A worldview based on lies

Iraqis thankful to US

I wish to comment on the article "The two faces of America", by Michael Chugani (December 23). Perhaps he could have saved a lot of space by saying "I hate President George W. Bush".

The America envisioned by the liberal (left-wing) media, of which Chugani is a charter member, holds that social conservatives are leading the country down the "wrong" path and that President Bush is the devil incarnate. Those who hold this mindset are so blinded by their hatred for him and conservative values that they will twist the facts to fit their view. They say that Guantanamo Bay is a "gulag", when, in fact, the detainees eat better than the men and women serving in Iraq; that American political and social conservatives are evil, when never has so much American aid been offered to so many people. To the best of my knowledge, no one in American custody has been beheaded, raped or tortured.

His reference to neoconservatives is particularly disturbing, as it is code among the political left for politically conservative Jews. This thinly veiled anti-Semitism is repugnant. The premise that America uses brute force indiscriminately is without basis. It is terrorists who do this.

While in America, Chugani obviously did not catch the news. Or he would have witnessed 70 per cent of eligible voters in Iraq taking part in the third election within the space of 15 months, rejoicing in their first steps in participatory democracy.

Contrast his mindset to the reaction of Iraqi citizens. This is best summed up by an elderly Iraqi woman, who said: "I thank America and President Bush. Everyone who doesn't like what America and President Bush have done for Iraq can go to hell."

His assertion that the US media is mostly compliant with President Bush is laughable. Many daily news feeds from the US are, by and large, a rant against him and a recitation of what is wrong with America.

GARRY HUNT, Mid-Levels

Here's a man who's very name is rhyming slang and who is a gibbering exponent of the right-wing echo chamber. I can't allow anyone who utters such nonsense to escape into anonymity.