Somewhat reassuring

I commend Muammer Guven for his letter in which he denounced terrorist events in Paris and San Bernardino. I wish more Muslims with similar beliefs would come forward. These beliefs are somewhat reassuring. In a column by syndicated writer Cal Thomas, he states that President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that 99.9 percent of Muslims worldwide reject terrorism. But Mr. Thomas goes on to say that in a 2007 Pew opinion poll, 26 percent of Muslims in the U.S. agreed with the statement that suicide bombers are sometimes justified. That’s a lot of people.

The exact number of Muslims in the U.S. is elusive. One estimate is 3.3 million. That means there could be 858,000 potential suicide bombers in the U.S. Perhaps Mr. Guven and other Muslim leaders should develop a vetting system to identify the bad guys and kick them out of the Muslim religion.

The other day, I read Mr. Robert Leflar’s letter that suggests we welcome all refugees with open arms, and have immigrant applicants undergo screening for criminal propensities. Lots of luck. It’s true that many immigrants have been welcomed and been beneficial to this country—Puritans fleeing religious persecution, Einstein and other Jews fleeing persecution, Vietnamese boat people fleeing oppression and certainly the Scotch-Irish forebears that settled in Arkansas. However, I don’t think any of these immigrants were hell-bent on blowing themselves up to further their cause. RUSS BAILEY

Little Rock