Letter: We must have courage to face evil

Monday, Oct. 1, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

Osama bin Laden and his followers are engaged in jihad against all non-Muslims and cannot declare victory until we are either converted to Islam or dead. This is his interpretation of Allah's word - shared and supported by the current leadership in Iran, a terrorist-sponsoring nation on the threshold of producing an atomic bomb.

Ordinarily, this would not be a major concern, given that many other countries already possess nuclear weapons - some less stable than Iran - and have never dared to use them, not since we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II.

Perhaps, having born witness to the terrible consequences of its power, we were forced to think the unthinkable, the possible extinction of the human race; and that is what has kept our finger off the nuclear trigger. It was a lesson we would not soon forget - so we thought.

With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in control of Iran we can no longer be assured that rational thought will prevail; that life will always be chosen over death. For he believes he has been given a sacred trust to prepare the way for the second coming of the Mahdi (the Twelfth Imam) - who can only return to an Islamic world cleansed of all infidels. And his public utterances tell us he will use every means at his disposal to achieve that necessary state.

If we are going to win this "unholy war," the next president of the United States must not only possess strong leadership skills, but also a true understanding of the forces that spawn and shape the bin Ladens and Ahmadinejads of our world. He, or she, must have the courage to take the bold initiatives needed to counter their twisted version of Islam, and inspire the hopes of good people everywhere on this planet - damn the political consequence!

Vito Tomasino, Las Vegas