341 112th Avenue S.E.
Bellevue  WA
October 24, 1983

Seattle Times
Editorial Department
Seattle, WA 98111

Gentlemen:

I am deeply outraged and feel helpless in the wake of the killings in Lebanon. I am hearing that terrorist elements in Iran may be responsible. My sense of outrage is deepened by the response of Senate Candidate Lowrey who seems to be saying that the proper response to this terrorist act is to comply with what they are trying to get us to do—take our troops out of the area. I have an alternative suggestion which I hope will be seriously considered by the administration.

Let us make reasonably sure who is responsible for this atrocity, and let us do this quickly. Should it turn out to be Iran, as indications presently point, then we should unleash a massive retaliation that will tell the world once and for all: Don’t tread on me! An effective target would be Iran’s oil fields—destroy them utterly, beyond salvage in this decade. Should it be Syria, give the population of Damascus two days to leave the city and then level it to the ground.

Of course this is harsh! But then, so is world-wide terrorism. We would not allow a band of hoodlums to terrorize an American neighborhood, to kill and mime in senseless abandon. So why should we allow it to happen internationally just because the hoodlums carry a cloth banner and shout slogans about nationality? Wanton killing is wanton killing, no matter what trappings it is clothed in.

It is time for the posse to mount up, hunt down these animals, and rid the world forever of them and their sympathizers. And it is also time for Washington voters unequivocally to explain to the Lawrey’s, the Rovers, and their kind, that the people of this nation will never be intimidated by violence and threats of violence.

Cordially yours,
R.G. Williscroft