Letters: Making case for religious profiling

STU BYKOFSKY, the article you wrote yesterday is not only one of the best you have ever written, but is one of the best that I have read over the past several weeks regarding the changes that need to be made in this country. This country does profile certain groups. This country does need to have far greater surveillance of the Muslim communities, especially mosques, as noted below. France is now eavesdropping on mosques and have shut down three that they considered radical, as we should do. The sad thing is that this will not happen as long as we have an inept, incompetent, in-way-over-his-head president.

* In 1968, Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by a Muslim male.

* In 1972, at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by Muslim males.

* In 1972, a Pan-Am 747 was hijacked and eventually diverted to Cairo where a fuse was lit on final approach. Shortly after landing, it was blown up by Muslim males.

* In 1973, a Pan-Am 707 was destroyed in Rome, with 33 people killed, when it was attacked with grenades by Muslim males.

* In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim males.

* During the 1980s, a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by Muslim males.

* In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim males.

* In 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70-year-old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim males.

* In 1985, TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim males.

* In 1988, Pan-Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim males.

* In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim males.

* In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim males.

* On 9/11, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take down the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by Muslim males.

* In 2002, the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against Muslim males.

* In 2002, reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded by - you guessed it - a Muslim male. (Plus two other American journalists were just recently beheaded. )

* In 2013, the Boston Marathon bombing resulted in four innocent people, including a child, being killed, plus 264 people injured by Muslim males.

* And now, Paris.

No Obama, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?

Jim Martucci

West Chester

What is so radical about having a temporary ban on all Muslims coming into this country, when we know ISIS is using the refugee program to sneak sleeper cells into our country for attacks? I know we live in an overly PC world, but we have to realize we are at war and we can't be stupid.

I served three tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, and we really have to think this through. Will all politicians that support sending thousands of refugees into this country pledge that they can guarantee that not one terrorist will make its way into our country? Coming to America is a privilege and not a right. We have to seal the border just like Israel did, and then we have to come up with a better system of vetting these refugees before we accidentally let terrorists into this country. For damn sake, just look at Belgium and the problems they face for allowing that to happen. We can't be stupid and allow terrorists to come into this country, because we are fearful we will be labeled bigots who have not had to bury loved ones for the sake of PC.

Obama does not care about fighting this war, and when you visit his Twitter account, you will notice two issues that he cares about; guns and global warming. These two issues flood his Twitter account, and he is not a strong war-team leader. Obama and liberal politicians don't care because they would rather protect people's feelings rather than protect Americans from bleeding.

Stanley Zgrzepki

Philadelphia

As usual, Stu got it exactly right.

The guy who suffered "emotional distress" because understandably anxious passengers were concerned about him speaking Arabic is a perfect example.

Along with our president, the general Muslim community have been silent too long.

Even during his address to the nation on Sunday, Obama would not use the words "Islamic extremism." At least he finally did say the T-word.

Sharon Reiss

Philadelphia

I read the 'Goodbye, Felicia' characterization positioned by Mr. Bender to describe my wife, Desiree Peterkin Bell, as well as the specious innuendo regarding her impending future in Friday's publication. Over the years, I have seen the silliness and even the ugliness of politics and government result in unfounded, inaccurate characterizations of my wife, her position, and/or approach many times before. Although infuriating, it comes with the territory - especially in leadership roles in government and politics.

However, your decision to publicly disrespect and defame the woman, professional, public servant, and most importantly human being, who also happens to be my wife - crossed the line.

Luckily, I have had the benefit of watching Desiree toil and sacrifice as a public servant for almost twenty years. I have watched her tirelessly work to devise and execute the strategies that shaped policy, secured funding and delivered services that provided a lifeline for everyday folks, not just in Philadelphia but in cities across this nation including Newark, N.J., New York City and Indianapolis, Ind. I have watched her challenge the posture of government to be more open, accessible, transparent, and foster direct lines of communication with constituents and reporters, like you. I have watched her rush to the front lines of emergency management and communication no matter the time of day or night. I have watched her put her own welfare aside to forge local, state, federal, and international partnerships, compromises, and agreements to solve for issues and seize opportunities for the city and its constituents. I have watched her not only be a model city representative, but also instrumental in making the great city of Philadelphia an even greater city on a global scale by producing events never before seen in the city's history. I have watched her help lead the state of Pennsylvania to victory in the re-election of our nation's first African-American president. She has worked at all this while being a committed friend, colleague, daughter, wife and mother. These facts make it easy for me not to react to your (at best) intellectually lazy and (at worst) racist comments toward my wife. However, I am compelled to respond.

She is owed an apology.

Taking down the title online was the right thing to do. If you need a headline related to the end-of-term transition of this administration or the beautiful woman, professional, public servant, and, most importantly, human being I know as my wife, try "job well done."

I am not sure what drove Mr. Bender to make the statements he made - but my wife is driven by purpose. As such, she has never had to worry about a "position" - I don't think she plans to start now.

Brian A. Bell

Philadelphia