Letters

McVeigh Should Die
To The Editor:

I would remind those Catholic Bishops and others who are opposed to the death penalty and executing that fiend McVeigh to look to your bible and read the passages that condone killing: Genesis 9:5-6; Leviticus 20:10-13; Exodus 21:12; Romans 1:29-30 and countless others.

Yes, you believe that we are made in the image of God and that all life is sacred. Genesis refers to only human beings, not mutants like McVeigh or the lowly animal. So when someone cold-bloodedly ends a life, he's chosen to leave the human family and is no longer a member. He has automatically forfeited his life for having taken another and the state is the vehicle by which he will be disposed. Legally and justly the fiend will never harm another human being again.

Men and women of the cloth, if the Devil isn't human, whose sole purpose is create discord and evil, then neither is the life of McVeigh. If you deplore the Devil and everything he stands for, you should have no qualms about destroying one of its disciples.

Sincerely,

John Carno

Astoria

McVeigh Should Live

To The Editor:

I have just finished reading your editorial of May 16, in which you attempt to justify the execution of Timothy McVeigh, and I find the ideas expressed in it to be objectionable at best, and morally reprehensible at worst.

It is true that McVeigh called the children who were victims "collateral damage," but this is not a term that he coined. He learned this term while he served in the United States Army, probably during his training for service in the Persian Gulf. The term comes out of "just war theory," and basically states that while civilians are not to be deliberately targeted, some loss of civilian life may be unavoidable when military targets are attacked. General Norman Schwarzkopf used the term when talking about civilians who were killed during precision bombing raids in Iraq during the war in which McVeigh served. By calling these children "collateral damage," McVeigh is, in effect, acknowledging that they were not military targets. How much better than the actions of Captain Ernest Medina and Lieutenant William Calley in the hamlet of My Lai 4 in Vietnam, or those of the soldiers at No Gun Ri in Korea. In both of these instances, the aged, women and children who were killed were considered not "collateral damage," but primary targets? And yet, you dehumanize McVeigh for his use of the term. Perhaps it is not he who lacks "that indefinable quality that lets a person consider him- or herself a human being." Perhaps it is those who cry out in bloodlust for revenge, those who believe that vengeance is equivalent to justice who lack that "indefinable quality." Or is it that you believe his use of the term "collateral damage" proves that he is not compassionate, and is somehow sub-human? Does this make him worthy of death? If so, don’t then all who cry out for his death show the same lack of compassion, and are, therefore, equally sub-human? Do they deserve death?

To argue that McVeigh deserves to die in order to "demonstrate that we value and respect the lives of the men, women and children killed and wounded" is to say that their lives combined were of equal worth to that of the demented and hateful individual who committed this abhorrent act. How sad a legacy. Would it not be a much more powerful demonstration to say "out of respect for those whom you killed, we will not seek vengeance, but will instead let you live. Their lives were too precious to be taken, yours is as well."

Finally, to say that the murder of McVeigh will prevent him from ever bombing another building is not an argument for executing him, but merely a justification for doing so. Life in prison without possibility of parole will insure just as effectively that he never commits another act as despicable as the bombing.

All of this is not to say that McVeigh does not deserve severe punishment for his heinous and cowardly act, for I believe that he does. Life imprisonment, isolated from the general prison population, and with no privileges linking him to the outside world would be quite an effective way to punish McVeigh. With few, if any, distractions, he would have to live with the memory of his crime, and would have many years to perhaps come to an understanding of what he did, and might even come to feel remorse over it. By taking his life, we remove any possibility that McVeigh will ever come to the realization that what he did was unconscionable, thereby eliminating any true justice. For what would be better for the victims and the families than to hear him say "I’m sorry, please forgive me." And for that we could all be truly thankful.

Sincerely,

Christopher Caruana

Astoria

Fly The Flag To The Editor:

As we all participate in parades, events and family gatherings during the Memorial Day weekend, let us remember those who served our country. Our freedom was won by the sacrifice of men and women who fought, were wounded and gave their lives so that we can be free. Flying the flag is our way of saying we haven't forgotten their sacrifice. Fly the flag this Memorial Day.

Sincerely.

Tony Avella

Whitestone

Memorial Day Origins

To The Editor:

The two battlefield foes came together under a white flag of truce at an obscure village named Appomattox Court House –one to surrender, the other to accept his surrender. The victor, sensing his adversary's anguish and subjugation, tried to put him at ease in pleasant conversation. But the vanquished, devastated and humiliated in defeat and wishing to end his ordeal as quickly as possible, rebuffed his attempt. They sat down to discuss the terms of surrender. After a period of intense negotiating an accord was reached and set to paper. Affixing their signatures to the covenant of peace the former enemies, now reunited as comrades in arms, shook hands to solemnize their fait accompli. Their mission completed, the two bearded supreme commanders wished each other well and took their departures. On that Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, the Civil War came to an end.

From those soldiers who "gave the last full measure of devotion" in that horrendous conflict we were bequeathed Memorial Day.

Hyman Auslander

Flushing

Where’s The Flag?

To The Editor:

As a former WWII veteran, I am compelled to inform all Americans of a situation quite revolting which exists at a house of worship in Flushing, Queens. I will not relate their name, as they well know who they are. The congregation insists that they display an American flag with their own, but they flatly refuse; their explanation that showing the colors may be offensive. To whom, may I ask? Over 406,000 WWII vets fought, died and spilled blood for our flag. What is the problem? Every other facility displays Old Glory. This organization is located in the vicinity of Utopia Parkway. What has happened to the true values of the history of this nation? We re losing our hard-fought prospectives and traditions.

Walter Orlowski

Flushing