A letter from the editor

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 30, 2002 | by Paul M. Rodriguez

Dear Readers,

Have you ever wondered what your part of the country looked like a 100 or 200 years ago? How our forefathers (and mothers) managed to survive the long trek through fields and streams and across mountains, let alone managing to find food and water?

What brings this to mind are articles that explore our world--as it is, as it was and how it might be. In reviewing the cover story by Stephen Goode and a travel article by Senior Editor James P. Lucier, one is struck by both the wonders of our land and adventures in store even for a modern-day explorer. Our own recent journeys through the farthest reaches of New England and into the Bay of Fundy and Maritime Islands showed not only beauty and stout people, but also a sense of hardships endured to carve our nation.

As then, whether in conflict with ourselves or foreign powers, the history of the United States is fraught with struggle, survival, verve, vigor and strength. Such are the resources that current leaders must employ to develop clear and convincing policy, for example, to wage a war with Iraq. As J. Michael Waller's article reveals, the White House seemed to be having a hard time convincing even key Republicans of the need to attack Saddam Hussein. Why? Perhaps the "talking points" INSIGHT has compiled will help everyone understand what the Bush administration is trying to say about an emerging conflict with Iraq. Informed debate is critical.

The making of policy always is befuddling. But never so much as what John Berlau has discovered about White House security computers. This is no way to run the Executive Office of the President.

Also here, Senior Editor Jamie Dettmer and Hans S. Nichols survey domestic and overseas issues that are worlds apart yet are bound by politics that affect us all. Ditto Scott Wheeler's last word on Defense Department cover-ups.

Until next week then, God bless.