A call from the south side

Dear Missy,    

Concerning your ?Winds of Change? editorial and ?Getting through the haze? article on the train smoke, you really hit the nail on the head!

As south side residents, we would like to confirm how much worse it has been this year! Unless you live near the train, you probably cannot truly understand. We have always had changes in weather, it seems the Durango Railroad personnel is doing (or not doing) something different this year ? making a drastic difference in the air quality and quality of life particularly for south side residents. Right now the train has no real incentive to monitor its workers or run the trains efficiently.

The train?s particulate matter emissions must be kept to a reasonable level, which they currently are not. We encourage residents in the area to communicate their concerns and personal experiences to the Durango Train General Manager Paul Schranck, 259-0274, or email: pschranck@durangotrain.com. Also please copy City Council (CityCouncil@ci.durango.co.us) so that we can start to make both entities aware of the severity of the current situation.

Not only does the railroad need to convert to clean-burning fuels, we are also requesting improved air-quality monitoring so that a better system is established to monitor the train and ensure that Durangoans and visitors as well are breathing clean air.

Do the majority of tourists really enjoy the smoke? Is the nostalgia of burning coal really more important than our community?s air and water quality of our rivers (mercury/runoff?) and the health of Durango?s children? We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful environment; it is imperative that we work together to keep it free of unnecessary pollutants.

There seems to be a misconception that if the railroad company is requested to do any clean-up, it is so financially fragile that it, along with the entire economy of Durango, will just fall apart. This simply is not true, there is room for compromise. As south siders, we love our neighborhood (and the train as well, just for the record) and we are not going anywhere! But this is the 21st century, we know better than to ruin our environment and our health for a brief tourist experience when there are so many reasonable alternatives available that will keep the train running and our air clean.

? Sincerely, Bob & Sarah Wright (five-year south siders), Terry King (17-year south sider); Kai Gallagher (three-year south sider); Ron & Linda Bunk (11-year south siders)

American-flavored terror

Dear Editors,

I?ve been hiking in the Colorado mountains, mostly alone, since June 7 (www.geocities.com/homelessontherange). In Silverton, my recent base of operations, I picked up a copy of theDurango Telegraph. I would like to thank Ted Holteen for his ?High Treason? remarks about Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and add my own comments.

The evidence available now overwhelmingly suggests that top leaders of the Bush Administration were deeply involved in planning, orchestrating and covering up the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks to create public support for their previously planned conquest of Afghanistan and Iraq. To examine the evidence for yourself, read The New Pearl Harbor by David Griffin or go to www.whatreallyhappened.com and follow the links.

What the United States has done to Iraq and Afghanistan is genocide, not war, and it began long before 9/11/01. War is an openly declared period of armed conflict between nations, supposedly limited by internationally recognized rules of engagement. Genocide is the systematic destruction of an entire nation or race of people.

Between 1990 and 2001, the U.S. and its collaborators killed more than 2.5 million Iraqi people, about one-tenth of their population. U.S. attacks against Iraq date back to at least 1963, when General Kassem, Iraq?s most ?moderate? head of state (and a co-founder of OPEC), was executed in a CIA-sponsored coup that brought the Ba?ath Party to Power. Saddam Hussein, a member of this party, became vice president. In 1979, he became the president of Iraq.

The U.S. armed, funded and supported Saddam Hussein while he was committing his worst atrocities, even providing the plans and raw materials for Iraq?s chemical and biological weapons programs. The U.S. encouraged Saddam to attack Iran, then provided weapons to both sides to sustain a long, bloody conflict. On 7/25/90, April Glaspie, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, gave Saddam the ?green light? to invade Kuwait, which he did on August 1.

The U.S. genocide against Afghanistan dates back to at least July, 1979, when Jimmy Carter authorized the CIA to recruit, arm and train an army of terrorist mercenaries (which included Osama bin Laden) to carry out a coup against President Taraki?s reformist government. This induced Soviet intervention, thereby starting another long, brutal conflict that killed more than 1 million Afghan people. The CIA continued to arm and train Osama bin Laden even after he was wanted by the FBI for acts of terrorism. The CIA also supported the Taliban?s rise to power. The U.S. government paid the entire salary of all Taliban government officials until 1999, continuing to give them economic aid until October 2001. U.S. relations with the Taliban were strained, however, because they were resistant to Unocal?s proposed oil pipeline across Afghanistan.

To read more detailed historical accounts about the reality of American ?foreign policy? terrorism, check out Rogue State: A Guide to the World?s Only Superpower and Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II by William Blum or go to www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/William_Blum.html

? Gary Swing, via e-mail

Thanks for the coverage

Dear Editors,    I wanted to thank theTelegraphfor its excellent coverage of the eating disorder awareness art exhibit. I appreciate Jules Masterjohn?s dedication to creating an article that reached out to our community at large, Will Sands? willingness to listen and take on the story and Todd Newcomer?s efficiency and talented photos. I am very grateful for theTelegraph as it gives us ?locals? a voice.

? Kathryn Catsman, Durango