May 20, 2004

ValleyViewpoints

Treat wildlife with the respect it deserves

Editor,
I’m writing in response to the many misguided and uninformed letters that have been appearing in the Almaden Times Weekly for some weeks now regarding wildlife encounters and pets.

As an avid naturalist, outdoorsman, and hunter, I can’t help but cringe when I read the heartfelt letters people are writing about their pet’s encounters with wildlife.

Folks, the wildlife aren’t invading our neighborhood, we invaded theirs. Your pets shouldn’t be outside without a leash to begin with. Perhaps these encounters will reinforce this point. Unleashed cats are the single biggest cause of numerous bird species becoming endangered or extinct—it’s hard to get upset when they themselves join the circle of life, especially when due to negligent owners who allow them to roam free.

Coyotes, mountain lions, and deer aren’t “overbreeding” as one letter writer contends; rather, their habitat is being compressed to the point where the carrying capacity of the available land won’t support the life that was there. This fact isn’t unique to Almaden, but is being acted out all over the United States.

Keep your pets fenced in or leashed. Don’t leave their food outside where it can attract other, uninvited diners. Spay and neuter your pets. Keep lids on your trash cans. And do not purposely feed wildlife. Without a complete understanding of the wildlife present, this act of seeming kindness does more harm then good.

The choice is yours. Treat wildlife with the respect it deserves. Follow local and state laws regarding your pets. Investigate and when appropriate, vote for laws that limit new development that encroaches upon what’s left of our natural wildlife corridors. These encounters can be minimized without resorting to knee-jerk, ignorant responses.

John Dasher
Via Campagna

Editor’s note: To report problems with small animals, including coyotes, foxes, raccoons and opossums, call the County Vector Control office at (408) 792-5010. To report a mountain lion sighting, contact the Ca. Department of Fish and Game at (707) 944-5523.

Seven-year-old shares thoughts about Tillman

Editor,
Pat Tillman was not only a great football player, but also a wonderful hero. He grew up in San Jose, Calif. and went to A.S.U. In 2000, he broke the tackling record for the Cardinals football team. He turned down $3 million to serve his country. He was killed in combat while he was an Army Ranger. He was awarded a purple heart and a silver star. 3,000 people came to his memorial at the Rose Garden. Some people talked about Pat Tillman. Pat’s former coach said “players often look for the respect from their coaches. I found myself trying to earn respect from Pat.” If I knew him, I would want to be his friend.

Preston Adams, age 7
2nd Grade, Los Alamitos Elementary School

Cartoon was accurate, but Leland raised a lot of money compared to
previous year

Editor,
My husband, Gary, just pointed out to me the Hummel cartoon in this week’s issue. While the cartoon is an accurate depiction of the disparity between elementary school fund-raising and high school fund-raising, I would like to point out the huge increases Leland High School had this year with their 19th annual Blue and Gold Auction.

I co-chaired Solicitations for the event. The event was attended by 220 guests, two times the number as last year. The event netted over $20,000 which was three times what we made last year. The Booster and Parent Clubs each received one-half of the proceeds of the event.

Thank you to The Almaden Times Weekly for your coverage of the event. Your support surely helped us to reach these financial highs. We look forward to greater community participation in next year’s 20th Blue and Gold Auction.

Jean Rummelhoff
Almaden Valley

The ‘shock and awe’ of images

Editor,
From the Abu Ghurayb prison torture scandal by American soldiers to the brutal beheading of Nicholas Berg in Iraq; it would be a gross understatement to say that the situation in Iraq is spiraling out of control. As time progresses, any silver lining to the Iraqi saga slowly wanes away. The “shock and awe” of the battlefield has now given way to the “shock and awe” of gut-wrenching pictures and videos which will resonate in global memory for time immemorial.

Were it not for the powerful photographic archives of both atrocities, they would have probably been relegated to footnotes in history books. However, this war could now be perpetually defined by the despicable footage of humiliating torture and cold-blooded murderous executions. Each side may be tempted to use the others’ injustices to justify their own barbaric actions and only continue the cycle of violence begetting violence.

For obvious reasons, the Abu Ghurayb torture is inflaming Muslim passions around the world. The passions are being inflamed domestically as more Americans are viewing the gruesome, despicable and everlasting images of Nick Berg’s execution on Internet video feeds. The potential for continued misunderstanding between the Muslim world and America is reaching troubling proportions.

Just as a handful of American soldiers committing torturous war crimes do not represent the sense and sensibilities of the vast majority of Americans, it is important to judge Muslims by the same standards. Just as America cannot be judged through the lens of its often misguided foreign policy or torturous acts of American soldiers, the world of Islam should not be held accountable for the un-Islamic and barbaric deeds of a minuscule minority of over a billion Muslims.

America is a signatory to both the Torture and Fourth Geneva Conventions and thus, any citizen of ours who violates international law must be held accountable for their crimes. The barbaric tortures also constitute gross violations of the United States Code of Military Justice, the paramount domestic legal and ethical guidelines for our men and women in uniform.

Muslims are also bound by a hallmark ethical and moral code. A Muslim who violates the commandments of God in the Quran or those of the prophet Muhammad must also be held accountable.

When outlining the rules of engagement for wartime, the Prophet Muhammad said on numerous occasions: “Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman;” “Do not kill the monks in monasteries;” “Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship;” “Do not attack a wounded person;” and “No prisoner should be put to the sword.” Prophet Muhammad also prohibited the killing of anyone who is in captivity and also ordered people not to pillage residential areas or cultivated fields during war. He also outlawed the mutilating of the corpses of enemies. These clear and concise statements make any violation of these edicts during wartime a clear violation of core Islamic principles.

Islamic scholars also assert that war in Islam is purely defensive in nature (Quran 22: 39-40). Also, the Quran prohibits of killing non-combatants, (2:190-192), and it advocates kindness to people of other faiths who do not have open hostilities with Muslims (60: 8).

Despite such clear injunctions, some Muslims who claim to be killing in the name of Islam are, in fact, completely defiling its essence. The extremists and militants who attempt to hide behind the veneer of Islam are in reality openly violating many of its core teachings. Just as their ends do not justify their criminal means, the same can be said of the criminal Americans soldiers and their commanders who consign human beings to leashed animals.
Just as the cruel torture of Iraqis has been universally condemned by people of all faith, the overwhelming majority of Muslims worldwide are sickened and condemn the horrific death of Nick Berg as inherently shocking, against all teachings of Islam and universally deplored by all spiritual, caring and decent human beings. Unspeakable and appalling acts perpetrated by followers of any religion should be unanimously condemned as fundamentally irreligious and unpatriotic crimes.

Parvez Ahmed and
Arsalan Iftikhar
Parvez Ahmed is a national board member for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), www.cair-net. Arsalan Iftikhar is the director of legal affairs for CAIR in Washington, DC.