Collateral Damage

ATLANTA -- All wars have a way of creating collateral damage, as the desk-bound bureaucrats euphemistically call the dead innocents, destroyed buildings and decimated towns that just happen to be in the way of bombs and bullets. Kathryn Johnston was collateral damage in America's misguided "war on drugs." On Nov. 21, the 88-year-old woman was shot dead by Atlanta undercover police officers who crashed through her door after dark to execute a "no-knock" search warrant for illegal drugs.

I find John Franchy's letter on the subject of gun control astounding ("More restrictive gun laws are not the answer," Dec. 20). I put it in my category of letters to the editor which I call "We have met the enemy, and it is us. " Mr. Franchy tells us he and other Americans have the right to bear arms - of any kind, apparently - in order to protect him and us from overbearing government and by implication other Americans. He says nothing about owning firearms for hunting or target practice.

It is depressing that supporters of Second Amendment rights seldom if ever mention the frequent tragedies, such as the recent killing of the 13-year old girl in Baltimore. Because they do not mention them, one is left to assume they regard them simply as inevitable collateral damage not worthy of mention in discussions of gun control. R.L. Hall

It is depressing that supporters of Second Amendment rights seldom if ever mention the frequent tragedies, such as the recent killing of the 13-year old girl in Baltimore. Because they do not mention them, one is left to assume they regard them simply as inevitable collateral damage not worthy of mention in discussions of gun control. R.L. Hall

Contrary to advance protests, Collateral Damage doesn't libel Colombians. Instead, it trips over its own combat boots to portray the civilian population as innocent peasants caught between murderous drug-smuggling guerrillas and cold-blooded CIA operatives. In its own inept, heavy-breathing fashion, the movie deplores the collateral damage of America's own covert military misadventures. Indeed, it goes so far in this respect that a couple of wiseacres in a theater cheered for the Colombian kamikazes.

Thanks to Gilbert Sandler ("It still lives in Infamy," Dec. 7) for reminding us of some of the costs of war in his account of Baltimore after Pearl Harbor. What a contrast with today. Our leaders can carry on wars without affecting most of us one bit. No danger, no draft, no rationing, no tax increase, no blackouts. Only if we serve in the armed forces or have a family member there do we suffer anything. We do not even have to pay for the war - we can borrow to cover the cost. It is almost enjoyable and certainly exciting.

WASHINGTON -- Wars on crime have collateral damage, too.That was not the theme of Attorney General Janet Reno's speech to the National Press Club last week, but it might as well have been.In her strongest statement yet on the subject, Ms. Reno announced new steps to restore trust between police and minority communities. Among other moves, she planned to include questions about police behavior in the Department of Justice's annual Crime Victimization Survey. It would be the federal government's first national measure of how often police abuses occur.

A review in Wednesday's Today section of the BAUhouse exhibit "Collateral Damage: The Unseen Cost of Gun Violence" incorrectly attributed the quote, "All guns and armies must be dismantled." The quote should have been attributed to the work of Diego Marcial Rios.+ The Sun regrets the errors.It would be easy simply to praise "Collateral Damage: The Unseen Cost of Gun Violence" for its sincerity, its admirable intentions, and its sometimes moving messages. But it's more complicated than that.

Regarding the recent fight at Chesapeake High School ("How much force is too much?" Dec. 16), while it is unfortunate that some non-combatants suffered non-lethal inflammation and irritation, the fact of the matter is that they were in the vicinity, (and no doubt cheering on the fight) and suffered what is known in combat as collateral damage. Stay out of the combat zone and suffer no injuries. Regarding the altercation itself, what would you have the officer do when his lawful commands had been ignored multiple times and the combatant continued to willfully disobey to the point of escalating the conflict?

I find John Franchy's letter on the subject of gun control astounding ("More restrictive gun laws are not the answer," Dec. 20). I put it in my category of letters to the editor which I call "We have met the enemy, and it is us. " Mr. Franchy tells us he and other Americans have the right to bear arms - of any kind, apparently - in order to protect him and us from overbearing government and by implication other Americans. He says nothing about owning firearms for hunting or target practice.

"The Lakotah had no language for insulting other orders of existence: pest, waste, weed ... " But what about "bugsplat"? That's the word for the cop at UC Davis, walking up and down the line of students sitting with their arms locked, zapping them in the eyes with pepper spray. It's the word for the Tunisian police and bureaucrats who humiliated Mohamed Bouazizi and destroyed his livelihood as a street vendor. It's the word for anyone whose power exceeds his humanity.

Regarding the recent fight at Chesapeake High School ("How much force is too much?" Dec. 16), while it is unfortunate that some non-combatants suffered non-lethal inflammation and irritation, the fact of the matter is that they were in the vicinity, (and no doubt cheering on the fight) and suffered what is known in combat as collateral damage. Stay out of the combat zone and suffer no injuries. Regarding the altercation itself, what would you have the officer do when his lawful commands had been ignored multiple times and the combatant continued to willfully disobey to the point of escalating the conflict?

Thanks to Gilbert Sandler ("It still lives in Infamy," Dec. 7) for reminding us of some of the costs of war in his account of Baltimore after Pearl Harbor. What a contrast with today. Our leaders can carry on wars without affecting most of us one bit. No danger, no draft, no rationing, no tax increase, no blackouts. Only if we serve in the armed forces or have a family member there do we suffer anything. We do not even have to pay for the war - we can borrow to cover the cost. It is almost enjoyable and certainly exciting.

The United Nations Children's Fund estimates that 2 million children have died in wars in the past decade: Somalia, Afghanistan, Darfur, Colombia, Iraq, Congo. And today Israel and Hamas militants are battling. In southern Israel, scores of children have been terrorized by a barrage of Hamas rockets. In the Gaza Strip, children are dying. Of the nearly 700 killed there, more than 100 are children, according to published reports. Countless others have been injured. Thousands of children who have escaped injury are suffering from a lack of food, safe housing, clean water and medical care.

ATLANTA -- All wars have a way of creating collateral damage, as the desk-bound bureaucrats euphemistically call the dead innocents, destroyed buildings and decimated towns that just happen to be in the way of bombs and bullets. Kathryn Johnston was collateral damage in America's misguided "war on drugs." On Nov. 21, the 88-year-old woman was shot dead by Atlanta undercover police officers who crashed through her door after dark to execute a "no-knock" search warrant for illegal drugs.

It was, I believe, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts who first made the excellent, bitter and terribly unfair joke about Ronald Reagan: that he believed in a right to life that begins at conception and ends at birth. This joke has been adapted for use against various Republican politicians ever since. In the case of President Bush, though, it appears to be literally true. Mr. Bush, as we know, believes deeply and earnestly that human life begins at conception. Even tiny embryos composed of half a dozen microscopic cells, he thinks, have the same right to life as you and me. That is why he cannot bring himself to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, or even for other projects in labs where such research is going on. Even though these embryos are obtained from fertility clinics where they would otherwise be destroyed, and even though he appears to have no objection to the fertility clinics themselves, where these same embryos are manufactured and destroyed by the thousands, the much smaller number of embryos needed and destroyed in the process of developing cures for diseases such as Parkinson's (which I have)

Reality and Hollywood came a little too close to each other for comfort this past week, as attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon caused several studios to delay opening films that are either set in New York or have plots that hinge on terrorist acts. Touchstone's Big Trouble and Paramount Classics' Sidewalks of New York, both of which were scheduled to open Friday, had their release dates pushed back. A third film, Collateral Damage from Warner Bros., also has been postponed.

"The Lakotah had no language for insulting other orders of existence: pest, waste, weed ... " But what about "bugsplat"? That's the word for the cop at UC Davis, walking up and down the line of students sitting with their arms locked, zapping them in the eyes with pepper spray. It's the word for the Tunisian police and bureaucrats who humiliated Mohamed Bouazizi and destroyed his livelihood as a street vendor. It's the word for anyone whose power exceeds his humanity.

To bring readers the words of those directly affected by the conflict in the Middle East, The Sun is presenting a series of brief essays, in this case by people writing from Lebanon. In coming days, this page will present the voices of people in Israel and elsewhere. Mayssam Zaaroura is an editor at the Daily Star, Lebanon's English-language newspaper. The ruin of a nation can only herald the rise of a better one. This is what I keep telling myself as I watch my once-beautiful country fall.