Rand Paul

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., center, speaks to reporters following a briefing on Syria on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 7, 2017. Amid measured support for the U.S. cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base, some vocal Republicans and Democrats are reprimanding the White House for launching the strike without first getting congressional approval. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In response to Friday's editorial, "Trump foes short on alternatives," April 21, page C4, why does your paper think that bombing is an appropriate response to a complicated situation? You were critical of Democrats because they didn't have a better solution.

Actually, there are two democrats and a Republican who seem to have a better way. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY. They believe we should not be sending ground forces into Syria and that we need to stop funding rebel and terrorist groups that are trying to undermine Syrian President Bashar al- Assad. This is Gabbard's and Paul's "Stop Arming Terrorist Act" (H.R. 608 and S. 532) and Lee's "Prohibit the Expansion of Combat Troops into Syria Act" (H.R. 1473).

I hope that one and all contact their Congress folks and Senators to support these bills. It's high time this country stopped seeing military solutions as the answer to every problem. I never understood when, supposedly, a small group of terrorists were responsible for 9/11, why we didn't capture them and put them on trial. Why attack entire countries? What have we accomplished since 9/11? We've spent trillions of dollars that could have funded our services and infrastructure and have put us on a path towards halting global warming. We've turned much of the Mideast, North Africa, and Afghanistan into chaos and rubble, killed and maimed millions of people, fanned the flames of terrorism, and created a huge refugee crisis that's destabilized much of Europe.

It's got to stop: the bombing, the killing, the saber rattling, the regime changes. It's time to grow up, to work with China and Russia towards peace in Syria and North Korea.

When I taught special needs, I learned that aggression just leads to more aggression. How about diplomacy for once? How about shutting off the arms to terrorists who are fighting Assad?

How about giving peace a chance?

Charlotte Burns, Palmer