Letter: Make terrorists pay the price

Friday, Nov. 9, 2001 | 9:20 a.m.

The U.S. government and its coalition allies have frozen the funds and assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban and all those others who are supporting his activities.

It is now time for our government to begin actions necessary to confiscate those funds. That money should then be used to pay for the loss of the World Trade Center, the cleanup costs, compensate those who lost their jobs and money to the heirs of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

If you or I were to deliberately cause a catastrophe of much lesser magnitude, we would be sued for every penny we had, including the loss of our home. Right now, the taxpayers of the United States are bearing most of those costs for the actions of Osama bin Laden and his cohorts. That is not right.

The responsible individuals and organization should be held accountable -- this includes Iraq if we can show Saddam Hussein played a part or provided support to the operation.

RAYMOND HARBERT