Growth of Far-Right Militias

Re “Militias: Ranks Are Swelling,” April 18: Maybe if we brought back the two-year compulsory military service to the country it would satisfy some of the desire to join a militia group. The compulsory service was and still is a wonderful experience for young people to see what it means to be an “American.” The phrase “melting pot” really takes on its true meaning when one arrives for the first day of basic training and looks around to see who his or her companions will be for the next eight weeks.

The military draft would also satisfy the lack of suitable employment for some people and give the right in this country the thing they desire most ... more money for the Pentagon. There would be an explosion of civilian jobs that would result from this also. Finally, it would keep the draft issue a part of the political process and help us determine if a candidate is really qualified for public office.

VICTOR GENTILE

Beverly Hills

* My pacifist friends and acquaintances and I do not own guns, belong to no militia groups, and are not white racists--in fact, many of us are not white. We do, however, wonder why the media have ignored the fact that no FBI or ATF agents or their children were in the Murrah Federal Building when it blew up a year ago. We also think it’s odd the mainstream press doesn’t interview weapons experts who have said--and written--that it was not a fertilizer bomb that was used in Oklahoma City, but a sophisticated barometric-pressure bomb.

The federal government is the only beneficiary of last year’s tragedy. It provided Congress and the president a reason to further curtail our rights, most recently through the passage of repressive, police-state measures called for in the anti-terrorism bill.

HEIDI NYE

Long Beach