out of Iraq
Unease, anger and dissent are emerging among the public in the United States over the horrible mess in Iraq. A new poll shows a large majority of the American people want the Bush administration to begin pulling out US troops, and strongly oppose permanent US bases in Iraq. The poll, by the University of Maryland was conducted in early March, with 71 percent saying the US should not have permanent military bases in Iraq.
The number of US casualties was not the main factor driving public opinion, according to the poll. The key factors appeared to be the perception that the US military presence is "provoking more conflict than it is preventing", and low confidence that American involvement will "succeed". These negative assessments reflected "a marked downward trend" from a year ago.
This unease and anger also has roots in the growing economic problems facing working people in the US struggling to heat their homes, and generally make ends meet.
The unease and anger also stem from tax cuts for the rich, the attack on social security, a disastrous health policy, and deep cuts in social program spending.
The administration cares nothing for public opinion. The only thing it understands is power. It wants to keep it and grab more.
The Bush agenda is capitalism on steroids. It is carrying out a forced march of global corporate capitalism through the barrel of the gun. Bush’s new national security strategy offers platitudes about democracy and freedom. But the basic "freedom" that it is concerned about is the freedom to exploit, otherwise known as free enterprise, "free trade" and "free markets." This is their definition of "democracy".
The figures probably have something to do with Bush’s statement last month that ending the US occupation would be a problem for "future presidents", Bush’s comment indicating he has no intention of bringing the troops home seems to have made a lot of people nervous.
Nathan Barnes
Brisbane
Interesting times!
We certainly live in interesting times. Everybody is told to be afraid of everything and according to some there is a couple of terrorists lurking under every bed.
The FBI is showing the way, of course. Evidently there is a bit of a scandal in the land of the free because they spy on everybody, not just on suspected terrorists.
Lefties, peace activists and the like are in their sights. I’ve lived long enough to know that it has always been the case. In the old days it was more in your face and you saw strange characters taking pictures at rallies and marches. Nowadays it is more sophisticated technically — and that’s progress for you.
What I am puzzled about though is that the FBI is evidently spying on vegetarians who provide food to homeless people. What I don’t get is which group provokes their interest — vegetarians or the homeless?
Anyway, life goes on and this weekend I’ll be taking part in Palm Sunday Peace rally. If the politicians had taken heed of all of us protesting the war you might be in a different and better situation now. See you there!
Olga
Sydney, NSW
Cost of living up, inflation steady
Every time I go to the shops prices have gone up. Every visit to the supermarket there is another 10, 20, 30, or 40 cents more on items. The total bill keeps rising, even though I am buying less of the more expensive items.
Good meat is astronomical. Lamb cutlets worked out at roughly $1 each not so long ago. Now they are creeping towards $2 each. Mince meat, the good old standby that can be spread out and rehashed for a few meals is not exactly cheap. I’ve cut back my meat consumption to once or twice a week but seem to be spending just as much.
Some of the high prices are disguised by the way they are packaged or what’s on the label.
Bilberries and raspberries at $7.99 for a little plastic container sound expensive enough. The containers have got smaller! They used to hold 200 or 250 grams. Now they have 100 or 150 grams. If my arithmetic is up to it, that means the real price has crept up from $40-$52 to between $60 and $80 a kilogram!!! The price on the container remains the same.
I can live without berries, and shop around for the specials when it comes to fruit and veggies.
Some things have got smaller. Toilet paper has got narrower. We can buy the same number of sheets, same number of ply but buy considerably less paper. That’s good for the forests, but why didn’t the price come down when the paper was reduced?
Eggs are another staple that have rocketed in price. There are so many to choose from, and who knows how many of the organic, free range eggs are genuinely what they claim to be.
There are many other examples I could give, but won’t bore your readers with. There is just one thing that is puzzling me. I thought the CPI and inflation figures measured price rises. How on earth does the Reserve Bank, the Treasurer and those economic writers come up with the idea that inflation is between two and three percent? Where do they shop? What do they buy?
June Hamilton
(by email)