Letters to the Editor

A moderate and important voice for peace

Your editorial “Inept or Ignorant” in Wednesday’s Times was factually confused and politically shortsighted. In December, along with two colleagues from other departments, I attended the annual Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) convention here in Long Beach, Calif., which you describe in your editorial. Your account of that convention distorts the facts, and your description of MPAC is severely misleading. First, you failed to mention that Sen. John Kerry was only one of several candidates who addressed the convention through a satellite audio feed. More egregiously, you omitted the inconvenient fact that representatives from the Bush administration also attended and addressed the conference, including a spokesperson for the Iraq Provisional Authority.

As both its strong record and its public esteem here in Southern California attest, MPAC is not an extremist group by any measure, but rather a moderate and important voice for peacemaking and conflict resolution among the various American communities of Middle Eastern origin.

Most of the attendees I saw at the meeting would not have looked out of place at an Elks lodge. Your characterization of MPAC’s director, Salam Al-Marayati, is even more misleading. Mr. Al-Marayati is a highly respected voice not only for tolerance, respect and justice for American Muslims, but for peace and reconciliation in the Middle East as well. He has always opposed terrorism, and the remarks you attribute to him are misquoted and taken out of context. Please direct your readers to the MPACWebsiteat www.mpac.org for a more balanced and truthful representation of the views of this fine organization.

LARRY N. GEORGE

Professor of political science

California State University at Long Beach

Long Beach, Calif

A battle between civilizations

Arnaud de Borchgrave’s Commentary column “Islamist fifth columns” (Thursday) is excellent. Although the topic has been of critical importance for years, only recently has it begun to be brought to the attention of the general public. I commend both the author and the newspaper for being among the first to act in this regard. Please continue to publish on the general topic of Islam’s inroads against Western civilization.

As noted by Mr. de Borchgrave, major inroads already have occurred in the United States and throughout the Western world. In the United States, the general public generally has been unaware of this. After all, our own State Department has been a pro-Arab fifth column for decades, and President Bush lies to us by saying that “Islam is a religion of peace.” Of course our citizens do not sense much of a threat.

The deadly reality that drives all this was stated quite succinctly by professor Moshe Sharon in his essay “The Agenda of Islam — A War Between Civilizations.” He states, “Islam was born with the idea that it should rule the world,” which is sobering and correct. For the non-Muslim, this is the essence of Islam and the essence of the Koran.

DAVID BRENNER

Rockville

A dream for the future

Participants in National People’s Action’s (NPA) annual Neighborhoods Conference went to the home of President Bush’s Senior Policy Adviser Karl Rove to ask for the White House’s support of the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Various commentators, most of them partisan and none of them present at the event, have rendered highly embellished, untrue accounts of the visit, making it sound quite unlike the peaceful, constructive exercise of free speech that it was (“The grievance-mongers”by Michelle Malkin, Commentary, April 2, and “Nobles and Knaves,” Editorial, April 3).

The DREAM Act is important to America, which is a nation proud of its immigrant heritage. The DREAM Act would give graduating high-school seniors who were brought to this country as children a chance to legalize their status by removing barriers from federal law that prevent states from offering in-state tuition to them. It is estimated that the bill would assist 50,000 to 65,000 students each year. The bill was overwhelmingly passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support, but it needs the support of the White House to move it forward to a full Senate vote.

Unlike what was inaccurately portrayed in commentaries, NPA prides itself on its discipline and obedience to civil authorities. We stood where the police and the Secret Service told us to stand. There was chanting and singing. We sang “America the Beautiful” because it reflects our love for our country and our earnest desire to fight to make it a better place for all. We became quiet upon command from the leadership team negotiating with Mr. Rove.

NPA is a nonpartisan, 33-year-old coalition of community-based organizations. NPA’s leaders come from all walks of life: We are parents and grandparents, teachers, farmers, ministers and students. We work to improve the housing, schools and city services in our neighborhoods and to eliminate predatory lenders and other scam artists taking advantage of our neighbors. Does this make us sound like “left-wing extremists” or “nuts”?

As NPA, we have made “house calls” to the homes of Democrats and Republicans, one of NPA’s many tactics to get government and corporate officials to the table. NPA has met with former and current Federal Reserve Board Chairmen PaulVolckerandAlan Greenspan and former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretaries Andrew Cuomo, Mel Martinez, Jack Kemp and Henry Cisneros. It’s a shame after all these years that Washington insiders still insist that they have all the answers and refuse to listen to the cries of our nation’s communities. The message for Mr. Rove is to stop hiding behind the commentators and columnists and meet with NPA.

INEZ KILLINGSWORTH, BRENDA LABLANC AND EMIRA PALACIOS

Co-chairwomen

National People’s Action

Chicago

The greater resolve …

One can only imagine the criticism that would have been directed at President Bush had he muscled his way into Afghanistan before September 11 to do to Osama bin Laden what he has done to Saddam Hussein. Any pre-emptive military action against al Qaeda would have been met with the same outcry from the left that Mr. Bush is getting for moving on Iraq. I can just hear Sen. John Kerry criticizing the president for using military force when an international tribunal could better handle bin Laden’s criminal conduct. I can see Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in the well of the Senate rambling on about body bags and Vietnam, while Sen. Robert Byrd, well, just rambles.

As National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said in her recent testimony before the September 11 commission (“’No silver bullet’ that could have prevented 9/11, Rice testifies,” Nation, Friday), we have been in a war with terrorism for more than 20 years, but until now, only one side has been doing any fighting. With events in Iraq reaching a boiling point, the war on terrorism will be won by the side with the greater resolve. One dog in this fight has members willing to strap on explosives and blast themselves into the arms of waiting virgins. The other side is hopelessly divided. When every decision the president makes is challenged and attacked by the other party for selfish political gain, forgive me if I’m not bubbling over with optimism about our future.

THOMAS M. BEATTIE

Mount Vernon