Let’s clear the air over county militia

I take issue with a reader's claims about the Nassau County militia ["Different views on Nassau militia," Letters, March 13].

They are not volunteers just like "firefighters or Emergency Medical Service personnel." Volunteers don't get paid, but militia members get paid for each day of service.

And they are answerable to whom? Firefighters and EMTs have chains of command. What is the chain of command for the militia? Here it is: They answer to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

Also, several members have already been outed as having criminal records, personal relationships to the county executive, or being over the mandatory retirement age for law enforcement.

So, why does the safest county in America (predating Blakeman), with one of the largest suburban police forces in the country, need an unqualified militia?

Jordan Schantz, Lindenhurst

In his own quagmire, Trump looks for aid

This is the height of chutzpah: President Donald Trump decides to engage in a war, or "excursion" as he called it, and suddenly and without input thrusts the region and the world into armed and economic conflict and finds himself in a quagmire of his own making.

Now, he has the audacity to demand other nations come to his aid after declaring economic war upon them and publicly humiliating them ["Trump demands help to open strait," News, March 16].

The saddest part is that U.S. sons, daughters, and taxpayers will pay the price.

Paulette Frimet, Eastport

The oil lobby's hundreds of millions of dollars it gave in campaign contributions to elect President Donald Trump is paying off big time. Trump has not placed price controls on U.S. domestic fuel, resulting in accusations of price gouging and plenty of profits by U.S. oil producers.

It's now time for Trump to issue an executive order to stop price gouging of domestically produced oil and gas.

Peter Gold, Rockville Centre