To The Editor:
For the past couple of weeks, I, like many other New Yorkers, have lived in shock, horror and fear that something so heinous could happen to my city and country. But, it was only until reading the opinion pieces in the Dartmouth over the past couple of days that I personally began to grapple with any thought of retribution towards the terrorists.
I cannot agree with the authors of the recent articles calling for a peaceful approach to our response. Our generation has been plagued by the worst kind of cynicism imaginable. Acts of retribution are so easy to denounce from afar, especially from a place as idyllic and isolated as Dartmouth. I understand the fears about how our country could abuse its power and, as a history major, I know there are examples in the past when the United States has done just that.
But do you have any idea how careful the government has been in retaliating against these attacks? It has been two weeks since the bombings and there hasn't been a single display of war from our side, and innocent Afghan civilians are not being killed. No magical attack button was pressed in haste.
The United States must think long and hard about what we have done to elicit such a feeling of hatred from these terrorists. But by allowing the people who have committed these crimes to go unpunished, we are only inviting further attacks against our country and its citizens.
