How about a return of 1940s' prison camps?

In her May 27 Island Voices commentary, Amanda El-Dakhakhni expresses frustration in being singled out for intense questioning by U.S. Customs on her return flight from Egypt. She attributes the unnecessary scrutiny to her Middle Eastern background, and that although the U.S. government in light of the war on terrorism has some concern, such treatment by race alone is unconstitutional.

Now comes Benjamin S. Brechtel. In his June 7 letter, he states that "practices will only be used against people who have displayed suspicious activity." He furthermore declares, "The mere fact that she has visited a Middle Eastern country during a war with Iraq should be a clear enough indicator as to why she was detained." He fails to indicate which of El-Dakhakhni's activities gave rise to that suspicion.

I have a brilliant idea: Why don't we, for the sake of our national security, just round up El-Dakhakhni, along with all of these Middle Easterners, and set up 10 relocation centers throughout the Western United States and herd them all into these prison camps without trial? Why bother with the U.S. Constitution? Just imprison all of those whose names sound Middle Eastern — men, women and children, the newborn and invalids, just as we did some 60 years ago to those with names like Nakamura, Goto and Kawakami?

Then we need not worry about national security. We are at war, remember?

Republican Party has nothing to offer Isles

It concerns me that our local politics is going to be inundated with the "carpetbagger" money that will filter into this state through the national Republican Party.

Along with the money will come the cookie-cutter political manuals that will turn our local politics into a forum for the rhetoric filled with fear tactics, half-truths and, in some cases, outright lies.

For example, prosecute and lock up drug addicts, build more prisons, discriminate against gays and lesbians, spend little or no money on drug treatment. Create an educational plan (No Child Left Behind) that punishes schools with non-English speakers and punishes schools with a high percentage of special-education children. Continue to foster the disenfranchisement of Native Hawaiians and other indigenous people. Pollute the environment. And sadly, the loss of American lives all based on lies and ulterior motives in Iraq.

This is what the Republican Party has to offer.

Gov. Lingle should also have visited Palestine

Linda Lingle on her trip to Israel did not exercise the type of diplomacy that is beneficial for the Aloha State.

Francis Lum's June 7 letter clearly illustrates the problem with the American mentality toward the Middle East. The Sharon government does not respect basic principles of justice and human rights. The Sharon government rules with military might in the Middle East, and I would argue that Israel has not helped the present situation in the Middle East. Nor has Israel's military actions helped the American mission in Iraq.

Lingle's actions are questionable because she did not truly carry the spirit of aloha. The spirit of aloha is to reach out to all parties, not just the ones with the American clout. Did Lingle make an effort to go to Palestine? I am sure that the Palestinians would like to come to Hawai'i, too, and watch the hula dancers and drink mai tais at the Moana or the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Reagan ignored threat of HIV/AIDS epidemic

It is sadly ironic that much of the coverage of President Reagan's legacy has been silent on the fact that for more than six of his eight years in office, he did almost nothing to raise awareness about a disease that would quickly become one of the worst plagues in the history of humanity — the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

While President Reagan was certainly one of the most charismatic world leaders of the 20th century, his administration's inaction led to major setbacks for HIV/AIDS science and discrimination against people with AIDS and contributed to a staggering number of deaths.

The epidemic was first reported by the Centers for Disease Control on June 5, 1981 (21 years to the day prior to Reagan's passing). Yet, it was not until October 1987 that President Reagan would publicly speak about it. By the end of that year, 59,572 cases had been reported and 27,909 Americans had died.

In 2003, according to UNAIDS, the global HIV/AIDS epidemic killed more than 3 million people and an estimated 5 million acquired the HIV virus, bringing to 40 million the number of people living with the virus around the world.

Perhaps one of the most enduring legacies that I will remember of President Reagan is a powerful phrase he never uttered. It was made famous by AIDS activists fighting for their lives: "Silence = Death." This mantra is a metaphor that has mobilized and empowered individuals and organizations worldwide to raise awareness, not only about HIV/AIDS but other deadly diseases as well, from breast cancer to Alzheimer's.

Traffic fines should be raised, not decreased

If a traffic violator is given the option of a moving violation not going on his record, for heaven's sake, his fine shouldn't be decreased by $10. It should be increased by $20 or $30. I believe the city could use the extra revenue.

For not having his insurance company notified of the violation (and increasing his rates), he would gladly pay the increased amount.

There should also be a way of keeping track of whether a person gets too many (two or three?) moving violations. It would help keep reckless drivers off the road.

Let the traffic violators help pay for the city's deficit. They can avoid the fines by driving safer.

Gov. Lingle should seek repeal of homeless law

I would just like to thank Paul J. Watson for his wonderful letter ("New law on homeless is terrible," June 4) about how unfair the law really is. He did such a great job articulating what I would love to say to the governor and anyone else who may support such an outrageous law.

I am 18 years old and I am going to college, so I live with my grandparents because they are closer to my college. My parents are both disabled and live in Kailua; however, they must leave their home because the landlord is selling the house. They don't have much money from their Social Security checks, so finding a place to live in this so-called "paradise" is impossible with such high prices.

They still make too much (supposedly) to get food stamps and are on waiting lists to get any housing. They have to be out of their house in less than a week and still have nowhere to go.

I wish the governor would think about maybe spending some of the state's money on homeless shelters for the working poor or disabled instead of spending money on extravagant trips to Israel to promote tourism. I am disgusted with how Hawai'i, a place I was born and raised in, could treat its people. Even if they are homeless, they are human beings, and if they are going to be put into jail because they can't afford a home, then the aloha spirit has definitely died out.

I'm scared for my parents and hope that maybe the governor will get some sense in her head to seek a repeal of the law after she sees that fining the homeless (who obviously can't pay $1,000) or throwing them in jail (which costs the state money) isn't doing much good for anyone.

Thank you once again, Paul J. Watson, for informing me and everyone about this outrageous law.

War on terror takes precedence

In a June 13 commentary, David Polhemus criticizes U.S. foreign policy on the Korean Peninsula as inconsistent. He concludes his piece by wryly bashing the Bush administration and matter-of-factly comparing the situation in Korea to the war on terror and asking why the Bush Doctrine of not letting our enemies obtain nuclear weapons is good enough for Iraq but not Korea.

Simply put, Mr. Polhemus' argument is, "If Iraq, why not North Korea?"

The short reply is that all foreign policy problems are not the same, and it is a mistake to try to make them so.

Furthermore, Americans must realize that the United States has limited assets with which to solve an array of foreign policy issues.

President Bush is commanding a much smaller military than his father. The military draw-drowns of the 1990s are proving penny wise and pound foolish as our military is stretched thinner than it has ever been.

While Americans are unhappy that their military reservists are serving extended active-duty tours overseas, they should have thought this through in the '90s when we justified a smaller military by relying on large-scale use of reserve forces. This is precisely how the reserves are being used today — as we planned it back then. Unlike driving a car and going from 0-60 mph in 6 seconds, armies cannot be built overnight. Therefore, priorities must be set and our assets applied accordingly.

Currently, President Bush prioritizes U.S. "assets" to fight the war on terror in which our enemies, which include rogue state sponsors, murderers and terrorist networks, actively seek weapons of mass destruction in order to kill Americans on Main Street, USA. The war on terror has rightly taken a front seat to the problem in North Korea as today's terrorists have demonstrated their ruthless ability and determination to stamp out the American way of life.

North Korea is dangerous, but its primary goal is one of regime survival and not detonating a WMD in Manhattan or some other large city. Such an attack on the United States would prove counter to its goal of regime survival, dooming the North Korean leadership.

Sadly, while the war on terror has taken priority over North Korea, I am sorry to say that politics has taken priority for many over the success of the United States in Iraq and the overall war on terror.

I pray that America has the foresight not to live tomorrow and the days after as if it were Sept. 10 — because we know what awaits us on Sept. 11.