Letter to the editor

Veterans offer reminder of duty of officials As a veteran, I swore an oath to defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That oath didn't end when I left military service — and it applies just as strongly to the president and all elected officials. Right now, our country is facing dangerous unrest. ICE agents and police officers have been physically attacked. We've see police cars burned and Molotov cocktails thrown. This isn't peaceful protest — it is lawlessness. The president has both the authority and responsibility to enforce our immigration laws and restore public order. ICE is not indiscriminately targeting immigrants. They are focused on removing dangerous individuals who pose a threat to our safety. Yet some city and state leaders are obstructing those efforts and refusing to uphold the law. When governors and mayors fail to act, the president is well within his rights to deploy military forces to protect citizens and federal agents. This has been done before — under presidents from both parties — when civil unrest overwhelmed local control. It's not about politics; it's about protecting the country. If elected officials cannot maintain law and order, and even resist it, then it falls on citizens — especially veterans — to speak up and remind them of their duty. Political disagreement is one thing. But violence, destruction and open defiance of federal law are something else entirely. We cannot allow the rule of law to collapse. We must support our law enforcement officers and immigration agents who are doing difficult and dangerous work. And we must expect our leaders to honor the oaths they swore — just as we did. Robert Eisel Findlay Veteran, United States Navy