Despicable attack will unite this nation

Watch this great country pull together, just as it did after Pearl Harbor was attacked 60 years ago. Politics is over. We are one country, united in our determination to capture the despicable perpetrators who attacks the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

This day of infamy, Sept. 11, 2001 will also go down in history as did Dec. 7, 1941.

Capt. Skip Crawford
U.S. Navy, Retired

Harsh steps against enemies are needed

It would be helpful, in this hour of tragedy, if the politicians of Hawaii would abandon their hand-wringing and political correctness just long enough to deal with terrorism directed against this nation by taking these initial steps:

1. Arrest and deport all illegal aliens.

2. Suspend the passports of, and deport, anyone whose loyalties are with our enemies.

3. Treat the American Civil Liberties Union and its like as the enemies of Christian civilization that they are.

4. Stop whining about "innocent" Afghan and Palestinian lives and worry, for once, about truly innocent American lives.

5. Bomb Kabul, Khartoum and Baghdad until not one stone is left on another. (I would say "Bomb them back to the Dark Ages," but their "culture" is so barbaric, that would be an insult to the societies of the Dark Ages.)

William Sink

Our leaders need to stiffen backbones

For the past 10 years we have had military bases attacked and hundreds killed. We have had our ships attacked and our kids killed. We now have perhaps thousands killed in the New York World Trade Center.

From Desert Storm to the attacks on Libya, all of the leaders of these terrorists groups are still alive and in power. Only a couple of people have been put in jail for their supposed participation.

President Bush just said that we must stand together and show the world what we are made of. Unfortunately, they know what we are made of: blood flowing from open wounds, limbs torn off and crushed and leaders who will compromise rather than deal with the actual problems.

How is it that everyone in the world knows we are at war with these bastards except our elected officials who would rather be found in the beds of interns than deal with the problems they are getting paid to deal with? Col. Ollie North, where are you when we need you?

Arnold Van Fossen

[Quotables] "Obviously Waikiki is a potential target for an international terrorist. We've beefed up our security forces there as well as security around government buildings and of course around utilities, water supply and the things you would expect as potential targets." Jeremy Harris Honolulu mayor, on the city's reaction to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. "This isn't a time for a vacation; this is a time for mourning. It's not about me; it's about the world." Ron Sloan Kula, Maui resident whose trip to Indonesia was halted by the closure of the Honolulu International Airport in the wake of terrorist attacks on the mainland.

Residents can do their part -- give blood

Yesterday's devastating terrorist attacks on American cities are a heart-breaking and irreconcilable tragedy. It appears that thousands may have perished, thousands more injured critically, and additional scores permanently maimed by physical, mental and emotional trauma. Our prayers go out to the innocent victims, their families and our country during this terrible time of great sadness and loss.

We may not discover for some time the identity of those responsible for this horrendous evil or the reason that prompted such appallingly fiendish acts. It may also be that related diabolical attacks have yet to unfold.

Nonetheless, we cannot let these actions drive us to recoil in fear. Nor can we allow them to best our good sense with rash reactions that usurp our system of justice or compromise our steady resolve to protect our own.

President Bush is right. This was not merely a strike against the United States: Freedom itself has been attacked. But freedom will endure; it will endure in our resolve to courageously face and overcome this awful challenge.

On a personal level and for all who are physically able, a small but significant step we can take to reaffirm our resolve and to help ease the suffering is to donate blood to the Hawaii Blood Bank at 2043 Dillingham Blvd. or 126 Queen St.

Rep. Joe Gomes
R-51st District (Waimanalo, Keolu Hills, Lanikai, Enchanted Lake, Kailua)

Other news now seems so trivial

All of a sudden the Honolulu police officers eating ill-gotten gourmet food is not an issue anymore. Times of peace made us nitpick on everything. Reality has set in and World War III has begun.

Enjoy each day as though it's your last.

Jim Rosen

Americans' lives will be altered after attack

The terrorists didn't need to "think" about how or what to do; all they had to do was go to the movies or watch television.

It's not as if the United States got any warnings. Can you count how many hijackings there have been worldwide before Sept. 11, 2001?

What part of your current lifestyle has or is of benefit to your community, state, country and nation? Are you going to just talk about this disaster or are you going to make changes in your life?

Carolyn H. Walther

Mayor Kim was right to cancel school

In view of yesterday's tragedy, Mayor Harry Kim was correct to cancel school here on the Big Island. As a teacher and one who remembers the very class I was in when President Kennedy was assassinated (Mr. Dozois' French class), I can tell you that I am grateful that the kids weren't in school yesterday.

If they had been here, the teachers at our school wouldn't have had the meeting that we had to reconfirm our procedures in the event of emergencies. We would have gotten no teaching done. Kids would have been in a daze.

As it is, I bet that for the rest of the week students will be glued to CNN and writing reflective journals. This is the time to be home with family.

Gov. Ben Cayetano could take a few lessons here. Mahalo to Harry and his foresight.

Julianne Cross
Hilo, Hawaii

Don't be taken in by persecution rhetoric

The TV images of the horrible events in Washington and New York, that were seemingly meticulously planned, played like our worst nightmares.

As I sat in class at the University of Hawaii watching the live reports from New York, the critics among my classmates came up with reasons why the United States should not "hunt down" those responsible for the cowardly actions of what some were calling the "martyrs."

These comments show the insensitivity of so many college students in the name of "critical analysis." How do I say this?.....PUULLLEEZZZ!

With events such as occurred yesterday, taking the lives of thousands of innocent people, President Bush and Congress cannot be blinded by similar rhetoric that will be ringing in their ears -- the rhetoric that goes, "this is what happens during war, therefore we cannot, should not and must not lower our standards."

This country must stand firm in defense of its people by taking a stronger stance against terrorism. We do not need any more anti-war rhetoric; war has already been declared on us. We need to defend and seek justice for those who have been affected by these crimes: US!

Michael S. Meli
Student, UH-Manoa

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