Can Homeland Security Let Freedom Ring?

Re “Cheer Ashcroft On, With a Little Friendly Oversight,” Commentary, Dec. 5: Alan Charles Raul suggests that President Bush can still have his extraordinary military tribunals and make it more palatable to the civil liberties crowd by having Bush select an oversight committee to advise him and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft privately. Isn’t this how we got Ashcroft in the first place?

Steve Young

Chatsworth

There is another reason, in addition to those given by Robert Scheer (“It Is Crazy to Curtail Due Process Rules,” Commentary, Dec. 4), for not using the war on terrorism as justification for compromising our virtually sacred right to due process. Terrorists are fanatics who are willing to die for their cause. The events of Sept. 11 and the latest suicide bombings in Israel are recent examples. The threat of trials without due process by military tribunals or even kangaroo courts will not influence the actions of such people. Thus it makes no sense to sacrifice basic American judicial principles when that sacrifice will have no impact on achieving our main objective, which is to deter terrorism.

Sylvan Gollin

Claremont

Paul Conrad’s Dec. 5 cartoon is outrageous (Commentary). The political statement against the president’s proposed anti-terrorism tactics is certainly a viable point of view, and it is Conrad’s right to express it. In using the terrifying image of a plane heading for the World Trade Center, however, Conrad implies that the president’s intentions are as sinister as those of the Sept. 11 terrorism perpetrators. To question the legality and wisdom of the proposals is healthy. To equate the motivation behind them with Al Qaeda’s evil intentions is worse than in poor taste; it is vulgar.

Fran Doupe

Sherman Oaks

Conrad is right on target, illustrating Air Force One on its way to crash into our “Constitution.” How did we get this way? Advocating military tribunals and attempting to destroy attorney-client privilege are just two examples of going around the Bill of Rights under the cover of terrorism. Where is Congress?

Jerry Baruch

Los Angeles

Well, thank God that Ashcroft is considering letting the reins loose on the FBI and once again allowing it to go after religious and political groups and individuals (“Ashcroft Rethinks Domestic Spying,” Dec. 1). I mean, how long has it been since those wonderful bygone days when, under the benevolent dictatorship of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI was allowed to keep us safe by spying on and intimidating such subversives as civil rights activists, Vietnam War opponents, Charlie Chaplin, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Muhammad Ali, Jane Fonda, the ACLU and the Kennedy family, just to name a few?

And just think how even luckier we’ll be when, in the not too distant future, Ashcroft decides that groups that favor abortion rights, gay rights, women’s rights, people who believe they have the right to die with dignity or, in short, any group Ashcroft has continually shown a personal disdain for, will be labeled politically subversive and subject to FBI scrutiny and tactics. Can you just imagine how safe we’ll all feel then?

Garry Kluger

Los Angeles

Forgo Holiday Lights

I hear commercials and see billboards that encourage me to conserve power, but I can’t help noticing the holiday lights lining the streets. If we are expected to continue taking the energy crisis seriously, then it is important that our city leaders continue to set an example of conservation. Hearing our local politicians announce that the holiday lights will not be used in order to save energy would serve as a strong reminder that our energy problems are not over and we all must continue to conserve.

Kerin McGee

Playa del Rey