The letter published last week that criticized the ad and speaker sponsored by the RPI Objectivist Club would be shocking were the sly talent for smearing and self-righteous intimidation not so prevalent on college campuses. It is my hope that the author is honestly mistaken in his assessment of the viewpoint presented by the ad and speaker, but I fear the chance of this is, at best, slight. I have read both the ad by Dr. Peikoff and attended the lecture by Dr. Bernstein. Neither man advocates "indiscriminate violence" against anyone.

Dr. Bernstein made a point of denouncing the terrorists as a small minority of extremists and killers apart from the vast majority of peaceful Muslims. Contrary to encouraging the kind of hatred and ignorance that has caused isolated incidents of prejudiced attacks against Muslims in this country, Dr. Bernstein called for open immigration, including peoples from the Islamic world. He made the comment that immigrants—Muslim people included—make the best Americans, for they understand what it is that makes this country great. Admittedly, this viewpoint is not "mainstream," but it is correct.

Dr. Peikoff, in his ad published some weeks ago, advocated the absolute moral right of the United States to defend itself. The two key concepts are "defense" and "moral right."

We were attacked. The terrorists are the mortal enemies of the United States. The governments who afford them comfort and aid are likewise our enemies. The innocent people of these countries (and surely this does not include every man and woman of the population) are caught in a sad and dangerous situation. Their plight, however, is not the responsibility of the United States, but of their own governments. The fact that more blood has not been shed is due only to our restraint. That restraint, however, has nothing to do with a lack of moral right to take any actions necessary to defend ourselves and live in peace. It is the magnanimity of this country that has spared lives. If we were to take more thorough measures, resulting in the deaths of civilians as Dr. Peikoff advocates, it would not make us "kindred spirits" with the terrorists. How dare you make this assertion! We are pursuing our just defense, and such deaths—tragic as they may be—are incidental. For the terrorists, civilian deaths are the goal.

In closing, it is not objectivists who are capitalizing on this tragedy to push "self-serving opportunistic viewpoints." The ones guilty of this are those who make an effort to ignore any viewpoint which clashes both with the politically-correct claptrap they have swallowed whole, and the social or political ambitions they have here on campus or in the world at large.

Mario Diana