Kudos to the Tribune for a fine feature piece that showcased interviews with four Arab Americans. It is high time we heard from and about Arabs and Muslims who are ordinary citizens and not terrorists or alleged terrorists. This type of coverage that sheds light on the human face of Arabs and Muslims will go along way in diffusing myths and stereotypes about them that sadly remain prevalent among many.

The Arab voices included in the December 8th Metro section are a great start to inviting readings to engage with the people who are talked about so much yet rarely heard from (“Arabs-from fascination to hatred to tolerance”).

One would assume that when the United States in 1994 ratified the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the discussion over when and how much torture will be tolerated will never come up again. The convention clearly states, “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

In a response to an editorial published in Glenview Watch criticizing Rep. Mark Kirk’s calls to “discriminate” against Arab males, a reader writes, “You can always use the example of Oklahoma City to show that it's ‘just not fair to profile Arab men.’ But it's not white males who are doing most of the terrorist attacks in the world!”

In his article “Riots could happen in rest of Europe,” Tom Hundley writes in reference to the recent riots in France, “Most are Muslims, which may impede their integration into Western societies, but Islam itself did not appear to be an organizing or motivating element in the French riots” (Nov. 20). Yet, in the same article, he goes on to argue that the multiculturalism solution of many European countries has failed, citing the July 7th bombings and the murder of a Dutch filmmaker by a Muslim.

In his effort to justify ethnic and racial profiling, Steve Haisley claims that it is the same as a crime victim giving the police a description of an 18 year-old African-American and then expecting “the authorities to focus their investigation on 60-year-old white men” (“Like it or not, Kirk comments are true,” Nov. 20).

It is funny to see how the people who criticize President Bush for being a big government conservative would at the same time applaud his efforts to expand the government’s investigative and enforcement powers to curtail civil liberties under the guise of national security (“Safety vs. liberty: How far should we go?” Nov. 20).

Those who trumpet terrorism as a conspiracy by the Muslim people against people of other faiths should pay more attention to current world events. Friday's terrorist attacks targeted 2 Mosques in Iraq on Islam's holiest day of the week, resulting in the cold-blooded murder of 74 innocent Muslims as they knelt in prayer. This vicious attack is evidence that terrorists harbor as little regard for the sanctity of Muslim holy places and Muslim life as they do for those of Christians, Jews, or others. Indeed, Muslims have been the targets of terrorist attacks more often than people of any other faith.

Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) believes peace activists from Egypt should be greeted at O’Hare airport with a hefty doze of institutionalized discrimination.Their offense? Being of the same age group and national origin as Mohamed Atta.

Its amazing how people are willing to support leaders willing to trample over the basic rights of life and liberty this country was founded on. Racial profiling would not only be ineffective in eliminating crime, but will also further alienate the 7 million and growing population of Muslims in this country. When Pat Robertson said to kill Hugo Chavez, we didn'tgo out and say lets racially profile all evangelical Christians. No, we denounced the man responsible for those comments.

It is shocking to see how Bernadine Brown can hold up as leaders “speaking out to see that our country here is safe” people who call for illegal and unethical actions (“Kirk’s comment A-OK,” Nov. 15).

Extremism like that expressed by Ms. Bernadine Brown and Rep. Mike Kirk is a security problem. Lo-jacking all Arabs and Muslims might make some people feel safer, but they will not be more secure.

There is a tendency in today’s world to blame a person’s actions on his or her background without looking for the effect of outside forces beyond an individual’s control. This tendency is highlighted well in Monica Prasad’s column, “Once again, it’s the economy, stupide!” (Nov. 11).

I read your news piece titled “Jewish activist jailed for role in bomb plot killed in prison”, published on page 12 on your Sunday edition November 6. I was surprised and troubled for the selection of the term “activist” to describe a criminal who, according to your same article piece, has admitted to conspire to “bomb King Fahd Mosque in Culvar City, California and a field office of Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.

When I first read the headline, “Israeli air strike kills 7 in Gaza,” I expected the picture chosen to accompany the article was that of a Palestinian woman mourning the death of a relative (Oct. 28). Instead the caption read, “The granddaughter of an Israeli killed in Wednesday’s suicide bombing in Hadrea grieves as his funeral Thursday.” Is there a reason why the Chicago Tribune failed to include a picture of the death, destruction and mourning the Israeli missiles caused in Gaza?

The ongoing case of Jose Padilla should be a major concern for all American citizens who care for their civil rights (“High court urged to take appeal from Padilla,” Oct. 28).

Ray Hanania uses the fear some American Muslims have concerning Halloween as a chance to categorize all Muslims as bigots who are “anti-American and anti-Christian” (“American Muslims sending mixed messages on bigotry,” Oct. 27). It makes one wonder what he would label Christians who also have trouble with this holiday.

In her column “Tribalism that defends Hussein is bereft of sense of decency,” Mona Charen manages to group all Sunni Muslims and all liberals as tribal heathens who care nothing about “morality, compassion and a love of justice” (Oct. 23).

In his column “Media utters nonsense, won’t call enemy out,” Mark Steyn criticizes the media because it did not specify the enemy during the recent fighting in Russia. He claims that the media considers Islamic militants as “the enemy whose name its best never to utter” and thus would rather just label them as “insurgents” or “rebel forces” (Oct. 16).

Although we live in the United States, a country ruled by a Constitution and Bill of Rights which stress an individual’s freedom from government intrusion, the Sun-Times editorial board would rather we live under a repressive, meddling dictator just so that we can live in complete security, free from all threats of outside attacks (“Check prying Patriot, but don’t take all its teeth,” Oct. 13).