In response to Bethany Arrand's Viewpoints opposing retaliation for the attacks on the US ("Don't Kill For Me", 9/25/01):
I would like to point out that the US has not declared war against Afghanistan, we are not "demanding that the Taliban abandon its own religious principles," and we are not all crying for a bloodbath.
Our government, along with many other countries, realizes that it would be futile to bomb Afghanistan and to just wage war against the entire country. It is not Afghanistan we are after - we are after the perpetrators of the attacks and have declared "war on terrorism." This will not be a war where we just bomb Afghanistan and throw our troops in there to kill innocent people.
This will be a long drawn-out secretive operation in which our CIA and FBI gather information on terrorists and stop them before any more extensive damage can be done. Maybe you don't care about being safe and protected and maybe you don't mind if your loved ones are killed by these terrorists, but I, like most people living in this country, do not want to live in fear for our lives. The US is not trying to flex its muscle; rather, our government is merely trying to protect its citizens. I'd also like to emphasize the point that this is not a religious war. I think that Afghanistan should keep that in mind as well. The US does promote freedom of religion and we are not trying to take away their freedom. The US, along with many other nations, just wants to see that justice is served and that nothing like this ever happens again.
Sae-Hee Williams
Faculty Assistant, Sociology and Anthropology Office
