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<td width="343" valign="bottom"><p class="date"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="date" --><a href="default.html">3/17/04• Vol.
128, No. 23</a><!-- InstanceEndEditable --></p></td>
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<p><a href="peace.jsp">Stand with candidate who will stand for peace</a></p>
<p><a href="atkins.jsp">Atkins holds little weight in larger health
scheme</a></p>
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<h1><font size="5">Stand with candidate who will stand for peace</font></h1>
<p class="byline"> </p>
<p class="byline">From the Left</p>
<p class="byline">By Thomas Gaffery</p>
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<td><p><a href="wartruck.jpg"><img src="wartruck.jpg" alt="" name="Photo" width="243" height="153" border="1" style=""></a></p>
<p align="justify" class="byline">-Art by Monica Meza</p>
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<p class="storyText">I have only recently been able to fully comprehend
the implications of war. It is unfathomable the sacrifices soldiers and
their families have made in order to allow me to continue the American
way of life. I do not have words to express the veneration I hold for
those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.</p>
<p class="storyText"> I hate war but I do not hate soldiers. I hate the
men who send America’s
youth to war. I hate the men who choose to guiltlessly send young American
men and women to be slaughtered on foreign soil. I hate the men who narrow
mindedly choose to ignore diplomacy.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The San Francisco Chronicle’s Web site, sfgate.com has an online
database with profiles and photos of many those who were killed in Iraq.
It is heartbreaking to read. For example, Army Private Ruben Estrella-Soto
of El Paso, Texas was killed at the age of 18. Most disconcerting of
all was the photo of Ruben taken in his graduation robes. This kid from
El Paso lost his life at such an early age. Ruben was too young to have
elected the president who sent him to die. Ruben was never able to go
into a bar and have a drink with his friends. Ruben may have never found
true love. Ruben was never able to tell his mother goodbye.</p>
<p class="storyText"> According to the Department of Defense, 38 percent
of enlisted soldiers are an ethnic minority and 68 percent of enlisted
soldiers only have
a high school education and 33 percent of all forces are between the
ages of 18 and 23. War is a vehicle to systematically kill the most
disadvantaged members of our generation.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Everyone who enlists in the military knows of its
inherent risks. But no enlistee could possibly be able to fathom President
Bush’s maniacal
vigilance in sending America’s youth to their death in the name
of the Bush family legacy.</p>
<p class="storyText"> As the presidential election nears, it is important
to elect a man who can stop the killing of America’s youth. It is important to elect
a man who is willing to pursue diplomacy as a political tool. It is important
to elect a man who can focus on America’s domestic concerns. It
is important to elect a man who can make decisions on his own and is
not forced to rely on a cadre of his father’s cronies and business
partners.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Many of those who enlist do so because of a lack
of opportunities elsewhere. America’s youth who did not excel in high school or college and
need guidance. Instead of annually spending $312 billion on defense,
maybe America should spend more money on education, health care and outreach
programs. With that money, America could raise a generation of children
who could grow up to be a president who could handle world affairs with
diplomacy and not war.</p>
<p class="storyText"> —
This columnist can be reached at collegian@csufresno.edu</p>
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