The issue was slavery
In regard to Joe Whalen's letter, it seems he is echoing the mantra of all unreconstructed Southerners who say the Civil War was about "states' rights." Yes, states' rights to impose slavery on human beings. The war was about slavery. Had there not been slavery, I believe there would have been no war. Period!
There are many things to love and celebrate about the South, but the Confederacy is not one of them. It existed only to keep the horrid institution of slavery alive.
P.S. I was born and raised in the South, and had ancestors who fought with "CSA" on their belt buckles.
HANK HOLDERBY
Rogers
Nuclear deal perilous
The U.S. State Department lists both Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations, and Iran has supplied them with weapons used against the U.S. troops. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell stated in June 2007 that "there is 'overwhelming evidence' that Iran supports terrorists in Iraq and 'compelling' evidence that it does the same in Afghanistan."
This Iran deal frees up $150 billion in funds to Iran and lifts economic sanctions. Hence, "annual growth of Iran's $420 billion economy would rise by as much as 2 percentage points to over 5 percent in the year after a final nuclear deal," according to Iranian investment banker Ramin Rabii. All of these billions can then be used to help fund Iran's nuclear weapons.
What does the world get? A supreme leader over this theocracy who shouts: "Death to America." Weapons inspections? Not really. The AP has exposed Obama's secret deal: "Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the UN agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press."
When Iran gets caught breaking the deal, we are told economic sanctions will be imposed. But will they really? Sanctions are very difficult to impose.
So Iran gets billions while inspecting themselves. And we can trust them since they sponsor terrorism and shout death to America. How could anyone be for this deal?
WILBURN ROWELL
White Hall
Courage and wisdom
Several years ago I attended a continuing education class in downtown Fayetteville offered to professionals in Arkansas as required for license renewal. I sat with hundreds of doctors, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists, social workers and others for six hours of training. The presenter started the lecture: "If you believe sex and gender are the same, please sit with those who believe the earth is flat."
It took courage and wisdom to prove the earth is not flat. Today we need that same courage and wisdom to see sex and gender are not the same.
Vote yes for our civil-rights ordinance to protect all.
CYNTHIA HARRIS
Fayetteville
Significance of today
Seventy years ago, Little Rock-born Douglas MacArthur, on the decks of the USS Missouri, formally accepted the surrender of Japan. The War in the Pacific and World War II was over. The historic significance of the day resonated with the many observers invited to Tokyo Bay for that ceremony Sept. 2, 1945. Actor Tony Curtis, then a young sailor, watched with a great sense of accomplishment from the USS Proteus, a submarine tender that supported the American submarine force as it decimated Japanese shipping. Six submarines gently bobbed on each side of the Proteus, a lethal honor guard of 12. One of these submarines, the USS Razorback, now floats peacefully in the Arkansas River, a living monument owned by the city of North Little Rock and respectfully maintained by subsequent generations of local Navy veterans.
The Razorback sank 18 Japanese vessels, the majority with deck guns, some with torpedoes. She also picked up five American flyers during successful "lifeguard" missions in which submarines would preposition themselves at places known to American flyers returning from dangerous bombing missions. Sept. 2, 1944, one year earlier, a young George H.W. Bush was picked up by the USS Finback during such a rescue.
I am old enough to have grown up surrounded by men who knew this war; uncles, neighbors, a father. My four young sons will not know these men, but they love to tour the Razorback and hear its stories. When it is joined by the USS Hoga, the heroic tugboat present at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, soon to start its journey to Arkansas, the significance of Sept. 2, 1945, will be even more vivid to them and coming generations ... if we work together to preserve and tell the stories.
VIC SNYDER
Little Rock
Editor's note: Vic Snyder is a board member of the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.
Should punish them
There are times I wonder how our prisons are run today. It seems that when a prisoner is paroled, he commits another crime and is sent back.
Prison is supposed to be a place of punishment. Years ago the prisoners were put in the cotton field and were made to work. The guards were on horseback to supervise. If a prisoner refused to work, he got a licking for his troubles.
How are the prisons today? Do they have pool tables, ping-pong tables, basketball courts or even a giant flat-screen television? Are the prisons a place of recreation?
It just doesn't make sense. I hope a warden will give me an answer.
DONALD L. PUTMAN
El Dorado
Editorial on 09/02/2015