March 22, 2012 - ChaddsFordLive.com

War and Robert Bales

The case of Staff Sgt. Robert
Bales is as disturbing as they come. It brings back memories of the Mei Lei
massacre in Vietnam where a platoon of American soldiers burned down an entire
Vietnamese village.

In Sgt. Bales’ case, he and he
alone walked off his post and went into a civilian village and killed16
innocent Afghans, men women and children.

Some people are pointing to the
fact that Sgt. Bales was in his fourth tour of duty and had already lost part
of a foot and had head injuries from wounds suffered. That is a matter of the
defense blaming the war for the individual’s action. The nature of the war and
of U.S. foreign policy does come into play, but it does not take away from the
fact that upwards of 107,000 U.S. troops have served multiple tours of duty in
Afghanistan and Iraq without committing such a heinous crime. This was the
action of one individual and, if he’s found guilty, he deserves the proper
punishment.

At 38, Bales is no 19-year-old
kid as were most of the platoon members at Mei Lei. At that age he should have
been in better control of himself — as most U.S. forces, even those in their
teens — have been. Yet, his wounds and the emotional stress of the financial
problems he and his wife were having likely did come into play, but even so,
it’s no excuse for murder.

If one wants to blame the war
for Bales’ actions on March 11, then what must first be blamed is American
foreign policy that relies so much on gunboat diplomacy.

Granted, many people from all
philosophies were so overcome by the events of 9/11 that they agreed with
sending forces into Afghanistan to get to those responsible. What most people
forget, though, is that the Taliban government agreed to turn Osama bin Laden
over to neutral forces for trial. They didn’t want to turn him over to U.S.
forces, so then-President George Bush and the Congress sent in the military.
That led to hundreds of thousands more dead than the 16 who were killed by
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

Afghanistan and Iraq are only
the latest in America’s chest-thumping wars. We had better realize soon that we
can’t continue to dictate to other countries what they can and can’t do, that
they must act with our best interest or else. Syria and Iran are on the
horizon. What havoc will we reap there?

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

Report: Open space makes cents

Local News

Members of the Pennsbury Land
Trust learned that open space preservation makes both dollars and sense. The
word came through a study performed for the GreenSpace Alliance and the
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Patty Elkis, of DVRPC, said the
200,000 acres of protected open space in the five-county Philadelphia region
has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in economic value every year.

It generates the money in four
different areas, she said. It increases property values, provides eco-system
services that would otherwise have to be paid for, provides health and
recreation benefits and generates economic activity.

Eco-system services, such as
storm water management, flood mitigation and wildlife habitat improve water
supply, aid waste assimilation and improve air quality, Elkis said.

Kristine Kern, from the GreenSpace
Alliance — a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving open space
throughout southeastern Pennsylvania — and an open space coordinator in Buck
County gave a few examples. One was that the homeowners with houses within a
quarter mile of the Peace Valley Park in Bucks County saw their property values
increase by $35,000.

There is also a health benefit
in living near protected open space, Kern said. The study showed that people
can save $400 per year by exercising at pubic parks.

People in the region save $800
million in associated healthcare costs by being healthier and save on worker’s
compensation costs.

The preserved acreage in the
five-county region also creates 7,000 jobs and generates $300 million in annual
earnings, according to the study.

Elkis and Kern gave the
presentation to the Land Trust on March 21, the final night of Karen Travers’
8-year term as Land Trust president. Holly Manzone, of Pocopson Township, will
be the new president.

Manzone was not at the meeting,
but Travers said the Land Trust continues to get new conservation easement donations.

“We’ve also tried to institute
a strong education program because, very often, people will donate conservation
easements, but they really don’t know how to manage their land,” said Travers.
“Wise use in the land is a very important thing.”

She said people need to learn
how to manage stream corridors and invasive plants, as well as learning how to
plant for beneficial wildlife.

Travers said she can see the
Land Trust continuing to grow the easements and getting more into community
involvement, such as the stream watch program that started last year. There is
also a tree-planting program.

She’d like to see the group be
even more aggressive in going after conservation easements with landowners who
had previously been reluctant.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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