In reply to “Blood on Whose Hands?” by Chase Madar and Tom Engelhardt, 01/20/12:

I wrote a song about this a few days ago that helps people understand what soldiers feel like with PTSD.

Please check it out when you have a moment and share with others. I make no money off this at all. I just want to use my gift to try to help make people aware of the tragedy these wars bring to our soldiers.

Phil Bellante

In reply to “Back From Libya, Tuareg Rebels Aim to Capture Much of Northern Mali,” by Jason Ditz, 01/18/12:

A number of the Tuareg fighters have recently returned from Libya, where they were employed as mercenaries for the Gadhafi regime in the lead-up to the NATO attack on that country.

Do you have any evidence that these people were “mercenaries?” Gadhafi is extremely popular in Mali. Are NATO troops mercenaries? If so please say so when writing about them and be consistent.

Robert Harneis

In reply to “The Return of the Chickenhawks,” by Justin Raimondo, 01/09/12:

In your article, “The Return of the Chickenhawks,” you related the idea that a “chickenhawk,” a non-veteran who believes in war as a legitimate instrument of regulatory foreign policy, has no credibility because he has never seen combat. I contend that a citizen’s having experienced combat has nothing to do with his credibility in that context, or to the issue of whether we should attack any nation that has not attacked us.

What about someone who really did serve in our armed forces and even attained high rank, but who saw George C. Scott’s movie, “Patton,” once too often? Unlike the real George S. Patton, he would drool at the chance to defeat yet another foe. (In 1945, in a speech he made in southern California, a teary-eyed George Patton said that sending men off to die was no fun.)

What about someone who really did serve in our armed forces, but since has turned pacifist? His ideas are not much good either, pacifism being the road to riches for the brigand and the tyrant. I contend that we may use force morally only when another nation has attacked us. That is, “us,” not “our interests or allies.”

We should have no allies, except for after a Congressional declaration of war in which we and the proposed ally are fighting the same opponent. Then, we could give aid to Freedonia because our money or weapons could let Freedonia hamper the enemy. And, what about “interests?” “Interests” usually turn out to be one or more European countries, or some oil-producing nation like Saudi Arabia. If I had a son, I would not want my car’s rear bumper to carry a strip saying, “My son died for Standard Oil.”

Representative Ron Paul says, echoing George Washington, James Monroe, and Charles Lindbergh, that we should mind our own business. They thought that American blood should only be shed in defense of America. I agree.

Gordon F. Corbett