Dear editor:

First, early in my Air Force career, I interacted with benevolent Iranian allies (Pro-American before 1979), while serving in The Azores, Portugal, during the period 1977 to 1979.

While serving in Turkiye later in 1983, near the Aegean Sea, our unit discovered a very destructive car bomb near our facilities. It was planted by a Syrian terrorist associated with Iran and could have killed people within a four block radius of its location. Luckily, the bomb was discovered before it detonated. 

Please consider what I understand after serving in the U.S. military: Unlike the warring, terrorist state of Iran, The United States follows a totally different national doctrine that guides our military services, and primarily supports the oath of allegiance that involves avoiding unnecessary use of lethal force associated with the use of our U.S. Armed Forces. 

Our current National Security Council, which utilizes information from sensitive intelligence sources and diplomatic sources, plus congessional input, works hard to avoid cataclysmic situations centered around probable threats to our national interests around the world.

Now, as U.S. citizens, we should easily acknowledge that most of our fellow Americans have no authorized access to the actual information that is available to our decision makers in our government. 

So, maybe we could ask: What could happen if our government chose to ignore evident threats involving nuclear weapons in the hands of a rogue, terrorist organization?

Rather than the possible, awful losses of human life, we Americans and our allies already suffered from a series of dangerous Iranian suicide bombs, roadside bombs, or car bombs, our precious human beings in all free countries of the world would be blatantly vulnerable; possibly suffering losses of many millions of people; innocent men, women, and children, following the deployment of a "dirty bomb," or nuclear weapon.

I strongly believe we can choose to be patriotic or we can decide to demonstrate our opposition to use of any necessary, pre-emptive weapons by our government in Washington, D.C.; that has the obligation to defend our liberties provided by the U.S. Constitution. And we, as a country can also choose to ignore present world conditions, and instead, choose to unwisely wait until our safety and way of life is in peril rather than do something to preserve our way of life and the peace we have held dear for almost 250 years. 

In addition, we can put our trust in our government that is doing something similar to what we did in 1776, to obtain our sacred liberties, in the first place; and maintain these precious articles of national peace, granted to us from God, on behalf of The United States of America. I read a book many years ago: entitled, "The Real War," written by Former President Richard Nixon (despite faults, he was, in later years, recognized for his expert diplomacy), who stated that the U.S. must not let its "desire for peace" allow the enemy to win, warning that internal divisions are as dangerous as external enemies.

Ed Morrow 

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