MB Civic

To the Editor:

Reading the Op-Ed article by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann (“What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran,” Dec. 22) filled me with a sense of foreboding. Actually seeing the redacted version, with its blacked-out sections, sent a real chill down my spine.

Are we heading toward a dictatorship, like apartheid South Africa, where ideas that do not reflect the administration’s policies are denied to the public? This is patently unconstitutional, and I look forward to the day when the courts validate Mr. Leverett and Ms. Mann’s view, and when The Times publishes their full article.

Then I will know that balance has been restored to our nation.

David M. Cohen
Bedford Hills, N.Y., Dec. 22, 2006

•

To the Editor:

I was truly aghast at “What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran.” Our government has taken to censoring nonclassified material in our nation’s newspaper of record? I would say that this marks a low point in our country’s history where official respect of the Constitution is concerned.

We have already lost our right to a fair trial and privacy. What’s one more breach? But there is a difference. Such media censorship can take place only in the public realm. Actions like these can’t be hidden in an unmarked server room or a foreign cell. I wish The Times the best of luck in receiving clearance for the censored parts of the original article.

As someone not accustomed to writing letters to the editor, I can assure you of one thing: the American people will be watching.

Stacey Capps Leggieri
Brooklyn, Dec. 22, 2006

•

To the Editor:

As a black helicopter lands in my backyard, I’m transmitting this letter in response to “What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran.” Please print this redacted version, as allowed by the White House:

xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxx
xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx
xxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxx
xxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xx xxxx xxxxxx xxxxx

Newton E. Finn
Waukegan, Ill., Dec. 22, 2006