Iraq war, critical race theory and Richland School District are Herald letter topics | Opinion

A web of lies

The retrospective article “Iraq WMD failures shadow US intelligence” (Herald, March 6) attributes the wrong assertions of Iraq weapons of mass destruction (WMD) on which the invasion of Iraq was based to a failure of U.S. intelligence agencies.

The truth is that the George W. Bush administration deliberately cherry-picked the intelligence and spun a web of lies that led our country into war.

The “smoking gun” that revealed the truth was the Downing Street memo, a secret British memo that showed the real goal of President Bush was to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein — a decision he made at least nine months before launching his unauthorized criminal invasion — and he was determined to ensure that U.S. intelligence data supported his policy.

The memo to Prime Minister Tony Blair reported on a July 23, 2002, meeting in Washington DC of Britain’s MI6 intelligence service chief, Sir Richard Dearlove. The visit took place while the Bush administration was declaring to the American public that no decision had been made to go to war, while all their actions focused on preparing for war. The memo stated: “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”

The sad result of the web of lies was thousands of American casualties, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties, and an Iraq with one of the most corrupt governments in the world.

Jim Stoffels, Richland

Let’s reconsider CRT in this light

Last Aug. 30, the Tri-City Herald published an article about how the Kennewick School Board released a policy to deny having to teach critical race theory in their curricula. The reasoning behind this policy lay in their belief that critical race theory would teach students that white Americans are inherently oppressive and that American society is systematically racist.

I think this is very problematic because this decision by the school board was based on false information. Critical race theory does not explicitly teach such a concept. Its sole, objective purpose is to identify elements of systematic racism in America’s socioeconomic structure. This involves teaching students that America’s history featured a lot of racism, and the fact that racism has been built into systems that we see in contemporary times. This does not mean that America itself, as a country, and the ideals that acted as its foundation were inherently racist. Nor does it mean that Americans, as a whole, are defined by that racism. Critical race theory can be taught without passing on those concepts to youths.

Bruce Bond, Pasco

Thanks to RSD staff for parent aid

Thank you, Dr. Shelley Redinger and the Richland School District staff who saw the need and brought parent education to us. “Asking is Caring” helps parents see warning signs of suicide ideation, role plays talking with kids with suicide ideation and provides suggestions for prevention, presented by district parents with first-hand experience with mental distress in their own families. “Hidden in Plain Sight” helps identify indicators of teen drug use, mental health concerns and unhealthy relationships. RSD staff understand parents need help navigating today’s reality in raising kids.

Thank you, teachers, paras, and support staff doing your best every day. I see what time teachers post grades on Canvas. You work late and weekends, besides the classroom.

True board “Leadership” would support ALL these people. Recent statements by Audra Byrd created a culture of fear. Threats to be silent or lose your job? Abuse of power! Fear of retaliation impacts employee morale! That’s not good. Teachers and staff need our support, mentally and emotionally, for dealing with our kids, and now, power hungry, vengeful adults. Teachers and staff, thank you for what you do.

Lastly, thank you Rick Jansons for your calm, thoughtful statements. Rick’s approach to every item before the board puts students first. Be like Rick!

Phylliss Baxter, Richland