AIRPORT SAFETY
Security burden now wrongly on passengers
I travel frequently to and from Europe, and it makes me very angry to think that utter failure on the part of the U.S. agencies allowed a terrorist to board a plane bound to the U.S. Now, passengers are subjected to even more searches. All this will not do much to keep us safer, but will add hours to our travel time. When I want to fly inside the U.S., I am forced to spend more time at the airport prior to flight time. The waiting at the airport often takes longer than the time the plane is in the air. Even the body scanner will not prevent a determined terrorist. Only better control of who is allowed on a plane will do that.
Had those in charge of Homeland Security done their job properly, none of this would be necessary. Instead, the burden is placed on the flying public. Nobody should be surprised if even fewer people fly, and fewer foreigners come to the U.S.
I will not wish to fly anywhere any time soon.
Lill-Karin Bryant, East Point
IMMIGRATION
Legal emigrees have only helped America
America followed an isolationist policy right into world war. Denial ain’t only a river in Egypt.
If a legal immigrant will accept lower wages, that is his or her prerogative. We stop that process, and the business that may be hiring fails. Legal immigrants did not cause the economic meltdown — nor are there any reports that legal immigrants get some kind of preferential employment. The issue is that unemployment is nondiscriminatory — it hits all legal prospective employees alike.
Bill Gates, and other high-tech employers, hire immigrants because they bring innovation to companies. Look at the U.S. Nobel winners in science and other categories: immigrants, or second-generation. And where would television be, without the Canadian immigrants?
America doesn’t need to stop legal immigration. It needs to encourage it.
Michael Kaplan, Atlanta
MIDDLE EAST
U.S. must focus on real problem: Israel
We recently learned that the Israeli government approved building more Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem (“Israel OKs building in East Jerusalem,” News, Jan. 6).
The media portrays this as a somewhat innocent act, but it means more Palestinian land will be confiscated to build more Jewish settlements — something that seems to never end.
The United States gives Israel billions in military and economic aid. Some of this money is used to build these illegal settlements, that only heighten tensions among Muslims. Anyone brave enough to criticize this practice is tarred and feathered with the label “anti-Semite.”
If the United States is really serious about winning this war on terrorism, the first step that they must take is to disregard this political correctness, and start to focus on the real problem: the state of Israel.
James J. David, Marietta
