Canada shows courage with gay marriage OK

A heartfelt mahalo nui loa goes out to Prime Minister Jean Chretien and the people of Canada for their courageous affirmation of human rights, resulting in the legalization in that country of marriage for same-sex couples. The events in Canada are timely as June is Gay Pride Month in many places around the world -- including Honolulu and the state of Hawaii, as per official proclamation by Governor Lingle and Mayor Harris. Gay marriage truly is something to be proud of and celebrate no matter where you live.

Canada's recognition of equality for gays and lesbians strengthens the bonds of families everywhere. Even more, it inspires a new generation of people to stand up for civil rights and equality.

Eduardo Hernandez

Americans were lied to about Iraq's WMD

In your June 1 editorial, "WMD ambiguity may have been Saddam's ruse," you state: "If Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, the concern should be that intelligence agencies failed to see through the ruse or that political forces acted on evidence that lacked credibility, not that the U.S. and British engaged in an illegitimate war."

It was patently illegal (therefore illegitimate) under international law for the United States to pre-emptively attack a sovereign nation. Could you imagine any other country simply thumbing its nose at the U.N. Security Council, declaring it irrelevant and starting a war? It certainly would be branded (by us) a rogue state.

President Bush told us WMDs were the main reason Iraq presented such an imminent threat that we had to invade. I can still see Secretary of State Colin Powell trying to scare up some votes at the United Nations with his vial of faux anthrax. However, Iraq used no WMDs to repel our invasion, and three weeks after your editorial the United States has not found even a trace of such weapons. In the ultimate irony, Bush asks for patience -- the same patience he refused to extend to U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, which might have averted this war.

The Star-Bulletin excuses Bush for waging an illegal war, resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and an ever-increasing number of our own soldiers. If indeed "political forces acted on evidence that lacked credibility," then -- in plain English -- they lied to us to justify an illegal war.

For endorsing this crime, you should be ashamed -- and Bush should be impeached.

Terrance C. Horton
Kapolei

Bush's tax cuts foster more illogic

Rick Lloyd's June 14 letter contains some odd logic. He criticizes President Bush's tax plan, then he argues that "we should have a tax system that ensures we all sacrifice uniformly to shoulder the nation's expenses." Hmmm, sounds like he's proposing a flat tax rate, which goes way beyond anything Bush or Congress has proposed. Is he advocating that lower-income workers, who currently pay no federal income tax, start "sacrificing" at the almost 40 percent top marginal tax bracket?

Oh, and cutting taxes is not "giving" to taxpayers, unless you've adopted the perspective that everything we earn belongs to the government.

Cutting taxes is refraining from confiscating.

Jim Henshaw
Kailua

Tax column showed courage, honesty

I want to thank you for publishing the column by John Farmer, national political correspondent for the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., on the June 15 Commentary page. The article concerned the Bush tax cut and quoted Pete Peterson, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who says, in essence, that the "Bush tax plan is a potential disaster for America."

I read it and was amazed at the frankness of this conservative Republican. He has the courage of his convictions regardless of the consequences.

I must thank Peterson for being frank and educating us, Farmer for writing this article and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for having the courage to publish this article. Such openness is indeed rare in these times of our country.

Again, mahalo for making my day!

Alfred Akana

Bus commuters avoid hassles of driving

I found Pat Kelly's June 16 letter, "There's no virtue in riding the bus," deeply offensive. As a daily bus rider I am not elderly, unable to drive a car or on welfare, as the letter insinuated. Kelly clearly has never ridden any of the early morning commuter buses. If so, she or he would see that most riders are impeccably dressed professionals on their way to work.

Most of us own cars and commute to work by bus because it is everything Kelly said it is not -- convenient, efficient and cost-effective. Riding the bus is enjoyable, too. Who wants to sit in an office all day and then sit in traffic on the highway for an hour? I actually look forward to my evening commute home, which allows me to relax, read, sleep or chat with neighbors while smugly noting all the suckers below me stuck in a stressful, never-ending line of cars.

Kate Kehoe
Kahaluu

Nuclear scare is ploy to expand influence

Is North Korea a nuclear threat? Hardly. Yet so say government representatives of the United States, Japan and South Korea, who recently met in unholy concert here in Honolulu ("Diplomats here to talk about nukes in N. Korea," Star-Bulletin, June 12).

Plain and simple, it all boils down to the fact that the U.S. government wants to expand its empire in Asia and elsewhere.

J.J. Kaufman

Fireworks complainers trying to alter Hawaii

Regarding Lynne Matusow's June 15 letter concerning the fireworks celebration at the Cecilio & Kapono concert at the Aloha Tower complex: I am sure that there were not thousands of people scared out of their wits because of the fireworks. Many of the communities she mentioned are filled with second-, third- and fourth-generation residents who grew up with the sounds of fireworks as part of religious ceremonies, national holidays (Fourth of July) and other occasions.

Fireworks are a part of Hawaii, a part of the many cultures that make Hawaii what it is today.

No wonder a lot of locals are moving to the outer islands; some people are trying to turn Honolulu into Indianapolis or Des Moines. They should stop, take a look around and enjoy the cultures, the people -- just enjoy Hawaii. Like the old-timers used to say, "Lucky, you come Hawaii."

Lee Laquihon
Offutt Air Force Base
Bellevue, Neb.