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Richard Byrne favors one purported leftist he believes shows “the left’s stake in the fight against bin Laden” and disparages another he quotes as saying that U.S. policy was bound to produce something like Sept. 11 (Press Corpse, “Pulp Bullies,” 10/26).

I haven’t read the cited magazines lately, but it seems clear to me that whoever is responsible for Sept. 11 was a movement waiting to happen, irrespective of whether those who took the opportunity to lead it are truly evil, are using Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians only as an excuse, or whatever. I say this because the government’s treatment of countries such as Cuba and Iraq over the years has indeed helped create a situation in which much of the world hates the United States and views militant actions against it as just.

Having long opposed such treatment, I take no responsibility for solving the problem of how to deal with its consequences. But it ought to be obvious to anyone who can look beyond the rhetoric demonizing all with the remotest connection to so-called Islamic fundamentalism that the current course of action will not serve. Bombing yet another non-Western country with “smart” weapons—which in fact kill civilians—will breed only more hatred. And by the way, simultaneously racheting up repressive procedures at home will not make us more secure.

Lincoln Park