Skeleton crew should suffice in Iraq

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been toppled and we just need a skeleton crew to rebuild Iraq rather than to keep saying that we need to fight terrorism with a large number of our troops there as President Bush contends.

Only a Hawaiian can work for Hawaiians

Your Aug. 18 editorial regarding Ed Case's splendid record for the Hawaiians is your opinion. For me and many Hawaiians, Bill Meheula spoke the truth in the e-mail that was distributed.

You bring up all what was proposed by Case for the Hawaiians. How come I did not read about the bill on "gathering rights." The Hawaiian individual had to prove that he could trace his ancestors to claim this right. Why should the Hawaiian have to prove this right? The Hawaiians were here for generations. Hawaii was their land. They only harvested from the sea, not to deplete the limu beds or the opihis. They took only for food for the family. They left more to replenish for all to use. What Case proposed was not "mana from heaven."

I believe he is no Jack Burns championing the Hawaiian cause. To many of us, Jack Burns might have been ornery, but it was for the good of all of us. He was a visionary when it came to the Hawaiians. Today, Sen. Daniel Akaka fills the bill. After all, he is Hawaiian and understands our goals and aspirations. He is one of our kind.

Remark about attorney was over the line

I write to voice my objection to Ed Case's scathing and unwarranted personal attack on Hawaiian attorney William Meheula in Wednesday's paper.

Those of us in the legal community who have worked with and against Meheula over the years know that Case could not be more wrong in his accusations. I find it telling that, once again, Case has let his ego override better judgment and engaged in vicious personal attack upon those who dare to report his actual record rather than accept his latest campaign spin.

If Case cannot accept the truth of his own political and professional past, and respond to the issues rather than responding with defamatory allegations, then he is not someone that any Democrat or Republican should support for office.

Case is best for state needing to be fixed

Pressure from the Democratic Party played a major factor in Sen. Dan Akaka's decision to again run for Senate. Much like Bush is a figurehead president chosen by the Republicans for his familiar name, Akaka's name is enough for blindly loyal Hawaii voters and gives Democrats the best chance to win.

Case is obviously a more dynamic candidate and he's more capable of making Hawaii a legitimate player in our federal government, but he may run a greater risk of losing the Senate seat to a Republican. Akaka's reluctance to debate shows he's incapable of arguing his cause.

If you pay attention to politics, you know, as it stands now, Hawaii is politically irrelevant on the national scale. That situation won't change with voters electing their officials because they're familiar. Shake up the status quo and pick the best man. The saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." With failing infrastructure, a deplorable school system, and our city dumping raw sewage in our waterways, tell me what isn't broke. Let's try to fix it.

School traffic not a problem for rail riders

I read the news this week about the "Beat the School Jam" campaign (Star-Bulletin, Aug. 15). We're talking more than 50,000 university, high school, intermediate and elementary school students all back on the road beginning Aug. 21? That's a lot more cars on the road that adds to existing traffic, which is bad right now.

State and city transportation officials are telling motorists to expect more traffic and more delays, adjust travel times and avoid peak travel periods. Well, perhaps if we only had a rail system in place today, we wouldn't need all these advisories and warning bells about the start of

school. It comes every year, and so do the holidays. The choice is clear. Build a rail system that offers people another way of getting around, and we solve a lot of our problems. Or, we can just sit in traffic, burn gas, time and money, and complain about it.