Two wrongs that don't make a right

I'm writing in response to two letters -- "Constable misses progress in Iraq" and "Maher's Catholic jokes are bigotry" -- not because I disagree with their points of view, but rather, because there are factual errors in each that would be laughable were it not for the seriousness of the subjects.

First, Mr. Paul Robinson of Hanover Park claims that in Iraq, prior to the "liberation" that has spurred car and suicide bombs, Iraqi women and girls couldn't walk down the street without fear of being beaten or stoned.

That shows how ignorant most Americans are of the rest of the world, which is why we can rush to war in all our self-righteous justification and invade the wrong country that posed absolutely no threat to the U.S. whatsoever.

Mr. Robinson, those conditions (women as second class citizens) never existed in Iraq. Iraq was a secular society with one of the highest rates of women in college and in the work force.

The country you were probably thinking of is Taliban Afghanistan or one of our strongest allies in the region, Saudi Arabia, where women are not even permitted to drive a car.

Next, Patrick Dalton seems to think that cable TV's HBO network is controlled by the FCC -- not true.

The reason HBO can bring us new, exciting and unadulterated programming is precisely because they can have no fear of government intervention. It is the free market at work, and if you don't like it, change the channel.

Long live Bill Maher. Long live secular societies!

Stephen T. Beisiegel

Schaumburg