Antiwar Movement Hits College Campuses

Some college students are starting an antiwar movement (“On Campus, Rumblings of Peace,” Sept. 21). My 18-year-old son just started college this month. The last thing I want is to see him going off to war. As a student, I protested the war in Vietnam. I was clubbed, tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed. Friends went to jail, Canada, underground. At sit-ins, demonstrations and marches we argued that the war was not justified. Why should we go to the other side of the world to kill and be killed? “It’s not like they’ve breached our borders. Or are trying to change our way of life,” we cried. “It’s not like they’ve bombed New York City.”

Oh, how I wish my son could say that.

Russell Kussman

Pacific Palisades

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How very fortunate that the new wave of protesters, including some genuinely well-intentioned individuals, can soon forget the mass murder at New York’s twin towers. Would their “peace-loving” resolve waver if the hatred had been aimed at their ivory towers of academe?

James Gates

Pacoima

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Wesleyan University student Sarah Norr, who organized a peace demonstration, worried that the terrorist attack on the U.S. will “turn into an excuse to have a war and kill more people.” The cold-blooded murder of more than 6,000 innocent people is hardly “an excuse.” Wake up, girl: There are worse things than war, and living in fear of events such as we all witnessed on Sept. 11 is one of them.

Chris R. Westphal

Ojai

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Re “Berkeley’s Removal of U.S. Flags from Firetrucks Sparks Outrage,” Sept. 21: As a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, I am saddened, disappointed and embarrassed to read of the bickering about placing American flags on city firetrucks. There will always be anti-something rallies at UC Berkeley. That’s what happens there. City administrators in Berkeley need to watch President Bush and stand up to demonstrators.

Susan Leslie Smith

San Gabriel

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Berkeley’s removal of U.S. flags from firetrucks is nothing more than giving in to a form of terrorism by a small group of Americans. Backing down to such a group is giving up our rights, not protecting them.

Frank A. Hoffman

Laguna Beach

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The world has changed. We are no longer an invincible superpower. We’re an equal now. We’re as vulnerable to bombs and destruction as everyone else. We can’t swagger around anymore, we need to compromise.

We are getting into another Vietnam War now, but worse. We could bomb Vietnam as much as we wanted, but we were perfectly safe. This is, in macrocosm, the Israel versus Palestine fight. We will fight terrorists with bombs and high technology. They, having nothing but desperation and a willingness to die, will fight minor actions and drive us crazy, just like the Palestinians are driving the Israelis crazy. I hope for peace and common sense.

Grace W. Tiessen

Pasadena

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It is becoming more and more obvious that Osama bin Laden and his Taliban supporters want us to invade Afghanistan, thereby triggering a worldwide jihad and Islamic revolution. Bin Laden’s role is to serve as the willing bait in the fool’s trap they have set for us.

Philip Walker

Santa Barbara

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The peace movement in response to impending retaliation for terrorist acts is disturbing. It essentially says, the people who died on the planes, at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon can be forgotten. Their lives are not worth the risk. This loss is acceptable.

I did not believe the validity of the concerns of those who feared for America’s determination to expunge terrorism. I do now. I cannot forget or forgo seeking justice. I hope the peace movement will realize that rolling over is not acceptable.

John Gee

Monterey Park