Putting positive, true stories in Iraqi press is wise

In your Dec. 6 editorial "News Plant: The Best Iraq Coverage Money Can Buy," I found this statement to be particularly hypocritical: "Although the pieces were factual, they were designed to put a slanted, positive face on activities in Iraq." Change the word "positive" to "negative" and the same thing can be said of the Post-Gazette.

I hate to break it to the PG, but your country is at war. It is the duty of the military to do anything possible to achieve victory. This is not Vietnam. Withdrawing from Vietnam before achieving victory did not embolden the enemy to commit terrorism in the United States. Withdrawing from Iraq before the country is stabilized will.

As a side note, I also enjoyed this statement: "It isn't clear yet to what degree the Lincoln Group's contract was subject to competition." The same people who favor socialized medicine now seem to be concerned about free-market competition. Shameful indeed.

SCOTT FELLO
Saltsburg

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By all means

Regarding your Dec. 6 editorial "News Plant": That you consider efforts to plant positive coverage of America in Iraqi media "shameful" and "bribery" betrays the Post-Gazette's truly suicidal, journalistic "standards".

We face nothing less than a struggle for civilization's soul. The "War on Terror" demands use of every weapon in our arsenal -- including rhetorical ones. Pity you don't share Ernie Pyle's and Edward R. Murrow's perspective. They relentlessly promoted U.S. aims during World War II. They jealously safeguarded our interests and doggedly cherished the American lives they covered.

But the Post-Gazette's journalistic pygmies could never grasp such devotion. You prefer appeasement and retreat instead.

DAVID L. VERES
Pleasant Hills

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Balance, please

Although political cartoons need no grounding in fact, intentional distortions are inappropriate at best. Rob Roger's depiction of two wide-eyed Iraqis bemoaning the loss of the Iraqi war while lamenting "the feel-good fake news planted by the U.S. military" (Dec. 6) is curious. Would Mr. Rogers please name one "planted" article that was "fake"? It is my understanding that none of the printed articles were factious propaganda, imaginatively created by the occupational forces.

Had The New York Times, Washington Post or even the Post-Gazette presented a balanced reporting process (the bad, ugly but also the good), there would be no need to entice Iraqi news organizations to present both sides of the war issues. Truth and balance appears to be something Mr. Rogers is incapable of presenting.

And to offer balance, the Post-Gazette should be congratulated for reprinting in the Dec. 4 Forum section Sen. Joseph Lieberman's alternative view ("Why Our Troops Must Stay in Iraq," first published in The Wall Street Journal) that things are proceeding rather well in Iraq. The lack of PG editorial response to Sen. Lieberman's position is deafening, though.

Finally, how many purple fingers on Dec. 17 will be needed for Democrats (of which I am one) to believe that the Iraqi war is winnable?

PAUL J. FRIDAY
Chief of Clinical Psychology
UPMC Shadyside
Shadyside

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Iraq by the numbers

Current debates about Iraq feature "Cut and Run" vs. "Stay the Course," slogans that are used without any reference to history. These same slogans have been used before, as in 1966-68.

The United States helped overthrow the existing government of South Vietnam at the beginning of November 1963, a few weeks before John F. Kennedy's assassination. We sought to make this "regime change" the beginning of a new "democratic" government. We stayed in South Vietnam until 1975, leaving under the most chaotic conditions imaginable.

Should we have "stayed the course" in Vietnam longer than the 12 years we devoted to "nation-building" that didn't work? If we apply the same yardstick to Iraq, we have another decade to go before it's time to "cut and run."

Americans might also recall that our effort to "unify" Korea by moving all the way to its border with China not only failed in 1950, but that a peace treaty has yet to be negotiated to end the Korean War.

We have yet to demonstrate any skills in the tough process of "nation-building," whether the yardstick is a few years, more than a decade, or even more than a half-century. Perhaps we should stop pretending we know how to do it.

FREDERICK THAYER
Bethel Park

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Clean our air

In response to state Sen. Jane Orie's Dec. 5 letter, "California Shouldn't Set Our Vehicle Emission Standards": I would like to comment that, while it is true that Pennsylvania law need not reflect California law, it is necessary to look at what other states are doing right to reduce vehicle emissions.

It is important to note that on Dec. 2 Maine became the second New England state and the sixth overall to adopt standards that aim to reduce emissions linked to global warming. The regulations that they adopted were identical to those in California and are expected to reduce tailpipe emissions by 22 percent by 2012 and by 30 percent by 2016 for new vehicles, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Pittsburgh's history of increasing ozone pollution by 25 percent over the 10 years indicates that we are not moving in the right direction. Because 45 percent of air pollution in Pittsburgh comes from car emissions, it is essential that we increase our standards. While it's true there may be costs associated with the change, our current pollution situation is costing us nearly $227 million a year and is leaving 10 percent of adults in Pittsburgh with asthma.

Do we have to mirror California? No, but we can join the ranks of New York, New Jersey, Vermont and Massachusetts, among others, in passing laws that lower vehicle emissions and better the health of all citizens.

KATHLEEN HAAK
Green Tree

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Proof in hand

In his Dec. 9 letter "Where's the Proof?", Tim M. Killmeyer asserts that we have no video or pictorial proof of anti-abortion street protesters' escalating egregious acts of harassing, shoving, intimidating and traumatizing our patients, their families and pedestrians in front of our health center.

I can assure Mr. Killmeyer that we have literally volumes of evidence in both video and photographic form, which City Council and the Pittsburgh police have been offered, and in some cases, have already reviewed. Furthermore, as was testified to at City Council Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Police were summoned to our premises no fewer than 22 times in the last six months alone for altercations involving protesters. Mr. Killmeyer, it's always best to verify your facts before making patently false information public fodder.

JODI HIRSH
Director of Public Affairs
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania
Downtown

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Vandergrift rising

The attention paid to revitalization efforts now under way in Vandergrift, as featured in Caitlin Cleary's Nov. 20 article "Town Looks Back to the Future: Green Movement Making an Old Steel Town More Livable," is well deserved.

Vandergrift is tapping principles of sustainable development as their strategy. I have been fortunate, as the state senator representing this community, to collaborate with local officials and dedicated citizen advocates to create the Vandergrift Improvement Program. Together with VIP and Sustainable Pittsburgh, I am working to gain official state Main Street recognition to garner additional financial resources. We will succeed in the Main Street designation, but it alone is not enough.

Sustainability is about constantly improving our quality of life and shifting the design paradigm toward effective, nurturing growth that limits any negative impact our actions have now or in the future. It is a connection that Vandergrift has recognized and embraced in the Natural Step principles the article mentions and it is a connection that other small towns, suburban and urban communities alike should embrace.

Vandergrift understands that it cannot depend on state investment alone. Citizen empowerment, environmental health and economic prosperity together are guiding principles that we all should adopt and nurture.

STATE SEN. JIM FERLO
Highland Park

Sen. Ferlo, a Democrat, represents the 38th Senatorial District.

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A healthy diet is up to parents, not SpongeBob

In response to the Dec. 7 article "SpongeBob and His Ilk Told to Fight Kid Obesity," about an Institute of Medicine report calling for popular cartoon characters to be used to promote healthy eating by children:

I am a mother of two children, ages 10 and 6. I make the grocery purchases in our household, and I decide if, and when, we go to fast food restaurants.

This is basic common sense: Don't let your child sit around all day watching television, and don't buy all the junk food that is advertised. Get Congress involved if the cartoon creators don't comply? Give me a break!

How about "Just Say No"? Parents need to start taking responsibility for raising their children, rather than blaming it on the media.

BRIDGET YOCUM
Ross