Concern about detention center

Dear Editor:

Attached is a letter we faxed on March 28, 2008 to:

Scott Stermer, Assistant Trustee

Office of the Federal Detention Trustee

Arlington, VA 22203

202/353-4611 Fax

We want everyone concerned about the proposed Federal Detention Center to write him about this before April 28.

Thank you in advance for giving us the opportunity to bring this issue to the attention of concerned citizens.

Dear Mr. Scott Stermer:

We are writing this letter regarding the proposed detention facility at 2250 E. Mesquite Avenue in Pahrump, Nevada. We are against the proposed facility at the Mesquite Avenue location for different reasons.

First, we checked the ordinances over one-and-a-half years ago and found that all prisons must be 50,000 feet from any residences. So we felt comfortable deciding on building in Pahrump at the airpark, which is one-and-a-quarter miles from the proposed site.

Second, we have an observatory and telescope and any and all lights at that location would hinder our ability to use our telescope. One reason we moved to Pahrump was the dark night skies, making it possible to view different stars and bodies using our telescope.

Third, why would anybody want to put a prison that is so lit up on the side of the "fan" where everybody can see it in the town?

We know that the government needs such facilities but since the government already owns 95 percent of Nevada, why can't they put it on their land at least 10 miles away from a populated area to create a buffer for any residences.

If you want to contact us regarding our concerns, you can reach us at the above address or you can call us at home, 775-751-4750.

Thank you in advance for hearing our concerns regarding this proposed detention facility.

Sincerely,

ROBERT AND NANCY SULLENBERGER

Delamarc's response 'deeply' disappointing

Although I am attending college in Berea, Kentucky, I spent most of my life in Pahrump and still read the PV Times online.

I read both the March 26 opinion article entitled "Thousands gone, no end in sight" and the April 4 letter to the editor in response to it.

I have to say I was deeply disappointed by Ms. Delamarc's response to Mr. Smith's opinion.

Ma'am, you are entitled to your opinion that terrorism is a looming threat, but a single attack on U.S. soil does not constitute one of the biggest threats ever.

Also, your statement that we are in "a high-tech age where a war can be waged with very few casualties" is misdirected.

The high-tech aspect to 21st century life does not make for war with few casualties; it just makes for massive amounts of casualties on whichever side doesn't have the best toys.

On that note, the prospect of a "high-tech" war is extremely disturbing to me.

I do not believe that war should become some sort of game where a military commander can push a button and wipe out the lives of hundreds or thousands or millions of people halfway across the world without ever having to put the lives of his/her own people in danger.

It is very easy to kill people you see as somehow extremely different or disconnected from yourself.

Every death affects someone, but they should all affect everyone.

Genetically speaking, all people are 99.9 percent identical. So it should never be simple to kill someone because they look different or believe differently or anything else -- it should be hard because they are people.

The next part of your letter I would like to comment on is your statement that a "just war" is one that is defensive and your opinion that "morality and God are on our side."

Just to enlighten you, the people we were attacked by (15 out of 19 of whom, by the way, were Saudi Arabian, not Iraqi) believed they were doing so in retaliation and that morality and God were on their side.

By your logic, every country everywhere can justify going to war every time another country does even the tiniest thing they don't appreciate or simply by saying their god wants them to. If this happened, then every country of the world would be at constant war with every other country.

Also, many of the countries in which we have inserted our clout do not appreciate it.

For example, in Iraq we expected to go in and resolve a civil war between the Sunni and Shi'a that has been going on for hundreds of years.

We just wanted to go in, impose our form of democracy (a form which the United States created; it didn't exist before the United States Constitution) and assume that was what they wanted.

But we do not understand their traditions, their beliefs or anything else, and it's extremely difficult to make buddies out of people you don't understand and who don't like the fact that you're meddling in their affairs.

And the final point I would like to address is your veiled reference to Congress voting to go to war.

Technically, Congress hasn't done this. Congress has simply allowed the president to keep troops in Iraq for more than 60 days. Congress has not declared war on Iraq and, for the record, has not made a declaration of war against anyone since World War II.

Legally, all the "wars" the U.S. has been involved in since then (Vietnam, Korea, the first Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan) have been police actions, not wars.

As I stated at the beginning, you are entitled to your opinion, Ms. Delamarc, but if I were you, I'd make sure I had all the facts before forming that opinion.

I think that there are many people in the United States who believe as you do.

Maybe it's easier to sleep at night if you can blindly trust your government. But this type of blind trust leads ultimately to tyranny.

I feel the need to express my own opinion on these matters because, as Thomas Jefferson once stated, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

My conscience provokes me to speak.

COURTENAY BURNS

Berea, Ky.

Veterans helping veterans

After losing my father, a retired ISG, last month, my mother needed help clearing her property of debris that has built up over the last 17 years from their recycling business.

On Saturday, April 5, local veterans, volunteers and friends came out and worked the whole day cutting, mowing, raking, trimming, moving large piles of debris and much more.

Everyone that was involved in this project did such a great job and I want to thank each and every one for their time and hard work.

I also want to thank Pahrump Valley Disposal and Joe's Sanitation for their generous donation of equipment.

BRUCE COX