Outline vetting process for refugees
Dear Governor Inslee:
If you are going to continue to welcome refugees from the terrorist state of Syria into Washington, please share with us the specific plan of vetting each and every one of these so-called refugees.
We also want to know where they are being relocated, exactly, because we know it won’t be next door to you in Olympia. And when people in your state come under attack and are harmed in any way by any of these so-called refugees, we will expect your resignation. After all we need to hold our elected officials accountable don’t we, Governor?
Since all of the experts are stepping forward to quash the myth of an impervious vetting process being claimed by the Obama administration, you’re ready to bet the lives of Washingtonians that they are telling the truth (this time).
Chris Hill
Amboy
A pause in process illogical
I find the Nov. 18 editorial, “Proper time for a pause,” on vetting the Syrian refugee process, illogical and emotional and I am disappointed. You acknowledge that Syrian refugees are fleeing barbarism. You acknowledge that currently Syrian refugees undergo a more stringent vetting process than refugees from other countries. You acknowledge no process is foolproof. Yet you recommend we pause in allowing Syrian immigration to this country in order to “re-examine the nation’s vetting program for Syrian refugees.” Why?
Since 2001, there have been 3,380 lives snuffed out by terrorist actions in this country. That figure includes abortion clinics, which have been targeted, a white supremacist attack on a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, and other homegrown atrocities.
Yes, the attack on Paris was horrific, but to respond emotionally to that tragedy by ignoring and prolonging the plight of thousands of Syrians who have lost everything including their homeland is cruel, unnecessary and unproductive — as was acknowledged in your own editorial.
We don’t need a pause. We do need common sense and compassion, continuing to apply a working refugee program while always looking for improvement.
Lois Murphy
Vancouver
Lead the call for service to nation
While the Pope might have overstated it when he indicated that we are on the verge of the third world war, it is evident that we will be in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups in the future, including “soldiers on the ground,” wherever that ground might be.
It is time to re-institute the draft. It is time for those who consider themselves the more elite among us to share the burden that has been so bravely and consistently given by those with fewer professional and educational options. It is time to put away the smartphones and tablets, telling friends what transpired during their mundane days and realize that more is on the line than keeping their thumbs busy.
And it is especially important for those who are running to be the next president to lead the call for national service for eligible persons by age. And for those in Congress who call for “boots on the ground” to ensure that members of their own families provide leadership in signing up.
Bob Silverman
Vancouver
Is Hillary who you want leading us?
To my Democrat friends, I would like you answer the question at the end.
Hillary Clinton lied about her emails on Benghazi, and used her personal email to conduct official State Department business. She stated on television, which I personally watched and heard her say, “When Bill and I left the White House, we were broke.” If that is true, why is she the third richest person running for president of the United States of America (www.forbes.com)? She states she is for the middle class. When Hillary and Bernie Sanders came to Oregon, Hillary went to a $2,700-per-ticket fundraiser in one of the richest neighborhoods in the state of Oregon. Sanders spoke at the Moda Center and attendance was free.
The most important issue is that Mrs. Clinton states she is an independent and successful woman, but she didn’t have the strength to leave her husband, who was cheating with an intern in the Oval Office. My mother had the strength to leave my father for cheating. She left with nothing and had the burden of raising, feeding and housing four children on her own. That’s a strong woman.
Put your own personal views aside and ask yourself, is Hillary Clinton the person you want to lead this country?
If so, then God help us.
Mike Ferraiolo
Battle Ground
Slow influx of refugees
With the carnage in France fresh in the minds of the world and the confusion regarding whether one of the murdering psychopathic terrorists was in the country with refugee status from Syria, this is no time to be taking in refugees from the same country.
If you agree that 10,000 largely Islamic refugees may pose a “clear and present danger,” call or write your congressmen, senators, state representatives and the governor’s office: Let them know you fear Islamic refugees, especially since many appear to be 20-something males. They should clear out a safe haven in or near their own country.
Additionally, if refugees are Christians or Yazidis — and can prove it — that are facing beheading, enslavement, rape and forced marriages, take them instead.
Unfortunately, this administration’s policies have enabled jihad overseas; it shouldn’t come here as a Trojan Horse.
Wayne Mayo
Scappoose, Ore.
