Recently, the International Olympic Committee decided to allow the American team to carry a tattered flag recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

The U.S.--the world's biggest bully, which has stepped on so many countries and killed so many innocent people--now gets to play the victim? This is ridiculous!

What if Iraq decided to fly its tattered flag because its people have been starved and bombed for almost by a decade by the U.S. and Britain? There would be an outcry of scorn, anger and indignation from the "international community"--with the U.S. in the front ranks.

Today, everything is done in the name of the victims of September 11--from bombing Afghanistan to abusing prisoners at Camp X-Ray in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This cheapens the enormous loss and grief of the victims' families.

Don't be fooled by rhetoric about victims, and don't stand behind the tattered flag. The U.S. government doesn't give a damn about victims--abroad or at home.

Pham Binh, Geneseo, N.Y.

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