Horowitz Tries to Silence Dissent

As I read born-again conservative David Horowitz’s “Students, Rethink How You Protest” (Commentary, Sept. 28), which blames the antiwar protesters for prolonging Vietnam, I can’t but think that this is a false analogy compared to what America is facing today--terrorism at home. Horowitz’s argument is confused; had no one spoken up at home against the ill-fated Vietnam War, who knows how many more soldiers would have been committed and sentenced to die? Furthermore, many antiwar protesters of that era, like now, were protesting the fact that innocent children and families would die. The fate of their lives is not in the hands of the antiwar protesters but in the hands of our political and military leaders, who are all too comfortable with the military-industrial complex. I think Horowitz is more interested in silencing dissent (and what remains of his leftist conscience) and advancing the status quo.

The question I ask of Horowitz is, who gave the battle cry in Vietnam in the first place? Certainly not the antiwar protesters. Come down from the cross, David Horowitz. What is good self-righteousness for you is not necessarily good for the rest of us.

Aaron Albelo

San Gabriel

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When Horowitz was of draft age, he opposed war. Now that someone else will have to run the risk of being wounded or killed, he’s all for war. How convenient!

Gene Costin

Los Angeles

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The New Leftists that Horowitz sees fit to blame for forcing the U.S. out of the Vietnam conflict were the first to realize that fighting a war against a more-determined army in the enemy’s exotic nation with no clear goal might not be in our nation’s best interest. They were trying to save American lives. That’s why history has not judged them too harshly.

I wonder if Horowitz, who has admitted to publishing sensitive defense information in a magazine, has considered that only he, not antiwar protesters in general, was a traitor.

John R. Singleton

Los Angeles