[I have] read the news on the 23-year-old Nigerian man accused in the attempted Christmas Day bombing of one of our airliners. He apparently turned to the Internet for help, [writing in] an online forum that he was "lonely" and poured out his soul on it for years ("Suspect wrote online of sadness, conflict," article, Dec. 30).

His father apparently tried to inform the U.S. Embassy about his son’s extreme views. Why didn’t the embassy do anything about it? We hear of fake 911 emergency calls that are attended to, so why was this warning not attended to?

Apparently, in May, the suspect was denied a visa to enter the United Kingdom to study at a bogus college and the U.K. put him on its watch list.

What about the rest of the world? If you pinpoint someone for an action, he/she henceforth becomes a "suspect." [Citing] a fake university or entering a foreign country without valid documents is a violation and getting caught is bad juju.

This is the post-Sept. 11 period. Security is the priority, and anyone who violates any rule or law laid out in black and white should be subjected to its consequences, nationally or internationally.

A sex offender commits the act, is caught and is stamped as an offender for good and is known for the act by all. The same rule should apply if anyone violates any rules or laws, especially those involving the masses.

There are more than a million names on the list. Airport authorities need to help all national and international airports by providing the required information. I would rather have the Transportation Security Administration take the extra time to interrogate and search those folks than get on a flight with one.

Mahnaz FarrukhCamp Liberty, Iraq

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