Rules of war
It has become increasingly clear that this administration is embarrassing our country on a daily basis. The recent Washington Post article reported that the secretary of Defense (or War, as Pete Hegseth has wanted it to be called) gave orders to “kill everybody” in this boat on Sept. 2.
It’s reported that two men survived the first attack and were clinging to the side of the boat. Another strike was authorized. The administration and the secretary claim that they were well within the law to conduct these attacks. According to international law and rules of war, you offer quarters to noncombatants when they are unable to continue to fight.
The very next month (October), Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, resigned unexpectedly after he questioned the legality of the attacks on these alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. I might add that these boats are about 1,500 miles from the United States.
If this administration is now beginning another war on drugs, it seems to be making a mockery out of it all when you pardon the former president of Honduras, Juan Rodriguez, who was serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison for helping to traffic more than 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. It causes the whole picture to look and smell malodorous.
Vernon C. Crump III, Portsmouth
Holiday season
The holiday mailing season is underway, and we have already seen an increase in mail and package volumes. Send your mail and packages early, but if you find last-minute gifts to ship or holiday cards to mail, my Postal Service colleagues and I are committed to making sure they arrive in time for the holidays.
The Postal Service’s suggested mailing dates are: Dec. 17 for First-Class Mail and USPS Ground Advantage; Dec. 18 for USPS Priority Mail; and Dec. 20 for USPS Priority Mail Express.
The Postal Service has made significant investments to modernize our network over the past five years. Our national network can process up to 88 million packages per day. All of the investments we’ve made are leading to faster and more efficient delivery than ever before, including here in Hampton Roads. Our data shows most customers receive their deliveries in three days or less.
As a reminder, our carriers will be delivering earlier in the day and later in the evening as we move further into the holidays, so feel free to leave a porch light on and a clear path to the mailbox.
We greatly value your continued support and wish you a safe and merry holiday season.
Traci R. Miller, Postmaster, Virginia Beach
Shutdown
Re “Democrats’ shutdown” (Your Views, Dec. 2): I read with interest this letter in Tuesday’s edition. The letter writer states that the bill put forth by the Republicans was the same as what the Democrats voted for when former President Joe Biden was in office.
One difference between the vote then and now is that there was negotiations, not a ram-it-down-your-throat ultimatum. Also, health insurance was not going to skyrocket because of expiring subsidies that so many Americans rely on to get affordable coverage.
The “Unaffordable” Care Act, as he called it, is not perfect by any means. It needs work. As much as the Republicans and the president hate Obamacare so much, why haven’t they come up with something to replace it yet? They had complete control in both the House and Senate during the first two years of President Donald Trump’s first term. Another six years, while not in full control in between, to come up with something. Anything.
The Democrats and Republicans who voted against it were just trying to keep the rug from getting pulled out from under many American households.
Kathleen Griffin, Virginia Beach
