Let’s find less destructive way to fight ISIS
We will soon announce that we have driven ISIS out of some village that they had previously occupied. The residents will then, with great anticipation, return to their village. But what they will find is only a pile of rubble. Most of the buildings will have been destroyed by our forces. That “victory” is nothing for us to be proud of.
The United States military should devote some of its enormous resources, technology, and brainpower to finding a way to defeat an enemy without the current typical major destruction of buildings. Surely, new technology will offer a path forward in this effort. For example, the use of swarms of small drones, each targeting an individual soldier, might potentially be an effective tactic. This should be an important focus of our research, but I never read about any efforts in this direction.
BILL WHITLOW, AUBURN
Bill banning veil not ‘un-American’
Soumaya Khalifa, founder of the Islamic Speakers Bureau, says that a bill introduced into the Georgia Legislature — and subsequently withdrawn — banning wearing of face covering in public is “un-American.” (“Lawmaker Withdraws bill banning veil….”, News, Nov. 27.) Khalifa misunderstands American culture. Covering a woman’s face is of a completely different cultural tradition. Americans do not cover their face in public. We do not subjugate women. We are an open society. Face-covering shows a rejection of our culture and a desire to remain unassimilated. If you want to be an American, whether you were born here or are an immigrant, you must adopt our culture, history and values. That goes for all who would come here to live.
EDWARD WATKINS, LILBURN
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