In his article on the freedom to protest and the actions of the U.S. military (Opinion, \Respect the freedom to protest,"" Feb. 28), Bill Anderson states the ""U.S. military is the most murderous, destructive and reactionary institution in the world today."" This assertion is not only historically inaccurate but complete hyperbole.
Anderson blatantly disregards the records of truly murderous and destructive regimes like those of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Pol Pot. I am not arguing the U.S. military has a spotless human-rights record, but if it is the quintessential annihilative institution, how would he characterize the Hutu extremist regime in Rwanda that murdered more than 800,000 innocent civilians in 1994?
Furthermore, Anderson's comments are highly disrespectful of the thousands of U.S. military veterans who have served this country honorably. It is easy, as Anderson does, to focus on the negative actions of the U.S. military like the Abu Ghraib prisoner scandal and the deaths of innocent Iraqis. But to classify the entire U.S. military as nothing more than ""a tool for the repression and subjugation of literally hundreds of nations, and billions of people"" is to ignore all of the previous positive accomplishments of the U.S. military in places like Kosovo and Normandy. Anderson's article is simply unjustifiable and inexcusable.
