To the editor:

The hydra is a tiny animal that does not appear to die. Cut it in pieces! Each part regenerates. In legend, Hercules fought a many headed monster hydra. As he cut off each head, two more emerged. Finally, Hercules cut off heads as his nephew burned the Hydra’s stumps to kill it.

Like the hydra, evil never stops. Evil resurfaces again in places and ways that are hard to fight. Only through cooperation can it be overcome. Killing Iran’s Supreme leader did not end oppression and torture. The assassination scattered the seeds of anger and terror. Now these seeds sprout here and abroad.

Replacing Noem did nothing to improve DHS. Bondi next? Stephen Miller? Hegseth? Darth Vader? Others, quieter and more sinister pop up in a game of Whac-a-mole as heads change but intent is the same – terror on our streets, profit and control through surveillance, intimidation and violence.

Hegseth roared, “No stupid rules of engagement”. How many sacrificial lambs like the children at Shajareh Tayyebeh [Sacred Tree] elementary school will be murdered by mistake or incompetence? It cost $7 million for two tomahawk missiles or about $46,000 to kill each child. Who’s held responsible when AI kills?

Is there a lesson here? The Trump regime rejects international law and the Geneva Convention. You never win a war. You only lose less than others. Bloody stumps, broken minds and memories either fade through forgiveness or fester until more hydras rises up spreading violence and destruction.

The Marvel Comic Universe cast HYDRA as a neo-fascist international crime syndicate bent on world domination. Iran qualifies. The trump regime has rushed into a quicksand filled bloodbath in the Middle East and beyond that has similar venomous heads rising.

A young woman returning to Iran said, “I go home to my family. Maybe we can die together”. Do you want to say that to those you love? If not, get out of your chair and respond with “good trouble” before the hydra reaches out to kill your hopes and dreams of life, liberty and even happiness.

William Richards

Walnut Grove