Treat Urban Gangs the Same as Terrorists

Re “Errant Gunfire Kills Woman Buying Food for Her Church,” Feb. 7: When is enough enough? Another gang-style murder in Los Angeles. It seems that L.A. is another Third World country where lives are lost and the street terrorists have taken control. Police Chief William Bratton and Sheriff Lee Baca and all the community leaders just talk, talk and talk. Social programs are not going to work; they’ve been tried for generations and the gang problem, or as I see it, the urban terrorists problem, has become worse. It’s a war, and people have to see it and say it as it is.

Before we start a war in Iraq, the federal and state governments should declare war on the terrorists who are no different than the cowards of 9/11 -- arrest them on sight and place them in cages, as we have done with the Al Qaeda prisoners. These urban terrorists have no regard for our freedom and liberty; why should we treat them differently? They have declared war on peaceful citizens and have attacked us nonstop for generations. When are we going to stop treating these terrorists as though they are common criminals?

Dan Heredia

Dana Point