great ltte in todays san diego union-trib

[frylock]

On March 24, you printed a letter from a reader who had some questions for former President Clinton. I have questions for the Republican Party and Bush administration regarding terrorism and the events surrounding 9/11.

Why is it that partisan Republicans only seem to recall failures of Democratic administrations when citing failures in the war against terrorism? President Reagan failed to do anything militarily in 1983 when 243 Marines were killed in Beirut; in 1985 following the Achille Lauro hijacking and murder, and in 1988 when 287 people died following the Pan Am Lockerbie explosion.

Does Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld feel embarrassed following the photo-op handshake with Saddam Hussein in the early 1980s, knowing that he supplied the dictator with chemical weapons that were used to kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians?

Following 9/11, all aircraft were ordered grounded. How come the Bush administration made special arrangements to fly bin Laden family members out of the United States during this time?

On 9/11, Bush remained in a third-grade classroom for 10 minutes after Andrew Card informed him that the second World Trade Center tower had been struck by a commercial aircraft. Would it not have been a better use of time for the president to be in communication with the Pentagon or other Cabinet members and ordered jet fighters to protect our nation's capital?

When Bush took the whole month of August 2001 as vacation, did the issue of terrorism ever come up?

ROY M. STEIN
San Diego

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040331/news_lz1e31lets1.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I've been pleasantly surprised by the Tribune's editorial pages

where Bush is concerned. It used to be that one didn't dare speak poorly of Republicans in public in SD and granted not much changed in the latest election...but what is really incredible is the number of military that are pro Dem lately.

[reprehensor]

2. Heh!

Sweet!