Shocked by views and tactics

Re “Break out the shock and awe,” Opinion, March 9

I don’t know what’s more frightening about Michael Scheuer’s Op-Ed article: the fact that he thinks the U.S. can fight and win the war on terrorism only through genocide and torture, or that he had 22 years in the CIA with which to put his fascistic ideas into practice. As I read his article, I kept wondering how many innocent civilians he’s willing to kill in the name of getting the terrorists. Thousands? Millions? I don’t want to live in a country that has made so many enemies that it can only defend itself with Scheuer’s tactics.

His blithe dismissal of the goodwill of the rest of the world reminds me of Randy Newman’s song about nuclear war: “They all hate us anyhow. So let’s drop the big one now.” But at least Newman meant it as a joke.

Mark Gabrish Conlan

San Diego

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Scheuer divides the world into good people (us) and bad people (Muslims, almost all of whom are our enemies). He seems to feel it is OK to bomb all of our so-called enemies indiscriminately, including women and children, causing untold misery in terms of the wounded and dead and the tragic destruction of entire cities. He also seems to feel that rendition and torture, which are contrary to everything America supposedly stands for, are acceptable.

Aside from the shocking immorality of Scheuer’s views, they don’t work. Massive bombing didn’t work in Vietnam; it hasn’t worked for the Israelis in Lebanon; it isn’t going to work in Iraq or Afghanistan. We must get out of this mind-set: that American military might can solve the problems of the world. It can only exacerbate them. We must strengthen the United Nations, cooperate with other nations to deal with terrorism and aggression, and begin negotiations to eliminate nuclear bombs worldwide.

Ann Edelman

Los Angeles

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It is hard to choose which of Scheuer’s complaints about the lack of massive indiscriminate warfare is most disturbing: That Europeans are unreasonably angered by “death and destruction”? Or the maddening dilemma of civilians who are “not being wiped out”?

Scheuer may be right in arguing that “small, light and fast” operations can’t win this war. But does that mean that massive warfare works? Should we pursue genocide in self-defense? Drop the bomb and kill anyone who might turn against us in anger over the atrocities they witnessed? Were the Vietnamese shocked and awed into submission? Has this worked anywhere else in the past? If yes, would we want to follow those examples? I hope Scheuer is no longer in charge of anything. Who knows what buttons he might press in his frustration.

Volker Janssen

Fullerton

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So, in a nutshell, we’ve already lost their hearts and minds, so let’s kill them all. I think we’ve lost our hearts and minds.

Douglas Bland

Los Angeles