Please keep your pc mealy mouthed opinions out of your tech reviews. I’m speaking of the very last paragraph of the subject article (“Fighting The War Against IEDs,” Final Thoughts, Penton’s Military Electronics, September 2007). To say we need to “address social and cultural pressures” is ridiculous when speaking of Islamic terrorists trying to kill non- Muslims for hundreds of years.

The attacks didn’t start on 9/11, nor even in this century. See: The Battle of Tours (742) and the siege of Constantinople (1453). Fundamentalists (“Wahhabists”) were killing thousands of moderate Muslims in the Arab peninsula in the 18th century. The current terrorism has nothing to do with poverty, poor education, lack of jobs, our presence in the Middle East, our support for Israel, or even the Zionist/Palestinian problem. This began way before 1948. You shouldn’t offer an opinion outside of your expertise.

Thanks for letting me pick on this one point. I appreciated the article otherwise.

- John Evans

Jack Browne responds: Thanks for writing, and for voicing your own opinion. That is why we publish, to get our readers involved. I realize that there is a long history of hatred, and I’m no expert on the subject. And you are probably right that no amount of “understanding” will take the hatred away. I was just trying to suggest that we give it a try and maybe one day break that cycle of hatred. I appreciate your reading and feel free to write whenever you see a reason.