Dear Editor,

After reading PeggyEllen Kleinleder's April 18 letter, I decided to respond on behalf of the vast majority of patriotic Americans who see her logic for what it truly represents.

I'm talking about her desires to: 1. Destroy our country;

2. Destroy Israel, forget about the Holocaust and ignore the inhumanity of suicide bombers targeting women and children;

3. Forget about all the sacrifices our military has made to protect our citizens, interests and the free peoples of the world;

4. Forgive Saddam and allow him to just be the worst he can be;

5. Perpetuate the misery of millions of innocent people controlled by dictators throughout the Middle East and Asia who are hellbent on acquiring the ways to destroy us (chemical, biological or nuclear;) 6. Make us all part of a big happy-go-lucky global family controlled by Satan and his Masters of Death.

Seriously, you Dear Editor, the smarter-than-that-people of Homer and I should get a little miffed when misguided, but well-meaning, people try to lay their "injustices are the root of all heinous crimes against the innocent men, women and children of the U.S.A. and Israel" propaganda on us.

Here's my take on this: The president should and is doing the right thing by going after the terrorists. If the United States is developing first-strike mini-nuke capability to use against countries that do not yet have them, I'll bet it's not Canada or Mexico we have our beady little eyes on. I would guess we're preparing for some bad little dictator who is controlling a country that our spies already know is gunning for us. I suppose we shouldn't plan on taking Saddam out until he has these types of weapons. That wouldn't be fair, wouldn't it, Ms. Kleinleder?

The Palestinians use terror. Israel is right to defend itself and we are right to support Israel. It's time to pull back and give peace another chance. The Israelis made a good offer that could have worked almost two years ago. The world is holding its breath hoping one of the initiatives on the table will be accepted, but with a leader like Yasser Arafat the PLO is doomed.

Comparing the Alaska Native plight to that of the Palestinians is as blind to the facts as stating the Israelis "shoot running children." The Natives of Alaska are and have intelligent leaders who did not tell their people to strap on bombs, kill the white man and prepare to go to paradise. They achieved settlement without our military having to go into villages rooting our terrorists (a good thing, since Natives in the villages, I'll bet, are pretty good shots.)

Finally, I'm proud of the Made in America label. I bet our tear gas disperses better and creates more tears for the dollar than our competitors' tear gas.

Here's what brings tears to my eyes: A soldier's funeral; anti-Americanism; people who hate cops; liberal World Globalization believers; pictures of suicide-bomb victims, people who don't believe in God; and people who turn their backs on our country, take up the cause for one world, one nation <> and then forget about the lives sacrificed to give you and me the freedom to express our opinions on these matters

. Roger O. Cornett