Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘Islam’s Anschluss’
Re: “Islam’s Anschluss,” Adina Kutnicki, Letters, July 13, 2005. The correspondent who believes “there were many European ‘elites’ who woke up with an uncomfortable burning in their guts” is charitable to the point of delusion. Europe has not woken up to terrorism, for facing facts is not Europe’s style. Two or three years ago, the European Union’s careful study of rising anti-Semitism put responsibility squarely on ranting Islam, but that was too embarrassing to admit, so the EU immediately suppressed its own report. Now the BBC, by editing reporters’ references to “terrorists” out of its coverage of the London bombings in favor of “bombers,” is deliberately falsifying its own history. (Didn’t Orwell warn us about this?) The BBC’s excuse that “the word ‘terrorist’ itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding” is no excuse at all. “Bomber” is the barrier here. “Bombers set off bombs” would be blue-penciled in any Journalism 101 class for saying and meaning nothing.
BILL MARSANO
Manhattan
London’s Blitzkrieg
Re: “London’s Terrorist Blitzkrieg,” Cal Thomas, Opinion, July 11, 2005. Cal Thomas’s prescription for combating Islamic terrorism by threatening Muslim leaders is breathtakingly naive and utterly unproductive. He believes that by issuing an ultimatum to the Muslim leaders of Britain the problem can be solved in one stroke. The reality is that British mosques, including the notorious Finsbury Park mosque, have already begun cleaning up their act by evicting preachers who spew vitriol. The harsh truth is that the terror factories lie not in Britain but in Pakistan.
President Bush’s idea of spreading democracy in the Middle East offers the best solution to an existential problem that does not have an immediate solution. By eventually touching bastions of extremism in Saudi Arabia and parts of Pakistan, stakeholders in society there are most likely to thwart the agenda of the nihilists. It is obviously a long road to get to that goal and, in the interim, the civilized world may well face future 7/7s if not 9/11s.That, however, does not justify the radical solutions espoused by Mr. Thomas.
VIJAY DANDAPANI
Manhattan
‘The Original Sun’
I have had a look at your online newspaper, and I like the layout and the quick navigation. My great-uncle, Chester Sanders Lord, was a managing editor in the days when the original Sun was launched. Please have a look at Sartma.com and Falkland-News.com. I have taken up my great-uncle’s profession.
Please keep it up.
J. BROCK
South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association and The Falkland Islands News Network
Manhattan
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