The Future Holds More Than Memories of 9/11

Re “A Day of Remembrance and Resolve,” Sept. 12: Now that the “Year 9/11” is over, I hope we can refocus our attention to some other problems without a daily reminder of the terrorist attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon. Regrettably, several thousand people lost their lives, but during the past year many thousands have died of starvation without daily headlines.

We do get a few articles about the homeless thousands roaming the streets without a place to stay. We also hear of terrorism in a smaller way, where someone is killed in a gang-war shooting or in a holdup. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future if we do not become obsessed with yesterday’s problems. Praise should rightfully be given to the firefighters who risked and lost their lives trying to save other people. But at the same time, that was in the line of duty, and not as much recognition is being given to other firefighters who are doing the same thing every day.

Let’s look at 9/11 in a more realistic perspective and get on with our lives.

David S. Eicher

Glendale

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The government’s new terror alert system, an unfortunate overreaction to last year’s tragic attacks, is absolutely useless to the general public (“U.S. Signals ‘High Risk’ of New Attacks,” Sept. 11). What, exactly, is the ordinary citizen supposed to do with this information (other than panic)? Does going from yellow to orange mean the odds of being a victim of a terrorist attack have gone from one in 10 million to one in 1 million? One in 10,000?

Although the public needs to be aware that the threat of terrorism is real and growing, these alerts will only serve to escalate fear in an already anxious public, much to the delight of our enemies. Or could it be that our fears are being exploited by our own government in order to gain support for a premature military campaign? Paranoia is infectious.

Brian Hittelman

Playa del Rey