"Hyperbolic criticism" of U.S. actions questioned

To the Editor:
Congratulations to Professor Makau Mutua for making perhaps the most overblown, blatantly knee-jerk, anti-American statement that I've heard since Sept. 11. He states in the Jan. 31, 2002, issue of the Reporter that the United States' possibly unlawful detainment of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba "strikes an almost fatal blow at humanity and its decency." Say again?

I can only hope that he was misquoted. While I myself have been a bit concerned that our labeling of these prisoners would be viewed as convenient hair-splitting by the rest of the world, I've somehow managed not to worry about civilization crumbling as a result. How nice it is that most of us do not have to make tough decisions about how to handle the gravest of threats to U.S. national security. But why some of us—particularly, it seems, within the academy—revel in hyperbolic criticism of U.S. actions at every turn escapes me.

Sincerely,
Kurt F. Winter, Ph.D.
Department of Civil Engineering