I just read Steve Chapman’s column (“Iran war showcases Pete Hegseth’s belligerent incompetence,” April 1) on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in which he complains that Hegseth is incompetent and that he exhibits too much bravado. Has Chapman ever been in the military? Soldiers depend on each other for their survival. Harmony and an enthusiastic attitude between soldiers are preferred and essential, especially in combat.
Hegseth exhibits those characteristics, and our soldiers finally have someone to follow. Chapman should keep his ignorant thoughts to himself on topics he knows nothing about.
— Robert Geist, Naples, Florida
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Hegseth is emulating Trump
Bravo to Steve Chapman for his excellent informative reminder of the gross incompetence of Pete Hegseth. With our country’s many brilliant men and women, it is shameful that this man is defense secretary. It should come as no surprise to us that he only emulates the belligerent, arrogant, immoral incompetencies of his boss, President Donald Trump.
— Rosemary Satinover, Park Ridge
President Trump doing his job
Columnist Steve Chapman displays a disregard for the facts regarding Iran’s ongoing hostilities against the U.S. and the West. For the past 47 years, Iran has remained committed to its rhetoric of “Death to America,” the “Great Satan.”
Chapman focuses on ancient personality traits, not on the remarkable success the Defense Department achieved by coordinating with Israeli forces to decimate Iran’s terror leaders, missiles, drones and military assets, with pending action to secure/destroy its hidden enriched uranium.
Imagine nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles or dirty bombs unleashed by Iran’s proxies, launched at U.S. Gulf bases, Arab states and European cities and into the U.S.
Chapman fatuously opines that the administration is staffed by incompetents, and Tribune letter writers allege the administration is staffed by clowns. But the truth is the exact opposite.
Furthermore, the Tribune’s April 1 front-page story “Data reveals depth of deportations,” which reports that most of Operation Midway Blitz deportees did not have criminal records, ignores the following. President Donald Trump is judiciously exercising his Article II responsibilities under the Take Care Clause to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act relating to the inadmissible and improper entry by immigrants.
Indeed, the Trump administration is establishing justice, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.
— David N. Simon, Chicago
No credible evidence of threat
Letter writer David Howard (“A small pain to accept,” March 24) comments that higher gas prices, resulting from the conflict with Iran, are a small price to pay in return for eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat. There has been no credible evidence that Iran was even close to having nuclear weapons. Following air strikes in June, President Donald Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear program had been “totally obliterated.” Joe Kent, former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from his position recently due to his opposition to the attacks on Iran. He stated that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S. and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee influenced U.S. actions.
I fear that this conflict will serve to further destabilize a volatile part of the world, radicalize another generation of Iranians and possibly result in a worldwide recession.
— Richard Wambach, St. Charles
President’s thoughts on Iran
Three little words. Why aren’t they blasted across every news station and every newspaper?
I’ll state the obvious. President Donald Trump’s misdeeds escalate by the day. The public cannot escape seeing his name, his picture and, soon, his signature on currency. His inept Cabinet ignores, and actually encourages, his very weird and embarrassing meandering.
Our elected officials have no influence, nor do they try to hide their impotence. After all, their boss just stated his thoughts about the war in Iran, and indeed, it applies to all of his actions. He finally put it out there. “I don’t care.”
— Corinne Sapstein, Chicago
May our nation be forgiven
Some have suggested that regime change was President Donald Trump’s objective in launching our nation’s military attack on Iran. He hoped that a populace, thirsty for freedom, justice and prosperity, would rise up, unseat their corrupt and dictatorial leaders, and launch their country in a bold new direction.
I offer the proposition that Trump may prove to be right about that. The leadership of the country that has threatened the stability and prosperity of the world will eventually be ousted, disempowered and humiliated.
Americans can only hope that the countries of the world will not hold us accountable for having threatened their stability and prosperity. We can hope that they allow us to redeem ourselves, to prove that we can once again be the friend they wanted and needed and that, under new leadership, we can be the “shining city on a hill” to which we’ve always aspired.
— Dirk Walvoord, Evanston
Like a kid with a toy hammer
Trying to forecast President Donald Trump’s next move in the Iran war is a fool’s errand. He never anticipated the economic blowback. Now he’s like an infant playing Whac-A-Mole with a huge plastic hammer.
— Jim Arneberg, Hoffman Estates
Stand on right side of history
Sometimes history begins to write itself in the street — in the moment someone dares to step out holding a sign that reads: “Stop war on Iran!” “No war.” “This is not OK.”
On that same street, beneath a traffic light, there is a sign that suddenly takes on a different meaning: “Begin one way.” I looked at it and felt it says much more than the simple start of a subway line.
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Among the crowd on Saturday, I read another message: “The power of the people is greater than the people in power.” And on another sign, a warning that echoes strongly: “Don’t make me repeat myself. Signed: History.”
It is not my country. It is not my war. Yet I am left with a heavy heart, because there is something that belongs to all of us: the ability to recognize injustice. History does not always repeat itself, but we glance at it sideways, aware that too often we end up doing what we already know is wrong.
Today, as so many times before, some raise their voices. Others of us watch, moved, aware that this is not a distant conflict.
Perhaps the path forward is not only for those holding the signs, but also for those who stop being spectators — like the young woman to my left on Saturday who suddenly began to cry, or the older woman who, after talking about blues music, felt the need to tell me that this is not good for anyone.
Stop war. Begin one way. May we always try to stand on the right side of history.
— Lidia López García, formerly Madrid, Chicago
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