How can one justify terrorist bombings?

Re “Brutality that boomerangs,”

Opinion, July 29

Saree Makdisi establishes several connections in an attempt to justify the attacks against the U.S. and Britain by Muslim terrorists. In particular, he relates the 1991 “invasion” of Iraq and subsequent sanctions that “killed a million Iraqis, including 500,000 children.” He invokes the U.S. support for Israel for thousands of Palestinian deaths and the “paralysis of an entire people.”

But Makdisi conveniently overlooks the following: Iraq was invaded as a result of its own invasion of Kuwait; the sanctions were a U.N. action, the result of that invasion and a condition of the cease-fire; the misery of so many Iraqis and many deaths are directly attributable to Saddam Hussein’s skimming off funds for his own profit rather than for the benefit of the Iraqi population; the deaths of Palestinians are due not so much to our support of Israel than to Israel’s reaction to the unrelenting attacks by Palestinian terrorists who first began to target civilians.

Charles Vorsanger

Irvine

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Makdisi has eloquently and passionately stated the obvious. The “we” versus “them” mentality that creates “good” and “bad” countries, or “true Christians” versus “Islamic zealots” always serves to bring out the worst in both factions. To put it simply, what goes around, comes around.

Pamela Winter

Villa Park