Portion of blame's his
Michael Vining of Benton writes that a recent Thomas Sowell column blames Barack Obama on the emergence of ISIS due to pulling all American troops out of Iraq. He states that it was George W. Bush who set the date for combat troops to be withdrawn. He is correct on that point.
The reason I believe Barack Obama deserves a good portion of the blame for the emergence of ISIS is his apparent inability to negotiate a new status-of-forces security agreement with the Iraqis to leave a small residual force of non-combat troops in Iraq. These forces would have been able to provide continued training of the Iraqi military and maintain an intelligence mission that may have been able to slow or stop the rise of ISIS in Iraq.
This comes from President Obama's former Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, who I'm pretty sure is not a right-wing Republican hack.
I'm not sure that this is the biggest mistake that President Obama has made, but it is certainly near the top.
GORDON GONDEK
Little Rock
Education takes time
Re Jean T. Gordon's letter, "For peace, not revenge": Although I have not seen the guest column by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky that was referred to (I do not receive the paper daily), I would like to respond to the question, "Could schools (and jobs) work better than bombs?"
Ideally, that would be so. Sadly, ISIS (and other similar groups) is a fanatical religious group that believes those not believing as it believes should be killed.
Jean also quotes Malala Yousafzai: "With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism." I admire that young lady for her courage, in the face of death, to stand up for what is right, but education takes time. Groups like ISIS have the head start in providing their education in philosophies and dogmas they want people to have with their laws as to what gets taught to whom. Keep in mind that Ms. Yousafzai was targeted for assassination simply because of her outspoken views about the right of girls to be able to receive an education.
The entire situation brings to mind a poster I saw years ago that stated, "When you are up to your posterior in alligators, it is difficult to remember that the original objective was to drain the swamp."
KYLE REAGLE
Calico Rock
Masterful maneuver
If the Governor, aka "The ASA," can pull off his latest scheme to fund the Arkansas Works program, he belongs right up there with Huey Long and Bill Clinton. Good luck to "The ASA."
NEALUS WHEELER
Mountain Home
Haven't given up fight
Mike Masterson wrote an open letter to Gov. Asa Hutchinson in regard to the risks posed by this farm to our state's one and only national river.
Many of us have been working to understand and cooperate with Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality over these past two years. Sadly, the conclusion that I have come to is that the department seems to be working against the Buffalo National River's best interests, seemingly at every turn. They cite regulation after regulation in regard to their pursuit of proper procedure, yet when there is hard data from the U.S. Geological Study delivered to them by the National Park Service with a recommendation to find three tributaries as "impaired" (polluted), they decide that those rules need not be followed. These three tributaries contribute about one third of the flow of the Buffalo National River.
I can only conclude that there is a political agenda at work within this agency. However, please don't get the impression that any of us have given up. We are in this for the long haul and we are gaining a great deal of expertise in regard to environmental policy. That being said, please know that I stand firmly with Mike Masterson's letter.
BRIAN THOMPSON
Fayetteville
Don't you call me that
Re server greetings: Not only "you guys," how about being called "Honey" or "Sweetie"? I find addressing me in this manner by a total stranger to be offensive.
CLAIRE LEHENY
Jacksonville
How to handle waste
In regard to the likely pollution of the Buffalo River by C&H Hog Farms--although the owners followed all the state rules for approval, the only two options presented thus far are to allow it to continue operation as approved or to force it to cease operations.
Perhaps a third option would be to install a sewage-treatment plant like those made for cities. If large cities can build effective sewage-treatment plants, surely one could be built for one hog farm. Since the state approved the facility and it was built in good faith by the farmers and at their expense, I think the state should share in the expense if such a plant could be built. Grant money could also be sought in the effort to protect the river. The state's share of the money should come out of the Department of Environmental Quality budget as an incentive to be more vigilant in their responsibilities.
LARRY McNEAL
Waldo
Campaign saturation
How to define the good ol' days? My definition is when we had 30 minutes of local news on TV at 5 p.m. and 30 minutes of national news at 5:30 p.m., plus the daily newspaper.
My resolve--immediately switch TV channels when any political news comes on about the current campaign until after the election is finalized in November 2016. Enough is enough.
GEORGE W. McCLAIN
Little Rock
Line forms over there
Re Ron Smith's letter, "For none of the above," I want to join the "None of the Above" Party. Please let me know where to apply!
MARGO TIMMONS
Little Rock
Editorial on 04/23/2016