To the Editor:

Re “The Afghan Struggle: A Secret Archive” (“The War Logs,” front page, July 26):
To the Editor:

It should come as no surprise that Pakistan has been aiding the Taliban (“Pakistan Spy Unit Aiding Insurgents, Reports Suggest,” “The War Logs,” front page, July 26) since Pakistan needs the Taliban in Afghanistan as a buffer against the expansion of its rival India’s power in Afghanistan.

Concentrating on Iraq, the Bush presidency ignored this political reality. One hopes that the Obama presidency will not, and that it will end the war with a realpolitik compromise, instead of feeding the public misguided platitudes about building democracy, helping women and, oh yes, fighting terror, as an unquestioning Congress hands over billions more for the war.

The WikiLeaks may not be the Pentagon Papers all over again, but they show that the foundation upon which American war policy in the region rests is nothing but sand.

Tom Miller
Oakland, Calif., July 26, 2010

Worse than warming

Words matter, and it is misleading of The Chronicle to frame “Climategate” as, simply, a “warming debate.” CO{-2} increase in the atmosphere results in multiple climate changes as temperature and air and water currents are affected, resulting in different and more violent weather patterns, higher sea levels, changing precipitation and failure of species (including humans) to adapt.

It is these multiple effects scientists are working to understand, and which the rest of us ignore at our peril.

Tom Miller, President of the Green Cities Fund, Oakland

To the Editor:

The foreign policy disarray evidenced by the McChrystal affair is a predictable fallout where, once again, we are involved in a war we cannot win. A conflict is inevitable where, like Vietnam, the White House is trying to figure out how to end the conflict looking good, with an eye on midterm elections and beyond, and the military is still trying to win in a traditional sense.

Perhaps both sides would do better if they recognized and accepted the “cancer” for what it is, and that neither of their goals is possible.

Tom Miller
Fethiye, Turkey, June 23, 2010

Letters, New York Times Published: April 25, 2010

To the Editor:

As Mexican immigrants flee drug violence (“Fleeing Extreme Drug Violence, Mexican Families Pour Into U.S.,” front page, April 18), it should be obvious that any immigration reform will not be successful unless the United States ends its so-called war on drugs and adopts a more humane policy of legalization and treatment.

Drug addiction is a societal problem, not a war, and making it a war only feeds the problem, creating billions of dollars in illicit gains to pay off police and government officials.

Tom Miller
Oakland, Calif., April 19, 2010

The unfunny part

While South Park’s poking fun at Islam has been defended almost universally (“Poking fun at religion is free speech,” Letters, April 28), what is not funny or defensible is the hurt felt by the Islamic world caused by the Western wars against its peoples, preceded by centuries of a crusade mentality – whether by sword or evangelist – which have bred the radical views that haunt us today.

Tom Miller, Oakland

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/03/EDI01D7MSQ.DTL#ixzz0n46a5xvI

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The editorial “Karzai: friend or foe?” (April 6) reflects a mind-set that assumes the United States should be occupying and “nation-building” in Afghanistan because the Taliban represents a threat to the United States, when in reality the Taliban is an indigenous, grass-roots Pashtun movement interested primarily in ending the foreign occupation – and supported by Pakistan because of its fear of India.

The United States should step aside and let Hamid Karzai work out a solution with the Taliban. That is the only way he can integrate his power base of corrupt, drug-dealing warlords that the United States gave him when it first put him in power.

Tom Miller, Oakland

San Francisco Chronicle – Letters to the Editor – Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A call for public financing

If the “populist-progressive alliance” called for by E.J. Dionne Jr. (“A real wave of populism,” Jan. 25) wants to drive a stake into the heart of the Supreme Court-backed corporate takeover of our country, it must be willing to use its money to support public funding of elections, where candidates choose to use only public funds and voters are smart enough to reject corporate and special interest candidates.

The cost per voter is small but well worth it if we want a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Groups like www.publicampaign.org explain how public financing works.

TOM MILLER Oakland