U.N. makes costly mistake
The French and German position on Iraq has become obnoxious. All nations act in their own self-interest first, but the depth of their hypocrisy in this case is stunning. While spending almost nothing on defense themselves, they feel that they can dictate to America how best to protect it’s interests. They advocate maintaining the status quo in Iraq to perpetuate their inside deals with Saddam, at the same time they use American willingness to confront aggression elsewhere as their defense by proxy. The end of the Cold War removed from Western Europe any threat of outside attack. These nations gleefully disarmed and embraced pacifism. Unfortunately, the rest of the world did not. Now the U.S. is nearly alone in confronting weapons proliferation and lunatic despot. France and Germany enjoy the freedom to engage in commerce throughout the world only because of the stability provided by America’s military and diplomatic presence. From Asia to the Middle East to Europe itself, it is American might that keeps the peace.
If there countries wish to have the benefit of not financing their own military deterrent, they should at least give some measure of diplomatic support to their protectors.
A united and resolute Security Council could possibly disarm Saddam without war. The French, with their veto power, however, say that no ultimatums are to be placed on Saddam. Since the U.N. is unwilling to act, the United States must act without them. Though war with Saddam will only cost Coalition and Iraqi lives, it will in the end, be France and Germany that have to account for that blood. After the war, the U.N. should be remolded so that the sway these nations hold in matters of world peace is equal to their ability and willingness to pay for it.
Rick Kessler
Uniontown
Need for on-call vets
There are currently four very fine veterinarians practicing in the Uniontown area. With this in mind, it is hard to understand why someone would have to drive for more than an hour to Castle Shannon (Pittsburgh), if you have an emergency situation, after office hours or on weekends, involving either your own pet or encounter an injured animal.
Many people in the community have had emergency situations involving animals, and having called one or all of these veterinarians’ offices only to be greeted by an answering machine instructing them to “go to the emergency vet in Castle Shannon or others in the Pittsburgh area.”
I have four pets myself and work closely with Fayette Friends of Animals, so I know that our vets are very good through the amount of time they donate to rabies clinics, etc. They work hard and love animals, but I believe that a schedule could be arranged that one weekend a month one of them could be on call for a true emergency, if one should arise. Recently traveling to another state, I noticed four emergency veterinarian offices within one square mile of each other. Surely we could have just one on call. By the time you drive to Castle Shannon, if you were able, your pet or someone else’s could be dead. If one of my children was having a heart attack and the hospital was closed I probably wouldn’t make it to Pittsburgh in time to save them, would I?
Patricia Johnson
Uniontown