Don’t let tragedy turn us toward war

I believe it would be a mistake to turn this national tragedy into a war, which will only lead to the deaths of innocent people and create even more tragedy. Those of us who oppose getting the U.S. involved in a war against terrorism, which could last quite a while and cost many lives, must show that we do not support it. I am not justifying what happened, I think it is a very grave tragedy for all the family, friends and co-workers who died.

Osama bin Laden was actually trained by the CIA, when the former USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979, to work with this U.S. to get the USSR out of Afghanistan. After that Osama bin Laden began to use the training he received against the U.S. The U.S. over the years has used these same tactics against other countries, Nicaragua, Chile, El Salvador and East Timor, just to name a few. We must not let President Bush turn this tragedy into a war which will cost more lives and create a vicious cycle of retaliation against the U.S.

I also hope that people will realize that the racist scapegoating of Arab-Americans is a mistake as well. These people and the places where they worship must be protected. They are U.S. citizens and they feel the pain of this tragedy as much as the rest of us. So, please unite with them, don’t attack and scapegoat them because they are Arabs. Not all Arabs are terrorists.

Lynnwood