Patriotism and ‘Peaceniks’

My goodness! Didn’t John Balzar give me and my fellow “peaceniks” (if that’s what we are) a good drubbing (“The Peaceniks Are on the Fringe Where They Belong,” Commentary, Nov. 4)?

Such emotional outbursts rarely change minds. Certainly not this one. I still think the heinous perpetrators of the Sept. 11 destruction, along with their henchmen, should be the objects of an international police action, not a war. And, I still reject the notion that this opinion equates to a support of terrorism. I know better.

Whatever the outcome, when this horror has passed and history judges, it may well be seen that the terrorists won by turning us against each other and ending our former tolerance of conflicting points of view. How very tragic!

Julie Ford

Huntington Beach

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Balzar claims that we don’t have 20 years to wait for nonmilitary means of solving the problem of terrorism. What he fails to recognize is that we have already been attempting bombing as a means of solving problems for almost 60 years, in nearly 20 countries, and that in not one case has bombing resulted in the installation of a democratically elected government that respects human rights. For centuries we have tried war.

When will we, as a civilized country, give nonviolent means even a decade? The results might surprise Balzar. We have plenty of evidence that bombing does not work. Let’s give the legitimate alternative a chance.

Brian Bielenberg

Berkeley

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For once, I agree with Balzar: The “antiwar activists don’t have a leg to stand on.” (Neither do some of our war veterans.) It is heartening to see Americans everywhere showing their true colors by waving the red, white and blue. What color flags are the peaceniks waving--white, or are they yellow?

Angie Papadakis

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Our flag was flying. Now, it is down. Sept. 11 devastated us all. Our flag, a symbol of compassion and solidarity, went up in support of those lost and grieving and those working tirelessly on the ground.

However, it seems the flag now represents blind patriotism and revenge. Many of us have been made to feel afraid to speak out against the patriotic fervor enveloping this country. Is this really what our forefathers had in mind for our democracy--indiscriminate bombing and loss of innocent life with no end in sight? Do we think these actions will make us safer, or will they escalate the round of terror and revenge? Yesterday, our flag came down.

Charlotte and Toby Masarik

Laguna Beach