POSITIVE ACTIONS TO ALLEVIATE POVERTY KEY

Richard Halloran (Oct. 4) summed up two lousy choices to solving the Afghanistan quagmire: all or nothing. Pour in thousands more troops, even though those already there have failed to bring peace after more than seven years of fighting, or pull them all out and cut our losses.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has suggested not wearing body armor or sunglasses, to win over the local civilians, but remember the American death toll in Vietnam (58,000)? Getting Afghans to do more of the fighting is logical because outsiders cannot build a nation in someone else's country, despite arrogant talk about our doing "armed nation-building" there. The Karzai regime is as corrupt a puppet state as Saigon was.

The "restrictive rules of engagement" in Vietnam meant not invading the North, which was backed by nearby China. The Afghan rebels have sanctuaries over the border, but so far killing leaders with drones or bombing villages creates more enemies.

Building infrastructure and other positive actions to alleviate poverty (the real cause of the opium boom and the rebirth of Taliban) are more important than trying to occupy every square mile of a country that Kabul has never been able to rule anyway.

Our generals in Vietnam got 500,000 troops and still failed because our opponents were indigenous and we weren't, and still aren't.

David chappell | Käneohe

TEACHERS' PAY

MORE MONEY NOT GOING TO HELP SCORES

The Oct. 15 letter from Robert Cowie screams for a response. His comparison of teachers' pay with "other professionals" such as lawyers and doctors is, at face value, a joke.

Using his analogy, let's suppose a doctor has every patient they care for die. Not some, but all their patients die. None survive. And let's continue with lawyers. Every client this lawyer takes loses their case. The conclusion is the doctor has an uncanny ability to only get patients that all have a terminal condition. Or the doctor just isn't competent and should try another profession. Likewise the lawyer can only get clients that just don't have a winnable case, or the lawyer just isn't competent and should try another profession.

I refuse to believe Hawaii has the dumbest children in America, incapable of being taught. Either our teachers are grossly incompetent and should get out of the way and let qualified teachers take over their teaching duties or dismantle the teachers' union if the fault is there or get a whole new board of education to oversee this debacle.

Throwing more money at teachers is not going to get our children's scores from the nation's cellar, nor will it produce more responsible young adults. I say wake up, Robert Cowies of Hawaii, before it's too late. Demand more then we're getting for our tax dollars.

dave ward | Waianae

CONTRACT

HGEA HANDLING WAS DISRESPECTFUL

On Oct. 13, Marc-Andre Kirchhof, HGEA union agent for bargaining units 02, 03, 04, 06, 08, 09 and 13 sent an e-mail to his members announcing the scheduled contract ratification meetings on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 15 and 16, to vote on the recently negotiated contract agreement with the state. Unfortunately, he lacked the common courtesy of including a copy of the new contract or even a summary of its content for review.

It's bad enough that the members were only given two days notice, but to expect them to approve a contract that they've never seen is both arrogant and disrespectful. This is a decision that affects the livelihood of all of the members for the next two years. Legal? Maybe, maybe not, but it certainly is not pono!

Who exactly does HGEA represent — the employees or the office of Miss Lingle? Who's paid by whom? Would you sign a contract to buy a house this way? Maybe it's time for HGEA to go the way of the dodo bird! Might I suggest the AFL-CIO affiliate?

al rabold | Kula, Hawaii

DOG WALKERS

WHERE'S THE JUSTICE IN CITATIONS?

Where is the justice in ticketing responsible dog owners who walk their dogs on the grass fronting Sans Souci Beach when Sans Souci is an approved beach for dog swimming? Where is the justice in ticketing owners of leashed dogs on the sidewalk by Kapiolani Park, yet a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk is left uninterrupted?

anne p. rauh | Honolulu

PEACE PRIZE

UNPATRIOTIC REACTION REFLECTS ON GOP

The disgusting response of the Republican Party to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the president of the United States should be final proof to any unbiased observer of what I have known for a long time.

I am 85 years old. My diminished youth was brought on by the mistakes of the Harding, Coolidge, Hoover gang which nearly killed my father, an overseas veteran of WWI. Fortunately, President Roosevelt's WPA made it possible for us to get through the Depression.

When I returned from Europe in WWII I walked precinct for Helen Gahagan Douglas, an admirable woman running for the United States Senate. She was defeated by a last-minute smear campaign by "Tricky Dick" Nixon. The recent unpatriotic statements of the Repugnant party makes it clear they do not respect the Red, White and Blue. Their flag is yellow.

john cort | Pähoa, Hawaii