Letters to the Editor for the July 10 – 16, 2008 edition.

Deserve Better Iraq Analysis by Brooks

David Brooks’ editorial in the June 26 edition of the News-Press regarding the Iraq war refers to President Bush as having “made a hash of the first five years of the war”…and then goes on to say Bush finally got it right with the “troop surge” decision suggesting that the decision was some stroke of genius that may yet serve to vindicate his performance during the first five years of this folly.

“Making a hash” of it is mild euphemism indeed. Those who are concerned enough to keep track understand that the Bush team of nation-builders are on their way to burning their way through nearly a trillion dollars of borrowed money; have stretched the U.S. military to the breaking point; destroyed thousands of lives; tarnished U.S. credibility beyond measure; and all done while trying to improvise a policy and a plan as you go.

Those who have given life and limb deserved much better in terms of analysis, planning and judgment.

By the way, wasn’t General Tommy Franks begging for two or three times as many troops to do the job five years ago, when he was rebuffed by Rumsfeld and Cheney who were convinced they knew better? How clever of Bush to come up with this “surge” decision five years and miles of irreparable damage later.

Robert L. Chaves

Falls Church

Whipple Gaining Credibility in “Peak Oil’ Columns

Editor,

I’ve been reading Mr. Whipple’s “Peak Oil” articles since 2005. I live in the U.S. midwest, and had never heard of the Falls Church News-Press before then. He put you on the map for me and, I suspect, many others all over the world. In my opinion, Mr. Whipple’s hyper-aware writing and blunt style could place him within the ranks of any publication he chose. Congrats to the News-Press, and keep it up. The Tom Whipples of the world are gaining headway and credibility in spades, and the importance of their work will only increase as the truths they’ve been describing for years unfold.

David Keith

Via the Internet

Says Whipple, FCNP Deserve Pulitzer Prize

Editor,

I’ve been reading Mr. Whipple’s “Peak Oil” articles since 2005. I live in the U.S. midwest, and had never heard of the Falls Church News-Press before then. He put you on the map for me and, I suspect, many others all over the world. In my opinion, Mr. Whipple’s hyper-aware writing and blunt style could place him within the ranks of any publication he chose. Congrats to the News-Press, and keep it up. The Tom Whipples of the world are gaining headway and credibility in spades, and the importance of their work will only increase as the truths they’ve been describing for years unfold.

David Keith

Via the Internet

Insiders, Not Free Markets, Decide Price of Oil

Editor,

The price of a barrel of oil will be what the people who have the brute power say what the price will be until the rule of law is restored to a high level of integrity and credibility. For the rule of law to be restored ‘We the People’ will have to awaken to our responsibility to return to stop with the predictive punditocracy and return to basic common sense, reason, justice and the ideal of creating the more perfect union. Nowhere is the phenomenon of the “self fulfilling prophecy” more true and applicable than in a free democracy; in other words if a bunch of people (critical mass) decided to buy into a prediction and talk about it will come true. If these people are bunch of power insiders (suppliers of goods, services and propaganda) then there is not a need even for a critical mass. In fact a good part of the article by Whipple is about, “speculative this could happen and that could happen”.

The belief in free markets and the law of supply and demand has been shattered into a gazillion pieces. It has become more and more clear that if suppliers gang up together they can easily create artificial scarcities which can then trigger of chaos and speculation which then results in an avalanche of further chaos and speculation. Further these suppliers, before creating artificial scarcities can get legislators in their pockets so that there can be no oversight or investigations into the arbitrage.

With the advent of the Internet and the swift flow of information many secrets of insiders have been exposed. With stocks, day trading courses multiplied like rabbits in the late 90s, and it became well known that a stock has an intrinsic (asset/fundamental/technical based) and extrinsic (news/speculation/expectation based) value. For a while Internet based day traders played on a level playing field with the expert/insiders until the powerful insiders restored their hierarchy of power and when that happened, it was time for the slaughter.

We saw this with the craziness of the stock market bubble. The people who lost millions were the ordinary players in the “free market” controlled by powerful insiders.

We saw this with the energy market manipulation by Enron, until miraculously they were exposed.

We saw this with the real estate market manipulation by Bear Stearns, until they were exposed.

Now ITM Trading and Blanchard and company are hyping up gold by scaring people about the falling dollar.

We have to realize that if we are getting fat, sick and broke we need to stop consuming; that the simple equation “expenses > (greater than) income” means big trouble.

That every technical expert that points us one way about solving the energy crisis, you can find 2 pointing in the exact opposite and vice-versa.

That detailed technical analysis is beyond the grasp of US citizens because they are busy doing two jobs and totally robbed of their time.

That while the energy crisis is real, finding more or finding ways to create the illusion of more is not the solution.

So the real answer would a broad and deep change in the mindsets of ‘We the People’ toward common sense, reason, rule of law, justice and our Constitution.

When this happens there will be a critical mass of people in business and government who are leaders/decision-makers and followers/decision-implementers, to create authentic free and fair markets that are driven by a balance of capital and labor, business and government and innovation and regulation.

John Nerikaat

Via the Internet

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Letters to the editor may be emailed to letters@fcnp.com.