War

Revel, Revel, Revel . . . . That's all the noise one hears these days coming from the Jersey Shore - especially when it concerns new prospects for dining. Granted, the gleaming $2.4 billion tower of Atlantic City's latest casino resort is hard to miss. And with more than a dozen restaurant concepts involving some very big names, its spring debut has no doubt been the biggest food news to hit this casino town since the Borgata began A.C.'s high-end remake. Jose Garces should have Philadelphians' attention right off the bat with three restaurants: an outsize version of Amada with ocean views and flamenco; a jumbo Village Whiskey clone for gourmet burgers and booze; plus Nuevo Mex concept with a Distrito Cantina serving margaritas and a replica Guapo's Taco truck.

SO OBAMA didn't make the obligatory stop at Pat's or Geno's. I applaud him on skipping the two tourist traps that are the McDonald's and Burger King of cheesesteaks in the city. There are other joints to get a great cheesesteak, including Jim's, D'Allessandro's and John's Roast Pork. Bryan Flannery, Chalfont

WHAT IS HAPPENING to our city? A soldier had to come home from the war to bury his mother. He's been in the Army for 16 years and the last two, he's been defending our country and protecting us against the terrorists. Unfortunately, while he was over in Iraq, no one was looking out for his mother. She was a woman who worked hard trying to make a living for her family, a mother who raised five children, 17 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren - and all she wanted was a ride home.

Bejamin Frankin offered his thoughts on the efficacy of war in a letter to one of his sisters written from Philadelphia in 1787. It was selected by Roy Goodman, research librarian of the American Philosophical Society. I agree with you perfectly in your disapprobation of war. Abstracted from the inhumanity of it, I think it is wrong in point of human prudence, for whatever advantage one nation would obtain from another, whether it be part of their territory, the liberty of commerce with them, free passage on their rivers, etc., etc., it would be much cheaper to purchase such advantage with ready money than to pay the expence of acquiring it by war. An army is a devouring monster . . . when you have raised it, you have not only the fair charges of pay, clothing, provision, arms and ammunition, with numberless other contingent and just charges to answer and satisfy, but you have all the additional knavish charges of the numerous tribe of contractors . . . (who take)

COLUMNIST Michael Kinsley wonders what an honest opponent of the war should do now (OpEd, April 16). First, most of the organized antiwar groups aren't honest - they are the Socialist Workers Party and the free-Mumia crazies on the far left. Others, though, might admit that they were wrong, and question their weakness of character in always opposing their country. Finally, the Hollywood antiwar crowd like Tim Robbins and Mike Farrell might opt for the ancient Japanese rite of contrition called hara-kiri.

Any attempt to rescue the hostages by force would be "an absurd, catastrophic mistake. " - Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic On sending U.S. troops: "As long as the mission was strictly limited for a very narrow purpose and it was something that we could do for them that they couldn't do for themselves, upon proper consultation with Congress, I would be inclined to do that. " - President Clinton "The U.N. mission in Bosnia has failed. It must be withdrawn and the U.S. should not refuse to assist in its withdrawal.

After the first 24 hours, there was the illusion that this war would be easy. But there was a nagging sensation that the antiseptic, technology- controlled script the White House and Pentagon had created was too clean. The euphoria is gone. Now, 11 days into the war, the White House is warning that the conflict may be long and bloody. What America has seen is not the war itself, but the illusion of war. It is war by briefing, not battle. Satellite TV can relay the life and death of a smart bomb, but the war below remains inscrutable.

I am writing about the people who are protesting against the war. I think that our President knows what he is doing. . . . All of the protesting is just making his job harder. Anthony Conway There must be other options beside war. I feel President Bush is seeking revenge for, or to complete, what his father was unable to complete. This is the wrong reason for war. Ashley Taylor The writers are juniors at Mercy Vocational High School in Philadelphia.

SIGNE WILKINSON'S Nov. 8 "Stop the War" editorial cartoon accurately depicts the election results as a clear referendum on the war in Iraq. Nevertheless, her analysis is dead wrong on two fronts. First, Republicans and Democrats alike evidently voted for a change in U.S. policy in Iraq. So the words "Stop the War" ought to be purple. Using blue, over a red map of the U.S., perpetuates a false dichotomy of the electorate with regard to Iraq. Second, the cartoon implies that those who voted Democrat want the war to end, regardless of the situation on the ground.

HAS ANYONE considered researching how many presidents since FDR have had sons of eligible draft age? Almost every president has had some dealings with war. However, none, to my knowledge, has had sons who enlisted, fought or were eligible to fight in an existing war during their term. Most presidents, Kennedy excluded (John was only 3), had daughters. I believe presidents, congressmen and senators would exhibit a different mind-set if their sons were going off to war. Regina Powell, Lansdowne

An open letter to Philadelphia Congressional Representatives Bob Brady, Chakah Fattah, and Allyson Schwartz: Important decisions are being made in Congress, giving more money to the military and taking away money from our states and communities. At the same time, Philadelphia City Council and School District are struggling with massive budget deficits. Catastrophe is right around the corner. While there is an effort to cut spending across the broad array of annual discretionary spending programs, Pentagon spending, which comprises 57 percent of the discretionary budget in the FY 2013 request, continues to absorb the lion's share of spending.

KABUL, Afghanistan - It was what President Obama called a "war of necessity," a conflict thrust upon America by the 9/11 attacks. As NATO's mission here winds down nearly 11 years later, the insurgents remain undefeated, corruption runs rife, and the peace process is stuck in the sand. Such is the bleak reality of Afghanistan as Obama and leaders of about 60 countries and organizations prepare to meet Sunday and Monday in Chicago to map their way out of an unpopular war. The goal is to develop a strategy that does not risk a repeat of the chaos that followed the Soviet exit two decades ago, which paved the way for the rise of al-Qaeda.

WASHINGTON — It's the rarest and most prestigious military honor, made rarer still by a 42-year delay attributed to lost paperwork. But Wednesday, Army Spec. Leslie H. Sabo Jr. finally was recognized for an act of wartime heroism that took his life at age 22 as he saved comrades when his platoon was ambushed in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. "Along with Les, seven other soldiers gave their lives that day," President Obama said as he presented the Medal of Honor to Sabo's widow, Rose Mary Sabo-Brown.

KABUL, Afghanistan - A gunman in a car assassinated a former high-ranking Taliban official working to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan, dealing a powerful blow Sunday to the fragile, U.S.-backed effort to bring peace to the country. Arsala Rahmani, a top member of the Afghan peace council and a senator in Parliament, was killed a week before a key NATO summit and just hours before President Hamid Karzai announced the third stage of a five-part transition that is supposed to put Afghan security forces in control of their country by the end of 2014.

MONTERREY, Mexico - Forty-nine decapitated and mutilated bodies were found Sunday dumped on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in what could be the latest outburst in an escalating war of terror among drug gangs. Mexico's organized crime groups often abandon multiple bodies in public places as warnings to their rivals, though Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza said he did not rule out the possibility that the victims were U.S.-bound migrants.

Horst Faas, 79, a prizewinning combat photographer who carved out new standards for covering war with a camera and became one of the world's legendary photojournalists in nearly half a century with the Associated Press, died Thursday in Munich, Germany. A native of Germany who joined the U.S.-based news cooperative there in 1956, Mr. Faas photographed wars, revolutions, the Olympic Games, and events in between. He was best known for covering Vietnam, where he was severely wounded in 1967 and won four major photo awards, including the first of his two Pulitzer Prizes.

Lily Fischer's ascension to cupcake queen — and a performance this weekend as a competitor on the new Food Network series Cupcake Champions — was driven purely by accident. Probably several accidents. The South Philadelphia woman and her friend Erin Bailey were preschool teachers at Friends Select in Center City in 2009. "I was having a stressful day, so I decided to go home and bake something," Fischer said. The something was a batch of cupcakes, which they brought in the next day for a coworker.

WASHINGTON - Support for the war in Afghanistan has hit a new low and is on par with support for the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, a bad sign for President Obama as he argues that to end the war responsibly the United States must remain in Afghanistan another two years. Only 27 percent of Americans say they back the war effort, and 66 percent oppose the war, according to an AP-GfK poll released Wednesday. A November 1971 Harris poll showed a record-high 65 percent of Americans said that continued fighting in Vietnam was "morally wrong.

It's Mother's Day 2012, coming up this Sunday, a time to celebrate moms, Hallmark cards, brunches and the War of the Rosen. Hilary Rosen, a Democratic Party consultant, recently unleashed this current version of the '70s debate on the roles of moms. In an interview, Rosen remarked that Ann Romney, a stay-at-home mom of five, never worked a day in her life. Of course, this forced an ultimate societal outcry that essentially said that choices by women should be equally respected.

The End of War By John Horgan McSweeney's. 224 pp. $22   Reviewed by Michael C. Horowitz   John Horgan is a science writer and peace advocate who has brought both of his passions together in his latest work, The End of War. Horgan, now director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, seeks to begin a conversation with those he calls "war pessimists," who think war is an inevitable...