Middle East Terrorism

With the Administration having put another $300 billion defense budget on the table, it is both frightening and humiliating to realize that we can’t protect one Marine lieutenant colonel from a gang of thugs. What is the use of strategic and tactical weapons and planning for their use if the real threat is by terrorists against individual citizens. Are the decision-makers (a term I use in only its broadest sense) so enamored by our own technology that we place so little value on individuals?

I wonder if Lt. Col. Higgins thought about B-2s or cruise missiles as he was about to be hanged. If the government feels it’s in our best interest to participate in a game played out in a corner of the world where ICBMs, SLBMs and financial diplomacy mean nothing, I think it’s about time that we learn to play by the rules of the game. The alternative is the status quo: Our $300 billion a year defense system undone by $2 worth of rope and a video camera.

TOM MOUREAU

Fullerton