No sympathy for suicide bombers

IT’S been a long time since I’ve read such pernicious nonsense as that written by Kenneth Turan in his review of “Paradise Now” [“A Walk in the Steps of Suicide Bombers,” Oct. 28], which attempts to put a human face on the inhuman act of terrorism.

Turan would foolishly have us believe that only by understanding the humanity of terrorists can we have a chance of stopping them, as though a plea to their humanity would deflect their mass-murderous plans. In such twisted and trite phrases as “the price paid for the humiliation of cultural dehumanization,” Turan would have us sympathize and empathize with those who blow up innocent children, under the guise of seeking a meaningful death.

And Turan believes it is a virtue of the film that it is even-handed and does not take sides between the killers and the victims. This is the morality and logic of idiots who have lost their moral sense and who cannot choose between good and evil since they don’t know the difference.

CARL PEARLSTON

Torrance