While our City Council debates such serious issues as whether or not Cops should be able to film here, Newport is just sitting back and laughing at us all the way to the bank.

Bob Wilzbach
Colerain Township

Everyone is accountable for test scores

Regarding the proposals to pay teachers for the performance of their students on standardized tests: Why are teachers the only people in our community to be held accountable for student failure? What hypocrisy. Our Constitution states that education is a state and community responsibility.

If that is the case, we should enact a true get-tough pay-for-performance plan with community wide accountability. Anybody who lives or derives income within the city of Cincinnati should be held accountable for student failures by having their family incomes reduced by the percentage of student failures on the standardized tests. This proposal would include superintendents, administrators, school board members, teachers, ministers, CEOs from the CBC, and parents. The deducted amounts from incomes could then go directly into instruction and support for all of these failing students until they pass the tests. Then we just might see some changes in student test scores and no child would be left behind.

First, blame AG, next, the president

I did a double take over the headline of the June 14 lead editorial "Attorney general stonewalling." The next thing you know you'll be reporting that President Bush, John Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Pearle got us into an unnecessary war, costly in lives, reputation and dollars.

Alfred M. Cohen
Columbia-Tusculum

Iraq is better off than it was

Regarding the letter "How did the Iraq war go horribly wrong?" (June 17): Answer: It didn't. Evidence of weapons of mass destruction has been found. Sarin gas has been used against our troops. Iraq's infrastructure improves daily. Oil is flowing when terrorists (not Iraqis) don't destroy pipelines. Schools are open and more children than ever are attending. Saddam Hussein is not butchering his people. The Iraqis welcome the United States troops. The real tragedy is the American people not being told the truth by the leftist media. Two questions that should be answered are: 1) Who has and where are the weapons of mass destruction? 2) Would you rather fight terrorists in Iraq or in Cincinnati?

John Turney
Springdale

War not about schoolyard fight

I must respond to the argument made in the June 17 letter,the "War protesters can learn from students," which said the Iraq war was justified because you have to "stand up and smack" a schoolyard bully.

Yes, Saddam Hussein was a bully. But we did not attack Saddam. We invaded a sovereign nation of several million people. We did not "smack" Hussein. We took him from power, but in the process we killed thousands of Iraqi soldiers who may have liked Hussein no more than we did. They were simply doing what soldiers are supposed to do, defend their country against foreign invasion. We also killed thousands of civilians, who were never asked whether getting rid of Hussein was worth their lives. We made that decision for them.

I am a retired army officer. I support and care deeply about our soldiers, and grieve those we have lost. Not one of their lives was worth invading another country just to change its government. The world is not a school yard.

Robert Lamb
New Richmond

Capitalism has come to Iraq

Ala Bashir, the doctor of Saddam Hussein, has a new book out, recounting his experiences during the Ba'ath regime.

We can now cheerfully pull out on June 30. Iraq has learned everything they need to know about capitalism.

Jim Bedell
Montgomery