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Our enemy has chosen means of war, and we are reacting in kind

In his Feb. 11 op-ed column James Carroll lumps snipers and drones together and seems to condemn both as “death out of nowhere.” Welcome to 21st-century warfare, where the nation is threatened constantly by suicide bombers who would more than fit the same description of surprise attack.

Carroll offers no alternative as to how to combat these terrorists. This is not World War II, where the Japanese use of kamikaze pilots was a desperate combat tool as the war was winding down. For Islamic terrorists, this type of attack is their weapon of choice. We are reacting to, not acting upon, an enemy fanatically sworn to wipe us out. They chose the means of warfare, and we are responding in kind.

A person willing to blow himself up in order to kill Americans should not be afforded any immunity by virtue of the technical circumstance of US citizenship. Nor should someone who is planning or has executed an attack on Americans. These drone targets are not chosen indiscriminately.

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Until and unless convinced otherwise, I have complete faith in my government’s ability to distinguish between a threat to our national security and an innocent bystander.

If “America has become a sniper nation,” it is because that is the most effective means to effectuate the justified end of striking the enemy at hand.

Gerald Alch
Brookline