Jayna Tokie Tanaka's May 8 letter, "Bin Laden's execution disappoints," reminds me why it's so hard to take leftists and their misdirected piety seriously. Twisting logic into rhetorical pretzels to defend murderers, and not the victims, is the hallmark of leftist thinking. Osama bin Laden instigated his war against the civilized world, knowing full well what the consequences would be, yet he persisted.
That was bin Laden's decision. His victims had no choice. Starting in the late 1990s, he and his henchmen killed thousands of innocent people in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. He held no trials for any of his victims. Where is Tanaka's sympathy for them?
Bin Laden's deeds were acts of war, not mere crimes. In wartime, normal rules of engagement do not apply, particularly to aggressors like bin Laden. It's a real shame that Tanaka is so blinded by leftist political dogma that her comments make her appear as if she has ended up with more sympathy for the murderer than for his thousands of victims.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.