Copyright 1994 Omaha World-Herald Company
Omaha World Herald
December 17, 1994 Saturday SUNRISE EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 298 words
HEADLINE: Million-Dollar Reward Isn't Too Much
BODY:
Sometimes reality is more horrifying than the gruesome films that Hollywood churns out to scare people.
A scientist in California opens a paper envelope that he received in the mail. It explodes, blowing off several of his fingers. A computer professor in Connecticut is critically injured when a package explodes in his office. An advertising executive dies in his New Jersey kitchen while opening a parcel that was delivered to his home - a parcel that turned out to be a bomb.
People dead. People injured. People victimized by hideous acts of violence perpetrated upon them by an anonymous terrorist who has operated without detection for 16 years, killing two people and injuring at least 23 others in eight states.
Death sometimes makes sense. A person slips away, old and sick and tired.
Disease and accidents take their toll. But how do grieving survivors reconcile themselves to a death caused by an anonymous letter bomb? How does a family put their lives back together after burying a father who was struck by an unknown attacker for a reason that may never be discovered?
Authorities say the Unabomber, as this terrorist is called, often goes after university people and sometimes people who have something to do with computers. As we noted in 1993, after a previous round of bombings, this sicko is attacking free expression, bringing a chill over man's search for knowledge.
The government is offering a million-dollar reward for information leading to the Unabomber's arrest and conviction. That might seem like a lot of money for the government to pay for information. But it's not too much. All reasonable steps should be taken to bring this killer to justice - ideally on charges that carry the federal death penalty.