Readers Write 5/11
IMMIGRATION
For results, sides need to agree on common goal
Most of the loud arguments about immigration legislation are meaningless noise, no matter what position is advocated. Let’s examine the issue analytically.
Immigration is a very complex issue, involving many diverse stakeholders. Thus, no matter what course of action is pursued, some stakeholders will be harmed. No solution will be pain-free. Any decision will have a cost.
A good solution can only be determined by weighing the costs against the benefits to be achieved.
Those who are loudly arguing the costs and benefits do not start from common ground. Therefore, their rhetoric cannot produce any progress. Progress can only result after both sides agree on a common goal.
Some groups want to maintain or increase present immigration numbers, regardless of “documentation.”
Others want to reduce or eliminate all “illegal immigrants.”
Until these groups can discuss and produce a common goal, they are simply producing noise. Bill Fokes, Braselton
ENERGY
U.S. must stop sending treasure to its enemies
If Georgia and the rest of the United States are to get out of a long-term economic mess, we are going to have to quit sending so much of the nation’s wealth to the Middle East for oil.
Building reversible toll lanes won’t do anything but ensure that our money goes to people who do not like us. Adding electric-powered mass transit will mean using energy produced in the United States. Our military personnel will not die keeping trains running (as they do for cars). The money it costs to get around would stay in circulation here, adding to the economy.
And, people from all walks of life would interact again, as they did in the days when streetcars and interurban trains were the main commute resources. Jock Ellis, Cumming
MIDDLE EAST
Responsible leadership can bring peace to area
Thomas Friedman (“No simple price to earn Mideast stability,” Opinion, May 8) forgets that Israel has been “paying retail” for peace for decades, and got little in return.
The recent pact between Fatah and Hamas (in defiance of U.S. pleas) casts doubt on Palestinian intentions. The pursuit of unilateral statehood without negotiations is also consistent with Arafat’s policy of piecemeal dismantling of Israel. However, most damning is Mahmoud Abbas’ demand for a West Bank free of Jews. This absurd claim denies the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab lands, and flies in the face of Arab responsibility for starting the wars.
Neither pressure on Israel, nor one-sided Israeli concessions will bring resolution. Only responsible Arab leadership can bring peace to the Arab-Israeli conflict (one of many in the region).
Unfortunately, that is in short supply.
Future leaders will continue to use hostility to Israel as a distraction from their own failures. Doron Lubinsky, Atlanta
