To the editors:

I write in response to “Women Don’t Do This” by Arianne R. Cohen ’03 (Opinion, Sept. 20). I wish to point out that Cohen’s editorial was not only grossly inappropriate, but naive in its assertion that women do not participate in terrorism. On November 29, 1987, two North Korean agents planted a bomb on (South) Korean Air Lines flight 858, in an operation apparently designed to convince the rest of the world not to attend the Seoul Olympics scheduled for the following summer.

The Seoul-bound airplane exploded over Southeast Asia, killing all 115 civilian passengers. When captured, the North Koreans tried to kill themselves, though only one succeeded. The surviving agent, a 25-year-old woman named Kim Hyon-hui, was taken back to Seoul.

Kim was tried and given the death sentence for this murderous act, but the government pardoned her, according to journalist and author Don Oberdorfer, “on grounds that she was merely a brainwashed tool of the real culprits, the leaders of North Korea.” More caustically, another journalist wrote, “‘Virgin bomber’ Kim Hyon-hui fluttered her eyelashes, said she was ever so sorry, wrote a best-seller, and is now a millionaire in Seoul. That’s one lucky mass murderer.” The pardon-vs.-punishment debate aside, there is little doubt that were she not an attractive young woman, the South Korean government would have been less forgiving.

Of course, I do not mean to provide this example to single out North Korea, which has sponsored terrorism in the past but is clearly not responsible for the nightmare of Sept. 11. Along these lines, I believe that it is crucial for all of us to examine critically our motives for fighting a general war against what has become encapsulated in the buzzword “terrorism.” Whatever terrorism is, it is no more monolithic than our old enemy, “communism.”

There are terrorist organizations in many countries, including our own, and although some of them may be connected, they don’t all have identical beliefs, methods, and targets. Nor were they all responsible for these recent attacks. Our leaders need to remember the lessons of our many blunders during the Cold War before they go about painting pictures of a massive world movement that is against “freedom.” This is not a valid excuse to obliterate every regime that we find morally distasteful. We must move beyond easy explanations—including Cohen’s—if we wish to effectively recover from this tragedy.

Aaron R. Miller ’02

Sept. 23, 2001

Men Are Also Heroes

To the editors:

I read with interest Cohen’s article, seeing how I am a woman myself. However, as a woman I was quite disappointed in the negativity directed toward men. Yes, so far the identifiable members of this tragedy on both the terrorist and American side are male, and have reacted accordingly from a male perspective in each case. However, the supposed heroes of the Pennsylvania flight who diverted the flight from its intended target were male. Also male are countless firemen and policemen who gave their lives to help others, as well as many rescue workers and other concerned citizens from New York City.

I am appalled that this tragedy is being used as a way to further cement political agendas and opinions not just by Cohen but by others such as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. Like Cohen said, right now “We need caring solidarity among all Americans. We need to protect our country, to care for the victims and their families and actually identify our enemy.” We don’t need to use the events of last week as an excuse to bash men and smugly assert the moral superiority of one gender over the other.

Annie Zaleski ’02

Sept. 20, 2001

Peace Rally Misguided