The key to stopping terrorism is simple — take away the funding.
Do whatever it takes to take away the assets of the terrorists, including recapturing oil fields, taking control over the roadway routes they use and seizing their assets. Why wait for a cancer to grow out of control?
Stop it now. I’m urging that the U.S. and other countries fight for and take control of these assets.
Stuart Shimazu
Kapahulu
Muslims in U.S. should form 442nd-style units
Muslim communities in America and Europe should form a fighting unit like the 442nd in World War II and show they are worthy to be in their adopted countries.
They and they alone need to fight ISIS and get their countries back. Non-Muslim military men and women from the United States and NATO have already sacrificed too much.
This also will show the West that Islam is truly an honorable religion and these terrorists are simply thugs and not a part of it.
Ray Horita
Palolo Valley
Rail budget excesses were to be expected
Hawaii projects a worldwide image of a paradise on Earth, and the tourist industry sells the Hawaiian "brand" where aloha abounds, a stress-free life of serenity is promised and things come easily.
However, for full-time residents, Hawaii is a real place with all of the political, social and economic realities of modern life.
The detractors who point out the downsides of the rail project now under construction are not alone in pointing to the timetables missed, cost overruns and environmental impacts, both material and aesthetic.
Few major civic construction projects in the U.S. have escaped these problems. The California bullet train’s cost has doubled since being approved by voters in 2008. Boston’s "Big Dig" came in at over twice the estimate; the same for the San Francisco Bay Bridge. New York’s East Side Access tunnel is now 2.5 times its original estimate. It was naive to have expected otherwise.
William E. Conti
Waikiki
Tearing down rail would be too costly
I’m sick and tired of reading the letters from the anti-rail moaners. I’m asking all of those naysayers to let the rail contractors finish the job they started, as planned.
The anti-rail groups want to stop the rail in its tracks. Don’t they realize the financial crisis this would cause? Tearing down what has been built would cost a lot more than completing the rail. The city would lose $1 billion from the Federal Transit Administration in addition to the cost of razing the rail structures.
Howard Francis
Kinau
Municipal bonds can raise money for rail
Forget extending general excise taxes. Municipal bonds can raise any needed finances.
The main intent of rail is to address our crowded freeways and connect Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. To end at Aloha Stadium misses the target. And to continue the plan to end at Waikiki would be costly and very problematic. It would disrupt more businesses, create more construction delays and noise, raise eminent domain issues and create other problems.
The best place to end would be at Aala Park because of its spaciousness, and it’s the perfect hub: walking distance to Kakaako and a 15-minute bike ride from Waikiki and the excellent buses already serving the area.
The $1 billion from the Federal Transit Administration should be given back.
Besides mitigating long commute times, the rail would actually have more than expected ridership and revenues due to its practicality and efficiency. Tourists would ride the rail, too.
Robert Y. Abe
Waipahu
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