Winds of War
TWO WEEKS AGO WE RAN AN EDITORIAL OPPOSING A WAR WITH IRAQ.
We’re still hearing from you about it. Most of the reaction has been positive,one businessperson said the editorial persuaded him to change his position. But we’ve also heard from readers who strongly disagree with our opinion,one canceled his subscription.
We regret losing any readers, but we’re gratified that so many, whether they agreed or disagreed with us, appreciated the thought we put into the piece, and were motivated to share their views.
We realize that the Business Journal is only one small voice in what is a global debate over the issue of Iraq. Indeed, while we wrote the piece before the weekend of demonstrations here and overseas against a war, the paper came out the day afterwards, adding a local exclamation point to the anti-war sentiment. But the Bush administration has maintained its hard line, and opinion polls indicate that most Americans support it.
We assume there is the same or even stronger consensus for the president here in Orange County and among our readers. But sentiment is sharply divided, and as our letters have suggested, opinions cut across the traditional political lines. Whether you examine Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, CEOs, lawyers, professors or whatever, you will get a wide range of opinions about whether we should go to war.
Last week we ran eight letters, all in support of our position opposing a war at this time. That reflected the overwhelmingly positive response we received in the first wave of reader reaction. Since then, the feedback has been mixed, as reflected in the letters that appear on this page. We’ll continue to run letters as they come in.
, Rick Reiff, Michael Lyster
