The war on terror and the fighting at home

Re “Bush: ‘The War Is Not Over,’ ” Sept. 12

President Bush says that the war on terrorism will be won on the streets of Baghdad. Only Bush could make American prestige and safety dependent on young soldiers from Nebraska and Ohio settling disputes between feuding religious groups that have hated each other for centuries when we don’t even speak the language.

They don’t hate us because we have a democratic government. They hate us because we are foreigners shooting them in their own country. Here is a simple strategy for Bush after five years: Get Osama bin Laden or get out.

WAYNE BEHLENDORF

North Hollywood

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Bush’s speech was calculatingly clever, capitalizing on our nation’s vulnerability toward terror and utilizing this timely opportunity to rekindle the unity that engulfed our nation’s hearts and souls. Regardless of the decisions and choices his administration made to put us in harm’s way, Bush is right on one point: We need to proceed with the same unity we felt on Sept. 12, 2001.

KARA FRAZIER

Trabuco Canyon

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The president keeps proclaiming we are “at war” with a group that “hates our way of life.” Questions: Why are our borders still open? Why have we not raised car mileage standards? Why are our airplanes still vulnerable to missile attacks? Why are our ports still unprotected? Why are our armed forces stretched to the limit? The answer seems to be we lack the money for these protections. Next question: Why has Bush pushed for and gotten five tax cuts?

Final question: Are the only sacrifices we are asked to make for this “war” our freedoms and civil liberties?

MICHAEL OLSON

Pasadena

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Re “Danger Abides at L.A.’s Ports,” Sept. 11

Does the public have to know the amount of information given in your article? I believe terrorists stand to benefit more than loyal American readers from this report.

JOSEPH RIZZI

Valencia

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Re “Is the U.S. Winning This War?” Sept. 10

The headline made me realize something: It has been five years since the attacks on our country, and we have yet to move on with our lives. We are all reminiscing about the past event, Al Qaeda, the war on terror and so on.

In these last few years, nothing extreme has changed. We are still searching for Bin Laden, and we have learned to live with a lifestyle of racial profiling and being searched at security checkpoints before getting onto planes. People need to realize that this was in the past and move on with their lives. Start thinking about the future, your children and how they can change the world, not how to capture some supposed leader of a terrorist regime.

ALEX RAUCHAJR

Sherman Oaks