Editor, the News-Herald:

Despite your weak disclaimer, you nevertheless try to make some kind of a tortuous – albeit praiseworthy – comparison between the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn and the Iraq elections (Our Opinion, March 13).

But, the odd comparison notwithstanding, it’s your unbridled joy over the disastrous situation in Iraq that boggles the mind. How could &uot;those within the Bush administration who pushed for the invasion&uot; – or anyone else, for that matter – feel &uot;a sense of vindication&uot; over an unprovoked act of war (justified by deceit and deception) that so far has killed nearly 1,600 young Americans and wounded another 11,000, not to mention the 100,000 Iraqi civilians (including women and children) who have also been killed?

And that doesn’t even take into account the widespread destruction of the country’s infrastructure, the restoration of which will be borne by the long-suffering, hoodwinked, and mostly compliant American taxpayer.

And it is thanks in part to newspapers like yours – that tell us what a magnificent thing our unjustified and immoral attack was – that we are blinded to the reality of the situation. But even your own article inadvertently hints at the truth when you point out how our aggression in Iraq was &uot;plagued&uot; (your word) by an &uot;uncooperative, resentful populace and a savage violent insurgency.&uot; Why, in God’s name, wouldn’t they be uncooperative and resentful? What were they supposed to do, thank us for destroying their country and killing them by the thousands? And name me an insurgency throughout history that hasn’t been &uot;savage&uot; and &uot;violent.&uot; What did we expect them to be? That’s part of the problem: the Bush chicken hawks had no idea what to expect, hence the death toll of young Americans mounts.

You apparently see it as laudable that the Bush neocons &uot;never wavered in their convictions that they were doing the right thing.&uot; Some people might call that pig-headedness. Keep in mind that Hitler and his followers were also convinced they were &uot;doing the right thing.&uot;

You maintain that the administration has &uot;reason to take pride,&uot; and that there is &uot;reason to celebrate.&uot; Ask the mothers, fathers, and loved ones of the 1,600 dead what they have to celebrate. And ask those of us who shell out our hard earned cash for taxes how proud we are to spend a billion dollars a week on a war that is helping to drive our country deeper and deeper into a black whole of insurmountable debt.

But there appears to be hope. You tell us &uot;downtown Suffolk is… thriving thanks in large part to the beautiful, opulent hotel at Constant’s Wharf.&uot; Not bad for a hotel that’s not officially open. Are you sure it’s just not all those hard-hat workers pumping up business at McDonalds?

John M. Sharpe

Suffolk