Holding Society Between Safety and Freedom
Re “Racial Profiling Gains Support as Search Tactic,” Sept. 24: In these difficult times it is important for all Americans’ civil rights to be upheld and for no one to suffer undue harassment. That being said, I have to object to Garden Grove food wholesaler Hani Teebi’s characterization of a visit by two FBI agents as “harassment.”
Did anybody get out the rubber hose? No. The FBI merely asked questions. This one visit may be inconvenient, but it is not harassment. It is prudence. The terrorist threat is coming from forces of Arab origin, so yes, people of a Middle Eastern background are being scrutinized and looked at more closely. But isn’t a little personal inconvenience worth it if the questioning can keep thousands more innocents from being killed?
Jeff Zimmer
Sherman Oaks
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Imagine America through the eyes of those who tried to destroy it: open borders; no ID cards; everywhere choice, freedom, trust. Lambs to the slaughter, the hijackers must have thought. Our willingness to trust each other--to trust even these men, as they lived among us--must have seemed utterly alien to them. The terrorists saw it as a weakness to be exploited, but their attacks will be successful only if they undermine our trust in one another, for this is what separates us from them.
Andrew Lewicky
Los Angeles
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As a Jew, the title of the newly formed Office of Homeland Security sends chills down my spine. It reminds me of the internal security apparatus created during the 1930s in Nazi Germany. History shows us that under great economic and political stress, nations are more vulnerable to fascist tendencies. As several commentators have noted, if we quash civil liberties at home Osama bin Laden will have won.
Andrew Walzer
Pomona
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To those against a little loss of personal liberty or convenience because of some stricter regulations or necessary profiling, how about the saying, “It is better to be safe than sorry.” Don’t you think society’s rights should take precedence over personal rights? How can any person be safe when society is unsafe?
Peter Ambrose
Sylmar
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There are two types of cowards this country can do without: those who sell stock to protect their fortunes when we should be buying to strengthen the country and those who would trade liberty for security.
John Palmieri
Beverly Hills