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REST IN PEACE, AIDAH I was never more moved than while reading about the
plight of Aidah Mahmood [Dusty Rhodes, “Twice burned,” Aug.
16]. She showed far more grace and courage in her life than most everyone
directly and peripherally involved in her tragic saga. Sadly, her brother
Nabeel, only 11 at the time and no contender to deal with his
father’s wrath, seems to bear the most guilt. Perhaps most pathetic
of all was the comment by then-Jefferson County State’s Attorney Don
Irvin that she may have doused her own bed in gasoline and set herself on
fire to garner sympathy. Yeah, right. May Aidah rest in peace and, at last,
find the love and compassion that so eluded her in life. Marilyn Medica Springfield
HARD AND POWERFUL
LESSON While growing up, I suffered the effects of a family
member’s alcoholism and verbal abuse. People ignored my pleas for
help and regarded my erratic behavior as mental illness. I don’t
doubt that as a result I did manifest a mental illness, although for the past 22 years I have
led a relatively normal life on a meager but stable income, working and
being a productive member of society like so many others.
This is why I can relate so much to the far more
grievous and heart-wrenching story of Aidah Mahmood — a beautiful
young girl whose chances for health, for happiness, and for justice were so
cruelly robbed from her. I didn’t know her personally. But from Ms.
Rhodes’s exemplary story, even in the face of ludicrous legal
technicalities and people’s callous indifference, Aidah exemplified a
patience and goodwill nothing short of angelic. I beseech God — the
same God of Christianity and Islam, no matter what anyone says — to
shower the blessed soul of this wronged lady with boundless oceans of the
mercy and love denied to her in this earthly life and grant her admittance
into the most blissful precincts of the all-highest Paradise.
As to this earthly realm, there is something
dreadfully wrong with our society to permit such atrocity to go unpunished.
We abrogate the right to call ourselves civilized, to call ourselves human,
to condone such an act of torture. We dismiss the thousands of Americans
and Iraqis who die in a war halfway around the world, the men languishing
in the fetid cells of Guantánamo hundreds of miles away, yet regard the plight of a woman in
a local town in the very same way. Complacent though we are in the richest
nation on earth, we are all diminished by self-interest, self-indulgence,
and materialism. We should all exercise some self-examination as to
how we relate to our friends and families, as to how we react — or
don’t react — to the needless suffering and hardship of others.
No one can make this example conditional because Aidah was an Arab; love,
compassion, and benevolence are universal, crossing boundaries both
religious and ethnic. Anyone who thinks otherwise only breeds the
discrimination and disunity that led to this persistent tragedy in the
first place. We stand to learn a hard and powerful lesson
here. Let’s all try for a little more spiritual growth and
conduct ourselves a little bit better.
Thomas
W. Yale
Springfield
HOW MANY MORE
AIDAHS? Reading about Aidah Mahmood’s life and tragic
ending feels horrible. Surely someone else must also believe that the
injuries she sustained by that fire resulted in her premature death. Murder
has no statute of limitations. And what about Aidah’s mother and
female siblings who still suffer abuse? Is there no justice for them
either? If not, there must be a way to enlighten others who may become
involved with people who feel they are above American laws. Aidah’s story is hardly unbelievable. What is
unbelievable is the ignorance and arrogance of all responsible, including
those who failed to prosecute those criminals. They should be brought up on
obstruction charges. Many jurisdictions upheld illegal decisions prior to
enactment and enforcement of civil-rights legislation. Parents cannot abuse
their children legally — and they certainly cannot lawfully murder
them and get away with it. The U.S. has millions of immigrants —
legal and not-so-legal — who believe they have a God-given right to
tyrannical rule over women and children. But, when they choose to leave
their native lands and come to America, they must be bound by American law.
And if the American law is unjust, citizens have a civic and moral duty to
rectify the injustice. No one can rectify what was done to Aidah. No one
will probably do anything for her mother or sisters, either. But we can try
by advocating for justice, not only on behalf of Aidah but for all women
and children who are not protected due to some loophole or bias on the part
of those who are supposed to protect and serve. As long as her death goes
unpunished and female family members remain subject to domestic, despotic
terrorism, all of us could be in jeopardy of experiencing justice denied.
People like Aidah’s father and uncle are domestic terrorists, and one
day we’ll all be sorry for allowing them to go unpunished. People
like that do not care about America or Americans and are dangerous threats
to the security of the country. They believe we are all infidels and they
have a duty to enforce whatever brand of terror necessary to retain their
power. America the beautiful can be ugly. How many untold Aidahs are there?
Sure, sweep them all under the law of denial — that way,
there’s no need to change — no pressure. Kathryn Brazier Springfield
GOT MILK? I SURE DID! The milk is not free in the land of milk and honey
— and in the U.S.A. the price of milk is getting more expensive.
Today’s cows are producing milk at highway-robbery prices! I am 54 years old, and I could not believe what my
eyes saw: In one day, the price of one gallon of milk went up 60 cents, or
about 20 percent! I had the best mother in the world, but Mother Mary
worried that if I didn’t get enough milk I would die. So I got
addicted to milk at an early age. I was 4 months old and weighed 27 pounds.
I was a big milk-belly baby. It won’t be too long before one gallon
of milk will pass $4. And $5 is on the horizon. Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be
milk-belly gluttons. George Culley Pinckneyville
AT LEAST WE’RE BETTER THAN CHINA We, in the U.S., have had some horrible tragedies
lately. Very sad events. But we were more prepared than much of the rest of
the world, especially China. We seem to value life and protect our people
more. Many say that the people who are assigned to protect us are just
unprepared and uncaring. In the time since the bridge collapse and mine
cave-in here China had a bridge collapse with at least 41 people killed on
a newer bridge than ours (my impression since we have had heavy car traffic
longer) and had a mine flood with 181 miners trapped. Any loss is too much.
We need to keep our miners safer and our bridges strong. I am just glad
that we do not have losses in their numbers. We should pray for their
families and ours. Patrick Johnopolos Springfield
GIVE FDA AUTHORITY OVER TOBACCO Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death
in our country. Unbelievably, despite all the harm they cause, tobacco
products are exempt from basic health regulations that apply to other
products, such as food, drugs, and even cosmetics. The tobacco companies
continue to take advantage of this lack of regulation to market their
deadly and addictive products to our children, and this is unacceptable. Our legislators must do something to combat the
tobacco problem. On behalf of all the health-care professionals who see
devastating emotional and physical toll that tobacco takes on our patients
and families, I urge U.S. Rep. John Shimkus and the other members of
Congress to support legislation that would provide the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration with the authority to regulate the marketing, sale, and
production of tobacco products. The time is now.
James Piephoff, M.D. Alton
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2007.
