The Commissioners' meeting of November 9 was regrettably predictable. It was extremely short. The motions were not read out loud but addressed as follows: "Motion to approve Item Number ___. Any questions? All in favor? Motion approved." They read the item numbers, but never the motion itself. There was no public discussion by the commissioners of any of the motions, including motion Number 11, which authorized an expenditure of $50,000.00 to hire a Philadelphia lawyers' firm to review labor disputes and contracts. One commissioner did vote "NO," an extreme rarity, but there was no public discussion of why he did so.

We are constantly amazed at how smart our commissioners are. They read the item numbers of complex motions concerning the expenditure of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars of public tax money and in an instant, with no reservations, no discussion (at least in front of the public), they vote. They have had 60-second meetings and 90-second meetings, with most meetings lasting no longer than 5 minutes. That is how the business of the county is done!

Agenda Item Number 13, a motion to appoint two people to the Library Board for a two-year term, was read out loud, in its entirety, by Commissioner Allen. One regular meeting attendee said, "this is the first time we've had a commissioner read an agenda item. Why is that?" Commissioner Allen replied, "I wanted to recognize ___." "But you read the motion. You don't read any other motions." Commissioner Allen responded with a shrug of his shoulders. If one motion could be read in its entirety to “recognize” an individual, why can't all of the agenda items be read and discussed in public so as to comply with the Commonwealth's Open Meetings laws?

With the results of this past election, we look forward to a group of commissioners who will honor the Open Meetings Laws in their observance, rather than in their breach.

Sincerely,

Bruce S. Paskoff

Montrose, PA

October 21, 2011, marks the beginning of the end of the U.S. war in Iraq; a shameful and tragic chapter in American military history. It is a war we lost every single year for nine consecutive years.

We shall leave behind a trail of death and destruction that is beyond calculation: 4,478 American soldiers killed, 32,000 wounded, 6,500 with serious, irreparable brain damage, and 1,135 amputees.

Add to that the tens of thousands of returning troops who will struggle with psychological wounds for the rest of their lives. For this, we paid $800 billion.

If the cost of the war includes the treatment of wounded vets, some of whom will require lifelong care, the total cost of the war escalates to $3 trillion.

Looking at the Iraqi side of the war, the number of civilians killed during the war years (2003-2011) is more than 100,000. The number of wounded and maimed can only be approximated, but it is in the neighborhood of hundreds of thousands.

The devastation to private and state property, and infrastructure similarly can only be ball-parked in the many billions of dollars.

Yet, there were generals and politicians who pleated with the Iraqi government for a continued presence of American troops.

The brass lobbied with the Iraqis for a residual force of 10,000 to 15,000 troops. When that failed, they slashed the figure to 3,000 troops. That failed, too.

An open letter to Pres. Obama signed by 40 congressmen warned that “Failure to leave a significant U.S. Military presence in Iraq will leave the country more vulnerable to internal and external threats, thus imperiling the hard-fought gains.”

But others counter saying the very presence of Americans only exacerbates the political and social fragility in Iraq. The estimated insurgency strength grew every year of the occupation: 15,000 in 2003, 30,000 in 2006, and 70,000 in 2007.

As for “imperiling the hard-fought gains” some ask, What gains? Is it the 2.25 million displaced persons in Iraq or the 2.25 million refugees who fled to Syria and Jordan? Is it the 70 percent of Iraqi children who suffer from war-related psychological trauma?

Perhaps, it is the unemployment and annual inflation rates both running at 50 present. No?

Then could it be the lack of dependable electricity, potable water, sanitary sewage disposal, garbage collection? Or maybe the loss of $70 billion in oil revenue accumulated during the nine-year war?

Are the gains to be measured by the fact that we invaded the most advanced and westernized Arab nation and leave a nation shattered politically, economically and socially? Post war Iraq is now susceptible to sectarian strife between Shites and Sunnis; Islamic extremists, and Kurd secessionists. It is a nation forever changed.

It seems that the “hard-fought gains” are more like hard-fought losses.

By the end of December virtually all of the 46,000 American troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from Iraq. What might this cause?

First, a number of Americans who would have been killed will return home. No more dead, no more wounded, no more amputees.

Since the start of the war an average of 30 Iraqi men, women, and children, were killed very day. That will at least be abated along with less property destruction. Hopefully a process of adjustment and reconstruction will begin.

The withdrawal will also save $50 billion.

Incomprehensibly, our government and military are now heavily involved in still more martial activity in Libya, Somalia, and Uganda. And there is the continued aggressive posture toward Iran, and drone bombing in a nation or two or three.

The question arises: Have the Congress and pentagon learned nothing from experience?

We hold the idealized notion that our leaders are the cream of the crop, democratically selected for their intelligence and common sense; possessing a rationality dictated by facts, statistics, charts and their extrapolated predictions. It is the myth of homo rationalis.

The truth is that man is a creature at odds with himself. It is a lop-sided tennis match between the head and the heart, between the rational and the emotional. It is a mismatch heavily weighted by past experiences, fears, hopes, and ego, toward that volatile part of the human psych, the heart.

Homo irrationalis is the probable winner of the contest, as he most often is. He is smarting over the failure in Vietnam, the loss in Iraq, and the dismal prospects in Afghanistan. It forebodes only a minor part for Mr. Rationalis' future role in politics and the military.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA