Letters for July 27, 2023

Cluster munitions should be banned

I am vehemently opposed to the U.S. supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine. They are a method of dispersing large numbers of tiny bomblets from a rocket, missile or artillery shell that scatters them in midflight over a wide area. Apparently, they do well in trench warfare.

They are intended to explode on impact, but a significant proportion are “duds,” meaning they don’t explode initially. They can then explode at a later date on being picked up or trodden on, killing or maiming the victim. As a Vietnam veteran, I have read this happened to innocent children and adults years after the war. (They were mines, but same effect.)

The use of cluster munitions has been criticized by human rights groups as the weapon is banned by more than 100 countries, including the U.K., France and Germany, which have signed an international treaty – the Convention on Cluster Munitions – that outlaws the use or stockpiling of these weapons due to their indiscriminate effect on civilian populations.

The U.S. providing these cluster munitions to Ukraine will put us at odds with many of our Western allies, which is exactly what Russian President Putin would love. He would love to see our nation as not providing humanitarian support, but as some sort of an outside aggressor. He would love to see a split of our country with our European friends, even over a minor munitions disagreement.

I want the rest of the world to see America as a compassionate supporter of freedom but not as being responsible for “collateral damage.”

James Richard Johnson

Clark Fork, Idaho

Hottest place in the world

Along with temperatures around the U.S. and the world every day in the paper, would you please include the hottest place on the planet – Death Valley?

As I write, it is 113 degrees there. I took a high school field trip to Death Valley. A fascinating and almost otherworldly experience. A relative, Remi Nadeau, drove a mule train through Death Valley loaded with Borax.

That ended when mule trains were replaced by railroad trains. I still buy Borax to use for cleaning.

Candy Frankel

Spokane

Feeling the pinch of raised taxes

We are all feeling the pinch these years as the county and city governments look lustfully at our climbing home values and jump at the chance to gouge all of us. Most homes in the area have seen a 300% jump in value, if not more, which does nothing for the owner who is not looking to sell except increase their tax burden and insurance costs. Why do we allow the government to continue to fleece us like this? Why not demand that taxation of property be limited to the purchase price or value when inherited? That way people could stay in their homes and avoid huge tax increases which in some cases result in having to sell. Face it: A lot of retired people don’t want to sell, and since the bulk of our property tax is spent on schools, they shouldn’t be the ones getting gouged.

Who other than those in government or Realtors will be opposed to this? Of course, that would drive down the demand to sell and purchase another home, which would result in less commissions for Realtors, but it would also drive down the demand which would stop the rise in home values, a win-win for everyone again.

Ask yourselves, “Does government really need more money or should it, like us, spend the money it gets a lot more wisely?” Look at any government building, and you will see the answer. Why pay millions for a fire station garage or city hall?

Rob Leach

Mica

Renew Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act

Instead of alleging that Dr. Anthony Fauci and other National Institutes of Health officials were not reappointed on time by the Biden Administration, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the powerful Economics and Commerce Committee, should demonstrate leadership to achieve a bipartisan agreement to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which expires Sept. 30. PAHPA authorizes the critical institutions and infrastructure that are indispensable in defending against dangerous outbreaks and other biological threats with pandemic potential.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and countless other experts urge reauthorization. Our national biosecurity is a priority, separate from destructive partisan politics. Time is running short, representative. Now is the time to work on our behalf.

Mary Benham

Spokane