Time to restore civil liberties lost in war on terror

Praise for commentary writer Jonathan Turley and his piece "The demon is dead; so are many of our rights" (The Forum, Tuesday). Unfortunately, his message was on Page 11A and not the front page of the paper.

We have indeed lost many basic civil liberties in our beloved nation since 9/11. I am ecstatic that we gave justice to a criminal who encouraged the end of some of our civil liberties and American way of life, which are the envy of societies around the world.

Our next priority should be bringing to justice our own politicians here at home who played into Osama bin Laden's hands and gave bin Laden exactly what he wanted. Until our civil liberties are restored for future generations, our celebration of this weekend's events in Pakistan is sadly muted.

Charlie Cruce; Detroit

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Reconsider aid to Pakistan

USA TODAY's editorial "SEALs 1, al-Qaeda 0" on Tuesday stated that the U.S. has been paying the Pakistani government $1 billion a year to help with counterterrorism operations. That's $1 billion that we aren't going to be paying anymore, right?

And, while we're at it, why don't we look at the rest of the aid to Pakistan. Review it now  not a year from now, or two years from now.

Congress should be all over this! Deficit reduction.

Nancy Creech; Sylvania, Ohio

Honor soldiers' actions

Carie Lemack may not celebrate Osama bin Laden's death, but does she endorse it? Does she honor the efforts of those who accomplished it ("His death does not bring me closure," The Forum, Tuesday)?

Persuading people to renounce violence is a lovely idea and certainly the goal in the long run. However, those servicemembers who stormed Osama bin Laden's compound and assassinated him did more for the cause of world peace than all of the outreach programs and peace conferences in the past 10 years combined.

It is not enough to ambiguously accept the benefits of others' courage and decisiveness while maintaining one's superior non-violent stance. True humility and wisdom demand we also gratefully honor and, yes, celebrate the actions of the brave soldiers on the front lines in the wars against evil, hatred and intolerance.

Michael Burke; New York City

The writer's brother, Capt. William F. Burke Jr., of Engine Company 21, died at the World Trade Center.

Respect for Islamic burial rites

For all skeptics who question the burial of Osama bin Laden at sea, let us not forget that we are not and have never been at war with Muslims and their Islamic faith but rather with the evil mastermind and his fanatical vision ("Questions emerge over burial at sea, DNA proof," News, Tuesday).

The U.S. government chose to respect the Islamic rites of burial. Why are we questioning our government's actions of respect?

Does this country really need to see photos of the body to believe it was actually Osama bin Laden's? And where exactly would have been a more appropriate location of burial?

Jennifer Edmonds; Fort Collins, Colo.

Gloating over killing won't help

It is sad there are murderous people in the world, and sad America has made enemies of so many of them. I imagine our gloating over the killing of Osama bin Laden will worsen the enmity between "us and them." It won't help us spiritually, either, to take joy in the death of another human being, even for justice's sake.

David Sizemore; Pine Bluff, Ark.