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L v m m PAGE A6 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ July 26,2006 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-In-Chief Chris Bovie Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Office Manager Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Todd Blayone Interactive Media Manager Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 EDITORIAL e-mail letters to newsroom@durliamrcgion.com Evacuation is no simple achievement Try to imagine the logistical difficulties of finding, identifying identifying and finally, evacuating,- tens of thousands of Canadian citizens citizens from a war zone that has sprung up, literally, overnight. It's mind-boggling and one would think the Government of Canada deserves some credit for pushing ahead with this awesome awesome undertaking. Those who have complained about the conditions conditions aboard hastily arranged ships or about how long it has taken to get stranded citizens out of Lebanon are simply being unfair. On the other hand, it's also unreasonable to 'simply leave Canadian citizens to their own devices simply because "they have chosen to live in the Mid- East or visit there. Those who suggest Lebanon is \ a dangerous place where a. state - of war might break out .at any time have only,got the story half right. For a number of years now, Lebanon has been relatively peaceful. la the Mid-East, outside outside of Iraq of course, the trouble between Israelis and groups like Hamas and Hezbollah has been essentially limited recently to the occupied West Bank and Gaza. There is still plenty of violence in those areas, but the kidnapping kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by Hamas and Hezbollah a few weeks ago is what started the fighting in Gaza and then, two weeks ago, in Lebanon. BACKWARD GLANCE Vanstone Mill ISl m ...... w #c-A .VjX'C'.- v •>? TOjc Canadian Statesman ■ t JULY 26, 2006 Caught in the middle of the banage are thousands of Canadian Canadian citizens, some of whom moved back to Lebanon years ago, others who were there on a summertime visit. The problem for Canadian officials officials was to, first, locate what some say are as many-as 40,000 Canadian citizens in Lebanon, then to make arrangements' to move out as many people as quickly as possible from Israeli ' 1 shelling. . ' So far a number of Canadian citizens have been killed in the fighting, including the devastating devastating loss .of a family of eight from -Montreal. .; The tragedy is heightened by the apparent support of the Canadian Canadian government for Israel's desire to wipe out Hezbollah, the militant group operating within Lebanon. Of course, when such fighting begins, innocents are caught in the middle and civilian casualties casualties are inevitable. It's hoped that . diplomatic initiatives will stop the fighting and get the principals principals to the table, Meanwhile, the Canadian government government deserves some applause for its round-the-clock effort to get Canadians out of Lebanon. There was no way to adequately prepare for such an evacuation and Canadians 1 who have been moved out of the trouble zone : should be grateful for the efforts on their behalf, made by their government. durhamrcgion.com Phone 905-579-4400 Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-4407 General Fax 905-579-2238 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.com 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurhamregion.com CLICK AND SAY Today's question: Do you believe taxpayers' dollars should fund the evacuation evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to nev Photo supplied by Clarington Museums and Archives The sluice at the dam of the Vanstone Mill is shown in this undated photo. Complaints of evacuees not appreciated To the editor: Lebanese-Canadians who complain complain about the hardships they face in being taken from a war zone delegate the responsibility to the federal government for their safe return to Canada. To these people, one can only - ask the following questions: Who imposed upon them to be in Lebanon in the first place? Did they investigate the geophysical, geophysical, political and logistical problems that would have to be dealt with in order to accommodate accommodate their return to Canada in the event of a crisis? . ; It would appear certain individuals individuals merely complain, while others tend to be more responsible responsible citizens. Robert Cummings Oshawa Creative genius does exist in TV age To the editor: Re: Life s just better without the boob tube, Neil Crone column, July 23. Neil. Crone makes sonie very valid points and for the most part, I'm with him. However, he lost credibility credibility with his smug bit of Baby Boomer arrogance, declaring there have been no worthwhile artists raised in the age of television! television! He goes on to cite the wonders of Bob Dylan, Margaret Atwood and Paul McCartney. Well Neil, I've met many a literate person who consider Atwood unreadable, and if his generation really must look to McCartney and Dylan as symbols symbols of creative genius, it doesn't say much for his generation. The former, when deprived of the partnership of John Lennon, managed to create "Silly Love Songs" and great philosophical musical pondermgs as "someone's "someone's knocking on the door/do me a favour/let 'cm in." ' The latter is known best for being-mostly incoherent when . he sings and for his declaration "Everybody must get stoned!" . I will admit that the generation of which he is so fond of has created some great art, but so too 1 have the TV-inspired generations which have.followed.. Is he not at all familiar with Douglas, Coupland, Dave Egg- ers, Bono, Michael Stipe, Kurt Cobain, Tom Robbins./.and many others I could name who are TV-generation educated. Every generation has its creative creative geniuses and television has no more put an end to that than radio, the printing press or any other advances in communications communications had before it. Dave Ruch Oshawa Governments of all sizes need to help with recycling To the editor: For too many years, we have been a "throw it away" society and it will take many years to change that attitude as well. For the benefit of future generations, generations, we must reduce, reuse and recycle. Local and regional governments governments can only do so much to •encourage people to recycle. It is now time for provincial and federal governments to enforce companies to do the same. Governments need to enact laws to get companies to do a better job with the three R's. Go to any restaurant and sec if . they have any large recycle bins ■ or compostable bins. We have all questioned ourselves: ourselves: If they don't do it, why should I? 1 . Brent Roberts Whitby Take care to keep pets out of the heat To the editor: This is a reminder to all pet owners. The heat wave is here; it's 30C outside and the humidex is 40C. What I saw-today broke my heart Riding up McQuay Boulevard were two teenagers on bikes and behind them was a dog, running to keep up with them. ■ The poor dog was panting hard and having a tough time. Why are some dog owners . brain dead? > Why do these people insist on making their dogs run when it is scorching hot outside? Adults should know better and kids should be taught to leave ' your dogs at home. Donna Shank 1 Whitby LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submission submission in 30 days. We decline announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom ©durhamregion. com. Complaints of evacuees bad form There's no doubt those who have been ravaged by the bombing bombing in Lebanon -- and Israel - deserve all our sympathy and support. It must be incredibly frightening frightening to face the prospect of going about your business and, suddenly, the home you arc in is destroyed by an incoming shell. - Imagine the feelings of the relatives of those eight Montrealers Montrealers who were killed -- several of them very young children - when they were bombed a week ago in war-lorn Lebanon. It's just brutal. However, it's also disappointing disappointing and somewhat dismaying to hear the torrent of complaints Tim Kelly coming from those who were able to gel out of Lebanon in relatively quick fashion, not long after the fighting started,' You have to remember there was relative calm and peace in Lebanon for a number of years. The country was ravaged by civil war from 1975 to 1990 and, throughout the 1990s, faced other challenges as terrorist groups continued to battle within within its borders. Israeli and Syria thought nothing of invading (lie country for their own purposes. But.Lebanon, in recent years, seemed to finally be settling down. Until a few weeks ago. The actions of Hezbollah militants militants in kidnapping some Israeli soldiers brought a fierce response from Israel -- our Prime Minis-- 1er called it "measured" though many would disagree, Before anyone had lime to catch their breath, the situation escalated. and many were caught in the crossfire. That left thousands of Cnmidi- ' an citizens, some who had been in Lebanon for many years, others others simply on a summer vacation there, stuck in the middle of a battle nobody could sec coming! The desire to protect ourselves and our loved ones is naturally intense and nobody can blame people for looking for the shortest shortest possible route out of Lebanon., Lebanon., However,' it seems bad form indeed to come off a hastily hastily arranged ship to launch an avalanche of complaints against your native land. It hears thinking (hat many countries around the world wouldn't do much of anything to help stranded citizens in a far-off land. But Canada was. there as' soon as possible and, given the chaos in Lebanon right now, an evacuation within two week's of hostilities is impressive indeed. What options were there? Would those who were able to get on a ship to safety rather have waited an extra day or hvo or even a week in order to get better accommodations? Hardly likely. Nobody should have to deal with being stuck in the middle of a war zone, but those who have been evacuated could, at the very least, be grateful. That's not much to ask. Copy editor 'l)m Kellys column appears every oilier Wednesday. I'J-mail lkelly(a)dtirh(iiinvyion. com. Cast your vote online at infodurhamregion.com Last week's question: Will last Friday's GO Train problems make you less likely to rely on transit? . No 65.8% Yes 34.2% Votes cast: 155 HAVE YOUR SAY Do you think taxpayers' money should be used to evacuate Canadian citizens . from Lebanon? Colby Kerrigan "I think it would be one of the better things to use our tax dollars on." Joel Watts "Yes, absolutely. They're citizens of our country." Joel Hroncich "It's OK to use taxes to evacuate evacuate Canadians who pay taxes here. But if they just hold a passport and don't contribute they should find their own way out." Ashley Magee "I think that's OK." The Canadian Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of .the Bowmanville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Commerce, Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc.,.Canadian Assoc.,.Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. 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