To the Editor:
This letter was prompted by a desire to express my thoughts about the Sept. 11 tragedy and its aftermath, as well as by the letters published in the Sept. 25th edition of your paper which advocate "fighting for peace" as the only reasonable American response to the attack. As a Russian-born Jew who became a U.S. citizen some 20 years ago, I am proud to fly the American flag. I see a lot more flags in my own town of Lebanon than in Hanover and that saddens me. I consider myself a political moderate, but believe that "fighting for peace" should not be our priority right now. This is not Vietnam and the murderers of thousands of innocent persons are not the kind of people one can reason with peacefully. They are evil -- pure and simple, just like the Nazis. Those who help them must be punished as well. Of course, the punishment should be inflicted in such a way as to minimize the suffering of innocent people. But if we conduct our response to this attack on the U.S. in a measured but firm manner, we may at least significantly reduce the risk of another one.
To do nothing or talk only of "peace" means encouraging further terrorism. I believe this is a time to stop being ashamed of patriotism and put off peace demonstrations for a while. If our "peaceniks" cannot control the urge to conduct them, I suggest they travel to New York and invite the relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11 disaster to their rally. It is just too easy to demonstrate on the Dartmouth Green -- one does not have to look into the eyes of those whose loved ones perished only three weeks ago.
