Moral equivalence, anyone?

Spot the Idiot

Today's San Francisco Chronicle has a hilarious pair of letters (Nos. 4 and 5) in response to a Sunday article on Hamas:

Editor -- Regarding the article, "Hamas camp: Sun, fun . . . indoctrination" (July 31): The Hamas-sponsored youth camps are a double-edged sword.

These kids, like any, deserve the chance to enjoy the the camaraderie of youth while exploring their athletic, social and artistic abilities.

Hamas, by providing what would otherwise be a luxury for these kids, is getting away with feeding them a poison way of thought that will inevitably bring further sickness to the region.

Palestinian children as young as 11 have tried attacking Israelis. It makes me wonder: What would it take to get these kids to sing songs like "Kumbaya" around the campfire and put their bomb-making equipment away?

Dassi Shusterman
South San Francisco


Editor -- Yes, it is disturbing that Palestinian children are being taught to chant "Rifle fire! Raise it up!" in Hamas summer camps.

But, hey, we've got militaristic chants going in this country for our kiddies, too. On Sunday, President Bush met with the Boy Scouts, a gathering of 50,000, at their National Jamboree at an Army base in Virginia. Among other things, he went on about patriotism and military service.

Bush's audience had been warmed up by a man wearing an Army T-shirt who, as balloons with military emblems floated about, led the children in chants of "OO-rah" and "U.S.A.!"

Looks like we've got some of our own sun, fun and indoctrination.
Judith Ross
San Francisco

Patriotism, murdering Jews--hey really, what's the diff?
(Thanks to Best of the Web Today.)