Friday, April 7, 2017

Tragedy in Syria (Our 60th letter to President Trump)

Update:  This is the sixtieth letter we have printed, mailed, sent, and posted to President Trump. 
(We are still awaiting a reply to any of them)


President Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington DC, 20500
6 April 2017 

Dear President Trump: 

The Syrian Regime dropped chemical bombs on innocent civilians Tuesday.  86 people were killed.  26 of the dead were children.  The pictures are horrific.  That action was nothing less than evil.

Last night the United States bombed back. I have not heard the results of our air strike, but I am glad that you have changed your mind and are no longer supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.  I am sure that you are meeting with your advisors to determine the next courses of action to take.  I am not a diplomat nor a military expert and would not preserve to advise you as to strategy or which action to take.  I am, however, a teacher and a father and would like to give you two cautions. 

First, although the pictures of the damage caused by the al-Assad regime's chemical warfare make me angry and probably make you angry too, as you consider further military action, please remember that there are still tens of thousands of innocent people trapped between the government and the rebels.  In our anger toward the people who perpetrated this crime, let us be careful not to hurt the very people we wish to avenge, or perpetrate similar crimes with mis-aimed airstrikes.

Second, those people that we engaged in an air strike to avenge, those children whose bodies have been horribly torn and destroyed by this action, they are the same children that your legislation wants to bar from entering the United States.  Clearly they need help.  Do we really want them to face a life stuck in war-torn Syria or stuck in a refugee camp for decades?   

I know you have said “America First.”  You have shown that you are willing to change your mind when you recognize injustice.  Perhaps you might consider a new slogan: “People First.” 

Regards, 

Bill Boerman-Cornell

 

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