U.S. should be wary of Turkey’s intentions
Re: “Turkey should answer for flotilla incident,” June 20
We should ask why this administration and the previous one did not recognize that Turkey had turned its back on the West and joined the Islamic nations of the world, as reflected by the anti-Israel, anti-West actions of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was obvious since his election in 2002 that Turkey had changed from a tolerant and Western-leaning nation to one that exhibits the worst traits of regimes such as those in Iran and Syria.
Our European friends were quicker to realize the changes occurring in Turkey with their reluctance to include that nation in the European Union. They were more farsighted in this regard than the U.S. Now that we know the true nature of the Erdogan government, we should act accordingly.
Nelson Marans
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Virginia cannot allow offshore oil drilling
There has recently been talk about offshore drilling along the coast of Virginia, but we cannot allow this to happen. Virginia cannot afford the negative economic and environmental consequences of a potential oil spill off of our coast.
The crisis in the Gulf Coast should be a wake-up call to all those who support such drilling. We cannot continue to depend on nonrenewable resources that may have such dire consequences.
We need Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb to support legislation that promotes safe, renewable, clean energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal.
The longer we wait, the more damage may be caused.
Kellen Lauer
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States have right to protect their borders
Several states have their own versions of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, known as OSHA. Michigan has MIOSHA, Tennessee has TIOSHA, etc.
If states can legally have safety laws at least as strict as federal safety laws, tell me why the states can’t have immigration laws identical to the federal law.
And how, exactly, is the federal government going to go into court and with a straight face and assert that immigration laws are the sole province of the federal government when it does not even care enough about these laws to enforce them?
Don DeVan
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