Al Qaeda’s Return After ‘Top Gun’ Hoopla

When you set your story “Al Qaeda May Be Back, and Stronger” (May 14) against the “Top Gun” hoopla of the last two weeks, one wonders what it is going to take for the American people, particularly its representatives on both sides of the aisle in Washington, to hold the Bush administration accountable for its incredible failure in its war on terror.

Here’s what the administration has accomplished to date: The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are unknown. Hussein, once contained and easily monitored, is now on the loose with $1 billion in cash. Whereas Al Qaeda and Hussein once regarded each other with contempt, they are brothers in exile who share a common enemy. If they were not connected before, they are most likely linked now.

Worst of all, our unjustifiable foray into Iraq has cost us the international support that is mandatory if we are truly going to eliminate this clear terrorist threat. If that was the “Mission Accomplished” spelled out on the banner on the Abraham Lincoln, I cannot imagine what the goals were.

David Ellis

Sherman Oaks

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Al Qaeda is back, and stronger? How is that possible? Didn’t our government destroy it and win two wars since 9/11? How could it be that the enemy escaped Afghanistan and also Iraq? Did it smuggle out all the weapons of mass destruction as well? Aren’t Bin Laden and Hussein both dead?

How can it be that a $2-trillion-a-year government dedicated to the preservation of our safety has miscalculated again? Surely the war on terrorism, as laid out in the USA Patriot Act, is going to protect us from any new “wave of attacks.” That is its purpose, isn’t it?

Eric Taylor

Sunland