Afghanistan War

TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS WE MUST never again squander the blood of patriots with a halfhearted attempt at war.

It is dangerous, counter-productive and immoral to fight a war with just enough troops to agitate our foes without a sufficient commitment to ensure victory. We must soundly defeat those who attack us while simultaneously establishing basic security and economic stability for the civilian population. Ignoring the civilian suffering only creates hatred among a long-suffering people caught up in the throes of war. Civilians who hate us become enemies who fight us. It is the surest route to a bloody and debilitating defeat.

Despite all of the odds stacked against us in Iraq, we have achieved success in Iraq, especially in Ramadi and the rest of Al Anbar Province. We have done so by a multi-faceted approach. First, we have conducted decisive military action and thoroughly defeated the enemy in battle. Second, we have worked with, rather than against, the Iraqi people's own natural leaders in re-establishing basic security and some degree of economic stability. It is imperative to follow up tactical victories by removing the conditions which motivate future attacks.

We have learned a lot in Iraq, and we can not ignore these lessons in Afghanistan. Our troops have fought hard and sacrificed much in an uphill battle to defeat an enemy defined not by geographic borders, but by it's ideological commitment to the destruction of our nation. We have learned that we can not remain isolated on our bases while the civilians around us suffer at the hands of terrorists. We must establish a protective, cooperative presence among the people.

The challenge in establishing basic security is to do so in a way that respects and supports the people's natural leadership and fosters self-reliance. The efforts of our military must eventually be carried on by the Afghans themselves.

If we instead remain aloof and isolated, relying solely on aerial strikes with unmanned drones, the civilians will see only bloodshed and never the compassionate face of an American soldier standing with them to improve life in their remote villages. While well-placed aerial strikes are a vital part of our overall strategy, they are only one part of it.

During the Vietnam war, we saw the results of allowing partisan politics to define our battlefield strategies. The time and place for deciding whether to fight a war rests with our civilian political leadership. Once they decide to fight, victory is our goal. Defeat is not an option. We must collectively stand behind our soldiers and support their efforts, not micromanage them into a defeat.

General Stanley McChrystal is our battlefield commander in Afghanistan. He is in the best position to assess our efforts and refine our strategy and define the resources he needs to accomplish the mission set before him. As unpleasant as it is to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, we must win this fight.

Our nation was attacked on September 11th, not by a geographically - defined nation, but rather by a radical ideology which runs counter to everything we hold dear. We must defeat our attackers every time, and on every level. Not only must we stop those who attack America, we must remove the motivation of those who contemplate future attacks. Victory in Afghanistan will go far to prevent future attacks on our own soil. Defeat will embolden our enemies and fuel further attacks on our nation.

May God bless America.

THOMAS A. MIDDLETON Combat veteran and author of Sabers Edge: A Combat Medic

in Ramadi, Iraq

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Rotary Thanks

TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS THE ROTARY Club of Northfield would like to thank the community for their support of the Rotary's Labor Day festivities. During these times, it was good to see what a great community exists in Northfield. Rotary's goal is to support the community - local, regional and international - and we could not achieve this goal without the support of

the community. We would also like to especially recognize the following people, groups and businesses that contributed to our success.

Trans-Video TDS Northfield High School

Norwich University

Americorps/Rotoract Students

Cutting Loose Hair Stop Anne Donahue Eugene Premont Rustic Sports Bar Shear Edge Mark Smith Northfield Pharmacy Town of Northfield Lisa and Rowly Brucken Nicole DiDomenico Les and Phyllis Skinner Northfield Falls General Store Linda Yeomans Ron and Jerri Merolli Harley Jordan Aubuchon's Hardware Store Video's 'N More Walter and Diane McKain

Morse Farm and Sugarworks

Wayside Restaurant and Bakery

Gillespie Fuel Trombley's Greenhouse DeFelice's Cafe Bragg Farm and Sugarworks Depot Square Pizzeria Cabot Creamery Kenyon's Hardware Thank you.

MARSHA HOFFMAN

President, Northfield

Rotary Club

————- o- ———— Capitalism, The Movie

TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS IREAD WITH interest your editorial re: Michael Moore's movie, "Capitalism: a Love Story", after returning home from seeing the film at the Savoy. Had i read your editorial before seeing the film, I'd have known how fruitless it would have been to search for you among the crowd (not that it actually occurred to me to look for you there) as you avowed the unlikelihood of your ever viewing the film.

I therefore find ironic the fact that you criticize Michael Moore for having made a movie about an economic system "without, apparently, understanding even the basics of what it's all about", when you dare to rail about a film you have no intention of seeing.

My sense is that Michael Moore's real target is not capitalism itself so much as the gross perversion of it, American-style, especially since the Reagan era. Mr. Moore provides personal, heartbreaking accounts of foreclosure and job loss, as well as hopeful instances of working class people who mobilized, found solidarity with one another, and ultimately summoned enough strength to buck the system and its widespread corruption.

Rather than opining about what the country might be like if it were "without the capitalist system that Mr. Moore so detests", I suggest it would be more helpful - especially at this critical time when the country struggles to rebound from the financial meltdown - to consider the threat of becoming totally immersed in a sea of corporate greed - a dire scenario against which brave and prophetic voices like Michael Moore's speak out.

CLAIRE CHOMENTOWSKI

Roxbury