LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: No Taliban support; The beauty of Africa; Hooked on plastics

Regarding Professor Raouf Halaby's opinion piece in Sunday's Democrat-Gazette, I don't disagree at all with his overall assessment of the current administration's foreign policy. However, I must take exception to a couple of his assertions.

First, it is simply not true that "the Carter administration ... supported the Taliban and Osama bin Laden in their fight against Russia." As I recall, Jimmy Carter was in office from 1977 to 1981. The Taliban did not come into being until the mid-1990s. Moreover, none of the succeeding U.S. administrations supported the Taliban. Support for different groups against the Russians until they departed Afghanistan, yes. For the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, never happened.

Second, the oft-repeated prospect of a bonanza from Afghanistan's mineral resources is phony. It takes capital investment to mine, refine, and transport minerals. And large-scale investment flees murder and armed conflict.

Finally, what should President Bush have done post-9/11? That horse left the barn 18 years ago and hasn't been seen since.

ALAN EASTHAM

Little Rock

Alan Eastham is a retired U.S. ambassador.

The beauty of Africa

Seventy-five thousand dollars to kill a white rhino? These beautiful creatures are as precious in the eyes of God as we are. Yet Mr. Rogers shoots creatures like them for trophies to hang on his walls or to make into rugs.

We went on safari during the Great Migration on the Serengeti Plain a few years ago ... no guns in sight. We were thrilled just to see the beautiful creatures and enjoy the beauty of Tanzania. We saw the beauties of God's work: a baby zebra standing beside its mother, a young elephant traveling with its parents, a leopard sleeping on a tree limb, and many more beautiful animals.

Somehow I feel sorry for Mr. Rogers. He probably never noticed the beautiful sunsets of Africa.

SARAH NUNNELLY

Little Rock

Hooked on plastics

I recently visited the new exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Center, art created with environmentally damaging trash from the ocean. The artists from Bandon, Ore., were very creative, and I believe geared the art to reach children of all ages. It calls out to you to really take a good look at how we are destroying our planet one plastic item at a time. The petroleum industry has done a great job of getting us hooked on all this lightweight plastic that does not go away. It remains a part of the environment, killing off sea life and filling up landfills every day.

I wish every school teacher and student in America could see this exhibit and truly understand its meaning. And I want to thank the Clinton Library for bringing such an outstanding exhibit to our attention, hopefully to create dialogue and change.

SHARON ROBERTS

North Little Rock

Democratic choices

When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, Democrats are awash in a plethora of candidates of many persuasions. How to choose the candidate for president and the subsequent vice president, one wonders?

I note that there were six female candidates this year--Liz Warren, Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar and Marianne Williamson.

If the Democratic Party wants to mobilize its voters and cruise to victory, it should choose a ticket consisting of not one woman, but two. It doesn't really matter which two, since they all will be better leaders than the two men we currently suffer under. The current party in power is not interested in relinquishing its stranglehold, and is not shy about admitting it hopes to limit turnout for the election so as to lessen the chance that it will be thrown out of office. The best way to counter this strategy is to give people inspiration to head to the polls, and since women are in the majority of the population, let's give them even more reason to go vote out the tired old white men.

Speaking as one of these tired old white men, I know many of my cohorts will never vote for a woman anyway, but there are enough women to outnumber them, plus those of us white men who have grown tired of the so-called leaders will add to the female Democratic ticket's winning margin. And if one of the chosen women is of the non-white persuasion, there will be even more reason for the non-white voters to turn out.

Sure, there will be some disappointed old white male aspirants for the ticket, and they will make for a splendid Cabinet in 2021. And the massive turnout will hopefully lead to a decreased number of those who do the bidding of "Moscow Mitch" as the leader of the Senate.

JACK W. HILL

Bismarck

Need a great leader

I don't want to vote for President Trump in the next election for many of the reasons stated by others. But, as an independent voter, I'll consider all the options and try to choose the best for the next four years and the foreseeable future.

Great Britain is apparently stymied now by the extremist views of leaders in their major parties who are keeping governance of their country at a standstill. Sound familiar? This is a different type of red flag for the U.S.

It is not the way to move forward. People must be brought together for a clearly stated common cause, and everyone has to feel like they matter. It takes a great leader to accomplish such a feat; Donald Trump is not that leader. I hope he's not our last option.

We need someone who can put our fiscal house in order and provide true stability within and outside the country. We're nowhere near accomplishing that feat, which is the reason we need someone else to step up. But not just anyone. We don't need more garbage rhetoric.

Who is actually capable and who is not? Be honest and fair about this when you have a chance to vote, please.

KAY CARPENTER

Little Rock

Editorial on 09/17/2019

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