Letter to the Editor

Swimming Pools VS Guns Mary Anne Davis responded to my article requesting penalties for gun owners whose careless act resulted in a child finding a gun and pulling the trigger. She may be correct but it is my opinion she wrote to disparage the veracity of what I wrote. There are many hazards to be found in homes including cleaning chemicals, drugs, knives, etc. that should be properly stored out of reach of curious hands. We are all guilty of being irresponsible and careless one time or another. The jails can’t hold us all. There is a difference between these and guns. These are to serve a useful purpose or provide pleasure. A gun is designed to be used against a person or animal whether as a criminal or in self-defense. I stand by my previous letter. Jack B. Walters January 15, 2014

Lone Survivor

I went to see this new movie last night, not to be entertained but to see the reconstruction of an actual event that had occurred in Afghanistan. I considered it to be a documentary. A true documentary includes actual video of events which this was not. I take it on faith that the film makers, out of respect for the victims, filmed the events as close to actual; as possible. After the picture ended the pictures of the deceased were shown one after the other, sometimes in uniform and others with wives and children. It starts with shots of the rigorous Seal training showing the strain these men are subjected to, including pictures of some who drop out. They signify that action by placing their helmets on the ground. Four men are dropped into the desert on a mission to locate a Taliban leader who had recently killed a large number of U.S. Marines. They accomplish this but unfortunately they are discovered by three Afghani shepherds. They debate killing them, leaving them tied up or releasing. They finally decide on release, aborting the mission, attempting to reach the other side of the mountain calling for extraction. The shepherds quickly inform the Taliban and they come after them. They become engaged in a fire fight ending in the death of three men. A rescue effort ends in tragedy as 19 men are killed in the rescue helicopter. The survivor of the original group hides as night descends. In the morning friendly villagers discover him, take him to their village and care for him. He asks that a note be carried to the base telling where he is. Once received a massive effort is put into action to save him. In the meantime the Taliban forces attack the village. The Taliban group is attacked and driven off with many casualties. He is returned and does survive. That is the story. Normally it is considered impolite to disclose the plot of a movie. Since this was a recap of actual events which ended as portrayed I felt I could do so. There are a few comments I would now like to make. Since I have previously made it known to one and all my concern about adherents to Islam, I was deeply affected by the knowledge that Muslims protected him knowing that they would be attacked by the Taliban. A number gave their lives doing so. It was announced that this is tradition to protect strangers in need. The other main point was subtly brought into the conversation regarding previous penalties others had received for killing civilians or other breaches of the stringent code of conduct these men are required to accept. It is no wonder to me that veterans return home feeling bitter and sometimes suicidal. Please see this movie and remember the hardship these men live under on our behalf. Jack B. Walters January 14, 2014

Letter to the editor-published 1/12/2014

New penalties required for home gun accidents I have read too many times about young children picking up a gun and pulling the trigger sometimes with tragic results. I realize how devastating this can be for family members particularly when a death occurs but never the less I believe legislation should be enacted to hold the gun permit owner responsible by charging that owner with manslaughter. This added knowledge just might encourage owners to be more diligent in securing their weapons in the home. Jack B. Walters January 5, 2014

New penalties required for home gun accidents

I have read too many times about young children picking up a gun and pulling the trigger sometimes with tragic results. I realize how devastating this can be for family members particularly when a death occurs but never the less I believe legislation should be enacted to hold the gun permit owner responsible by charging that owner with manslaughter. This added knowledge just might encourage owners to be more diligent in securing their weapons in the home. Jack B. Walters January 5, 2014

My Opinion

I continue to believe that our government leaders are making the wrong decisions. I could go back decades but will limit this to the last two, Bush and Obama. Bush After 9/11 he could have bombed the training camps and follow up as others were created. Instead he led us into a 12 year debacle costing a Trillion dollars and from which there appears to be no end. At least in Vietnam we withdrew and ended the commitment. Then he invaded Iraq over false pretenses costing other Billions. In both cases many American lives were lost as well as innocent Iraqis and Afghan civilians numbering in the hundred thousand. Obama He did everything he could to keep American troops in Iraq. He was forced to remove them when the Iraqi government would not grant protection from their court system. Guess what, he didn’t bring them home. For the most part they were relocated to Kuwait. He increased the troop level in Afghanistan. Now as his commitment to leave by the end of 2014, he is doing everything to keep 10,000 troops there forever it would appear. Americans are tired of these continuing farces but regardless the occupation of this country continues unabated. Not only that but he has agreed to provide $4 billion in support for ten years after 2014. We have been spared bombing Syria only by the intervention of Russia. How humiliating that is. I am sure, if he can find an excuse, he will follow through on his crossing the red line pledge of August 2012. I continue to believe that under his “leadership” every step we take leads to more chaos in this region. Khadafy kept the brotherhood under control. We removed him for humanitarian purposes. What a sick joke. Now the armed militias are creating havoc the government has not been able to control. Mubarak also kept them in check. The brotherhood gained control with our blessing. We continued to provide billions in weaponry. When Morsi turned to strict Sharia law the people rebelled. The military agreed and removed him from power. Obama objected and has now cut back on military support. They are now reaching out to Russia. What a negative turn around that is. Our relationship with Israel is at an all-time low. They are left to fend for themselves. How tragic to abandon them now in these critical times when even just yesterday Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that Israel was “the rabid dog of the region”. Since taking office Obama has treated Netanyahu with disdain. He told a deliberate lie about Benghazi being a spontaneous event instead of the terrorist event, which all in power recognized. I believe he left them to fend for themselves when a rescue mission could at least have been attempted. The major news media for the most part continue to provide cover confusing Americans. With his continuing stranglehold on the military and homeland security he does not allow any mention of Muslim terrorists. To deny that there is a worldwide mission to convert all to Islam is to deny reality. I have even read that American Mosques are not to be placed under surveillance as all the rest of us are through intelligence gathering activities. You cannot convince me that he has not done all in his power to advance the goal of Islamists. Whether he is a Muslim or Christian is not the question. Explain the mystery of the recent firing of nine high ranking Generals? What does that mean? Is there a litmus test they must agree to, to continue in service? He clearly showed his admiration for Islam in his February 2009 Cairo speech where he lauded Islam as a great religion. Under his leadership, with the continuing compliance of the press, we will continue to stumble around without a common objective other than to advance his goals which I can assure you, are not mine. Do your own research if you believe my assessment is flawed. Jack B. Walters November 21, 2013

One If by Land by William R. Daniel

(What every American needs to know about our border) This book was recommended to me by a good friend who is a Mexican American and a true patriot of our country. It is well written, easy to understand, well researched and documented. As a 20 year resident of Southern Arizona and an avid hiker I have hiked in all of the locations mentioned. When I started the trails and mountains were pristine. As time went on we saw more and more devastation with trash thrown everywhere. As the author points out in recent year’s signs have been posted warning us of the danger of hiking these areas. That has made me angry, warning me as a citizen to stay out of these beautiful places, in effect ceding to illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. How shameful that our government has not done their job of stopping these activities. It is clearly shown that since the nineties whether under Republican or Democrat Administrations, the process has been politicized to the point that the government only pretends to control. There are many clear cut examples of pretending to enforce our laws but merely wasting resources. With great fanfare National Guard troops were brought to the area but not allowed to serve as soldiers, only observers and paper pushers. The ranchers reported constant activity across their lands with what appears to them to be lukewarm responses. Ranchers who detain illegals have been brought to Court for threatening illegals due to the fact that they were armed. I can remember reading some years ago when after a trial the Judge took the ranch and gave it to an illegal whose “rights” had been violated. From my perspective I believe they have acted with considerable restraint having to live with the constant threat and damage to their property without compensation. The gun running projects were done during Bush and Obama’s administrations. It all began in 2004 with a program called “Gunrunner” under the ATF. This had the blessing of Governor Napolitano of Arizona and Bill Richardson of Mexico. The purpose was to locate straw purchasers. This evolved into “Operation Wide Receiver” which operated between 2006 and 2007. Altogether over 300 guns were allowed to be purchased from licensed gun dealers. This time the object was to trace the guns to leaders of Mexican drug cartels. Fast and Furious was the next program. It operated from 2009 to 2011. In this one over 2,000 semi-automatic rifles were sold to straw buyers. One of these was found at the site where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed. This created the outrage that Congress found Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for not sharing records; President Obama supported him by claiming executive privilege. It was later confirmed that 150 Mexicans were also killed by weapons found to have been purchased under this program. Supposedly these programs no longer exist but personally I don’t trust the Federal Government on this and many other issues. I want to add the story about the murder of rancher Rob Krentz by a smuggler who fled to the border and has not been identified as of the publication of the book. It is alleged that this incident was the impetus for the Arizona legislation called SB 1070. We are all aware of being called racists for supporting. I believe I can assure you that Arizonans as a majority still approve and would vote again for similar types of legislation if given the opportunity. If you are interested in learning the facts of the border issues read these accounts from many ranchers who live South of Tucson and still strive to live normal lives with the continuing invasion of illegal immigrants and drug runners, whose activity continues unabated and will continue if we double the agents and pour $40 billion as the U.S. Senate bill would do should the House agree. An excellent, easy to read and absorb book you should read. Jack B. Walters November 7, 2013

The Arab Mind by Ralphael Patai

I sent a copy of my latest book to Jennifer Schneider. She responded by telling me of a book her father had written entitled “The Arab Mind”. I immediately ordered a copy and just now after three weeks of tortuous reading I have finally finished reading. I say that, not to disparage her father but due to the overriding conclusion of how antiquated and stuck in time these people continue to be. This book was originally printed in 1973. This newest edition was updated in 1983. Mr. Patai was an accomplished author with over 30 books written. He lived in Palestine for 15 years as a youth before immigrating to America. He died in 1996. Chapters are devoted to every aspect of Arab life including music, arts, Arabic language and Bedouin values which were transformed by Islam. Conflict, it appears, is a necessary ingredient for Arabs, whether tribal, countries or religions. The formation of the State of Israel in 1948 has become the unifying goal of all to erase this stain on what they consider to be their holy ground. Whatever their shortcomings are, Israel is blamed. Only destruction of the Jewish people will free them and allow them to succeed. They do acknowledge that Israel has been the winner of the three wars with Arab nations because of their intellectual prowess in all things of a science nature. Wouldn’t you think they could be intelligent enough to understand and emulate their success themselves and thereby raise their standard of living comparable to Israel? Destroying Israel will only plunge the entire Middle East into a downward spiral even more than today (my comment). The ages old tradition of demeaning women is thoroughly documented from the practice of cutting them as young girls to decrease their pleasure of sex acts, to rejoicing over a male birth and irritation over a female, to the preferential rearing of males and ignoring the needs of girls, to deny women and girls the right to education, to forcing them to cover themselves with burkas, to keep them in the home unless accompanied by a male relative, to divorcing by just saying “I divorce you”. Until they finally realize what a precious source of wisdom and input women can make they will forever be a lost culture. It can’t be ignorance as the West has clearly shown how productive women can be. I don’t even accept that Islam is the cause. It is not religion; it is that the men are not willing to share their power equally, what a tragedy that today in the 21st Century barbaric behavior continues, and in effect making slaves of females. After the Yon Kipper war in 1973 the Arab world declared victory. They had been thoroughly beaten by Israel but would not admit it. The hostilities were ended by both sides accepting the United Nations edict. Israel gave back the Sinai and bits and pieces of the Golan Heights. The Arab victory came afterward with the oil embargo on Western nations and then the huge increase in the cost of OPEC oil. All of this caused havoc for the West. It took a long time to recover. In the decades to follow the tremendous influx of wealth changed the Arab world dramatically. In some countries great structures were built, health and education became free for the citizens. Others used their wealth to promote terrorist groups. (I particularly single out Saudi Arabia as the most dangerous). Our government continues to assert our friendship in spite of the fact that 16 of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis. An interesting male Arab attribute is the aversion to getting their hands dirty. They have no problem with women working. With the new wealth they could hire all types of foreign men to operate their oil processes, build their skyscrapers and do all sort of menial work while they drink their coffee. Nothing in this book changed my negative thinking in regard to Arabs and Islam. They will continue their destructive ways until such time as they are confronted and re-educated. I will conclude this with the author’s final paragraph. “At the same time Arab nationalism became tainted by a strong anti-Western streak. While it had to be recognized that the West was the prime mover in bringing about the Arab awakening, in introducing sanitation, general education and other mass benefits into the Arab world, the West assumed for the Arab mind the character of a sinister jinni, a hateful enemy and a convenient whipping boy who could be blamed for all the problems that beset the Arabs. The encounter with the West produced a disturbing inferiority complex in the Arab mind which in itself made it more difficult to shake off the shackles of stagnation. The next challenge the Arab mind must meet is to cease measuring Arab achievements with Western yardsticks and to work for a regeneration of the Arab world by building on its own, by no means negligible, capabilities”. Jack B. Walters October 26, 2013