Hamas Regarded Too Kindly

In reference to Michael Rips’s contention that the case against the murderers of David Boim should have been thrown out [“John Doe vs. Al Qaeda,” Opinion, January 11, 2005]:

Mr. Rips quotes that the act rules out “armed conflict between military forces.” In Boim’s case, we have one military force – Hamas – which intentionally targets unarmed civilians, especially women and children. Should the cold-blooded murder of a schoolboy at a bus stop by a “military” force that specializes in just such murders (and the murders of babies in strollers and children in bed and at their kitchen table) be disqualified as terrorism because this same “militia” also, now and then, shoots at soldiers?

JUDITH FRIEDMAN
Brooklyn

Foreign Government Meddling

Re: “Long-Awaited Document for the Undocumented,” Daniela Gerson, New York, January 19, 2005. This article summarizes a growing problem that is simply too outrageous for any of us to ignore.

Whatever one thinks of immigrants – illegal or legal – and I am quite willing to express my own admiration for these risk taking, hard-working people – shouldn’t we be offended by the notion that our federal government and many local governments are allowing foreign governments to provide ID cards to their citizens residing here illegally, which can be used to obtain services that make it easier for them to stay here?

Isn’t this an infringement of American sovereignty and the federal government’s right and responsibility to determine who shall receive legal residency and the benefits that derive from it? And why are our federal and state governments collaborating in this outrage? Their duty is to enforce immigration laws, not help illegal aliens to evade them. They should tell these foreign governments, as well as our banking institutions and airlines, that these cards do not qualify as legal identification in America.

Can one imagine if the American government decided to issue ID cards to American citizens living illegally in foreign countries? The hue and cry from those countries would be deafening, and rightly so. Fortunately, Governor Pataki has refused to accept these ID cards, but who on the federal level will stand up and say that it is America that will decide who is a legal resident, not Mexico, Colombia, Chile, the Philippines, Citibank, or the airlines?

JOHN KRIEGER
Manhattan

U.N. Tower Location Unwise

I just read an article regarding the proposed new site of the U.N. tower [“New U.N. Tower Could Sit Atop Another Target,” Meghan Clyne, Page 1, January 19, 2005]. The U.N. has always been a target for terrorism and has been the scene of at least one known terrorist attack. To build it atop the Midtown Tunnel is sheer lunacy. It would be like holding a red flag in front of a bull. As a person who was born and bred in New York City, I am well aware of the land layout and the possible consequences of this decision.

It is foolhardy and the powers that be should quash it.

CAROL A. ROTH
San Antonio, Fla.

Social Security Mishandled

Statements made that young workers are paying the Social Security moneys for retirees is completely false [“Politicians Who Look Forward,” Michael Barone, Opinion, January 17, 2005]. Retired workers have been paying for their own Social Security over the many years they have been working hard. They entrusted their savings to the government until they were eligible and entitled to collect it with interest. It is absolutely their own hard-earned money.

The problem has been created by two facts:

1) President Roosevelt had omitted the fine print that the Social Security moneys must not be used for any other purpose, and so it has been used for other projects.

2) Social Security funds are paid out to the many uneligibles who have come to our shores and who have never worked here. Thus, these people are collecting money not theirs and that was never meant for them.

Had those handling this money responsibly secured it for the future retirees whose money they were supposed to guard, the existing problems would never have arisen.

CHARLOTTE WAHLE
Manhattan

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