Mideast Terror Came Home to U.S.

“Events Will Alter Dynamics in Mideast” (Sept. 14) displays a shockingly shallow view of the conflict in the Middle East. Rather than recognizing the role Israel has been forced to play alone in confronting the mounting danger of extremist terrorist groups, the article equates the positions of Palestinians and Israelis, Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon, and sees them merely as fighting a “53-year-old battle over land and rights.”

Americans have had their heads in the ground as extremist groups develop nuclear capabilities and threaten civilization as we know it. The conflict Israel has been dealing with is rooted in an extremist desire to wipe its existence (and ours) off the face of the Earth.

Alitta Kullman

Laguna Hills

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Re “Islam Must Challenge Its Dark Doctrines,” Commentary, Sept. 13: Yossi Klein Halevi conveniently de-emphasizes the U.S. government’s blind and unconditional support of Israel as the preponderant cause of the string of terrorist attacks against the U.S.

If it were true that the terrorists’ holy war is really against the West, then why aren’t Germany, Spain or Italy, all Western nations, also the targets of their hatred? Because none of those European countries, though supportive of Israel, actively provides the Jewish state with the means--as we do with our tax dollars--to oppress an entire people.

M.C. Magnani

Pasadena

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As an American Jew, I strongly support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. However, I also believe in the right of the Palestinian people to a self-governed homeland. After viewing the cheering in the occupied territories for the World Trade Center tragedy, I am definitely rethinking my support for the Palestinian cause. Palestinians should realize that terrorist actions anywhere in the world, whether perpetrated by them or merely cheered by them, do not help their cause. All terrorists need to be hunted down and destroyed, whether they attack Americans or anyone else.

Michael S. Varat

Camarillo

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More emphasis is needed on the many facts briefly touched upon in “A Superpower’s Sorrow, Comeuppance” (Sept. 13) to understand what motivated the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and how measured and careful the U.S. government must be in its response. Otherwise, this up-to-now mostly one-sided “war” that has blundered on for years could escalate to the point of no return.

How many more thousands of innocent lives in the U.S. and in foreign lands now hang in the balance as we await the decisions of the latest team at the helm of our government? Our shores are no longer safe; the U.S. must become a global citizen.

Chris Hopkins

Los Angeles