Elizabeth Aleman’s latest article exemplifies the barbarian mentality. In it, she conveys the notion that people across the sea deserve to die because their culture offends her personally. Violence towards women is, of course, inexcusable in any case. And what Afghan men do to their wives is also morally appalling and should be stopped, but not at gunpoint. I doubt that an Afghan woman would rather have her husband (and children, incidentally) shot and killed in exchange for a different outfit. After all, America is full of men who beat their wives at the drop of a hat. Perhaps we should have National Guard units dealing out death to trailer park males, simply because they look like probable wife-beaters.

Some Asian cultures have forced women to wear tiny shoes their entire lives to keep their feet small. Can you come up with a solution that doesn’t involve exit wounds? Wife beating is also rampant in Saudi Arabia; anyone up for some more “shock and awe” in that neck of the woods? Elizabeth, your moral outrage is misplaced because your attention is focused on the cultures America has chosen to decimate. The transparent justifications for United States presence in the Middle East has “flip-flopped” endlessly for the past four years. Our soldiers are not killing and dying to remove veils. If you believe this is the case, you should lift your own blinding veil before endorsing the racist bloodlust of a callous American general. And even if you do believe it is morally right to kill for these reasons, that should not make the killing fun. If you support the idea that killing can be fun, then by all means, enlist today. I hope you soon find a better venue for your rhetoric degree.

Benjamin Selander

junior in LAS