Please note: This Letters page is intended primarily for readers to comment on ATol articles or related issues. It should not be used as a forum for readers to debate with each other. The Edge is the place for that. The editors do not mind publishing one or two responses to a reader's letter, but will, at their discretion, direct debaters away from the Letters page.

[Re UMNO has stubborn staying power, Nov 20] After a half century in power, the [United Malays National Organization] UMNO is not giving up power without a fight. It has an all-powerful weapon in the power of its financial resources. Since Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has anointed a successor in the person of Najib Razak and the Supreme Court has absolved him of involvement in the murder of a Mongolian interpreter, UMNO can turn all resources to out-politicking the reform movement headed by Anwar Ibrahim. In these parlous economic times, which have not spared Malaysia, UMNO has a rich war chest, and is willing to disburse generously funds to rule Malaysia as it has since its independence. But this will delay the days of reckoning for corrupt practices, positive discrimination against the Chinese and Indians and other non-Malay minorities, and for years of gross economic inefficiency.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 21,'08)


The article The US strikes deeper into Pakistan [Nov 20] by Syed Saleem Shahzad illustrates how Islamabad is reaping the duplicitous game that former president General Pervez Musharraf played with the US. During his rule, Islamic terror groups found shelter and signed "peace accords" with Musharraf, while the US continued to complain that Pakistan's military were sending to the US intelligence low-profile militants, including many who had nothing to confess as they played the role of a "fall guy" to protect the really powerful insurgents who had already made Pakistan their home base. To say that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had no knowledge of this borders on fantasy. The ISI was actively involved in the masterminding of terror activities both against the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] NATO forces in Afghanistan and in Kashmir. Now the chickens have come home to roost. Islamabad has lost a great deal of credibility with Washington in terms of its commitment to eradicating the Taliban and al-Qaeda nexus from Pakistani soil, and to date Islamabad has shown little impetus to reverse its stand. Maybe once this war reaches the cities of Pakistan, Islamabad will consider taking sides with NATO to prevent the US taking this war deeper into Pakistan at Pakistan's expense.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, USA (Nov 21,'08)


The day of economic reckoning (or wreckoning) has placed the imperial bastion of capitalism in a dilemma of Sisyphean proportions. No matter which way it turns, the dreaded specter of nationalization looms all around the smoldering ruins of free markets and rampant greed. The great wheel of ironic history has poised the collapse of the center of world communism on its head; instead of the world converging on a prostrate Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) with insistence on government-free markets, the world leaders of the once-unchallenged West now proclaim government intervention and constrained markets in their battered economies as their only salvation. Are Lenin and Marx grinning or guffawing in their graves? From the auto industry to the banking industry, veritable cornerstones of American financial power and hegemony, the prospect of the suicidal executive board-decision making days of the past are being replaced by clueless, bureaucracy-driven government hacks of the future, who promise a not-so-slow descent into the maelstrom of traumatic social change in the US. But Americans have always been deluded by rhetoric, propaganda and myth-making into thinking they were immune from socialism, when in fact they were in many ways more socialist than the welfare states of Western Europe. Their schools, military, postal delivery, social payment and transportation systems have all been run by government bodies in turn run by supposedly "free" marketeers who dictate how their children would be educated, how their wars would be fought, how their Christmas cards would get to Grandma, how they would afford retirement in Florida and how their potholes would be filled. Now that all-encompassing big brother will determine what cars will sell best and which bank loans are prudent. They will do so with the same sagacity and vision that brought us Iraq and Fannie Mae. I always said that, after the Soviet Union disappeared, the US would miss it so much it would have no choice but to become the Soviet Union redux. How true, in 17 short years, has my prophecy become.
Hardy Campbell
Houston, Texas (Nov 21,'08)


I enjoyed reading Asif Salahuddin's article The evil of the US dollar [Nov 20] in the Speaking Freely section of Asia Times Online. The author did a great job explaining the causes of the current economic troubles that are affecting us all. However, while I do agree there needs to be a fundamental change in the way economics work, I disagree with the assumption that a solution can be found in any form of organized religion. As the author said, the gold standard worked, it just got nullified by an entity that was powerful enough to put its own interests ahead of all else. I don't know much about any major religion, but I do know they all have large groups of people within them that seriously and many times violently disagree with their teachings. In effect, some see the laws differently than others and history shows us that various peoples have used religion to promote their own self interests. Just like your example of the US abandoning the gold standard. Your suggestion just trades one law for another that can be reinterpreted by the next most powerful entity. I don't see a workable solution there. I believe the solution lies somewhere in the first part of your article where people have control of their own interests on a local scale and that is the law or ideal that needs to protected. Perhaps with the coming economic gloom more of us will be forced to live a more local and moderate existence.
Mike BuFalry
San Diego California, USA (Nov 21,'08)


Tariq Ali's Plus and minus: How to win in Afghanistan [Nov 18] makes a lot of sense, but I am not sure what government Afghanistan can have. The first Taliban government may not be to Western tastes, but when did Western governments begin caring about regimes, especially when they were friendly to them. Afghanistan will get the government that fits its needs. They know best what is possible for them. We have got to remember that the 40 nations trying to hold down Afghanistan are the real enemy. They are killing the people of that country on a daily basis. It is one atrocity after another. None of which is being recorded properly. I ask you now to remember one atrocity at least in the village of Azizabad committed by the US-led NATO axis on August 22 by reading the following sonnet:
The United States, again!, sends regrets
Taliban Mullah Siddiq, raving mad?
Seen in the village of Azizabad?
A ground attack with missile-firing jets
One for every bomb is the going rate
Ninety-one dead, including sixty kids
NATO says most civilian deaths are fibs
Remember August 22, `08
And Guernica, 1937
Lidice, June 10, 1942
Deir Yassin, `48 - all in Heaven
Via the jaws of Hell, long grows the queue
Listen to the killer's high moral tones
As he stands on a mound of human bones
Wilson John Haire
London (Nov 20,'08)


The article Asia held hostage on the high seas [Nov 19], by Keith Wallis, highlights a problem that has existed for quite a while in the modern era. Apart from comments within articles with a different main subject, this was not headline news until the sensational capture of the Saudi oil carrier. To me these pirates are thriving and getting bolder in what they seize during dire economic times. It is also enlightening to see that recognized powers use "the piracy angle" in furthering their goals. I can also easily see an al-Qaeda link with these pirates, as both would stand to gain in an alliance.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, USA (Nov 20,'08)


The immediate question which arises after reading South Korea aims broadside at pirates is why did the government in Seoul not take more vigorous action in September after the ransom of eight South Koreans and a number of foreign crew from a South Korean cargo ship off the coast of Somalia? Is there a reason for such action in November when there seemed no urgency in September? Somali pirates obviously are as bold as brass, judged by their daring and the widening arc of maritime lanes that they are now trolling to hijack cargo ships and supertankers. They can act with impunity since they find welcome in the ports of the failed state of Somalia, which is in turmoil and has no central authority to even restrict if not end the piracy on the high seas. It is not certain that even with the presence of a stealth destroyer that South Korean ships would be entirely safe from Somali pirates, but the destroyer would sooner or later have to engage in assaults on the pirates. The growing number of hijacks on the open seas calls for a concerted action from larger countries than South Korea. Other nations are re-routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope, to avoid the pirates, but South Korea has no choice but to engage the Somali pirates militarily if it wants its ships to take the shortest route to markets in Europe.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 20,'08)


Please allow me to share my two cents over the latest controversy involving the flamboyant Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. The latest firestorm surrounding Taseer involves pictures of his family and the governor’s alleged consumption of questionable drinks. It was totally inappropriate, nay downright outrageously immoral, for the Punjab law minister to distribute private pictures of the governor’s family to the media. For that matter, even I too owe an apology to the governor and his family for accidentally forwarding such pictures to some journalists and a web forum. I forgot to remove his family’s picture before hitting the Forward button. For this reason, I am extending my unconditional and sincere apologies. Having said that, I would like to add that criticizing the governor is fair game. When politicians decide to step into the political arena, they might as well place a huge bull's eye on their forehead. Generally, their minutest weaknesses, from their present and the past, are scrutinized and amplified many times. Imran Khan [in Pakistan] is a prime example of such scrutiny that was followed by character assassination. In a couple of pictures the governor seems to be enjoying objectionable drinks. Instead of attacking his rivals and the media, the governor should either admit or deny the allegation.
Adnan Gill
Los Angeles (Nov 20,'08)


[Re Fleeing Tamils hit Indian political wall, Nov 19] I am praying very hard that the Sri Lanka government will wipe out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), especially its leader, Prabakaran. Firstly, I personally regard him as a terrorist and a cold-blooded murderer. He has killed so many people, including Tamils, directly or indirectly for about 30 years now. He is only interested in the war for his own interests. He snatches away Tamil "kids" to join the LTTE, but what about his children, who are believed to be living in South Africa. Now, during the crucial period of the war, he is hiding. By rights, if Prabakaran is a good leader he should fight [the government] face-to-face to protect his "Tamil Eelam".
Sheerina Salvi (Nov 20,'08)


The question about president-elect Barack Obama is: "Is it better to lack passion or to lack understanding?" It is a given that Obama is a competent survivalist, lacking passion. I am not sure that Obama can muster enough strength to hate America, or France, or China. What I really think is that he is a loner who cannot find serenity. That could make him an excellent head of state during this dreaded period in world history. There is a Western bias in the direction of passion. That is a cultural anomaly, not a need.
Charles McGee
USA (Nov 19,'08)


Kent Ewing in, China as friend not foe [Nov 14], displays a little naivete when he proclaims the end of racism in American politics. True, there were many white Americans who worked tirelessly for Obama's campaign, leading to his success, and this portion of white America deserves praise and respect. But if Ewing bothers to study a little deeper, the landslide victory in the electoral vote for Obama hides something else ... Discounting the overwhelming support for Obama from African-Americans and Latinos, there was still a slim majority of whites who voted for the Republican candidate, despite doubts about old age and deep worries over the economy.
Seung Li (Nov 19,'08)


Much has been written about North Korea of late which is anachronistic and misleading. Professor Andrei Lankov's Riddles and enigmas from North Korea [Nov 18] is an exception. It is modest and measured in tone. Furthermore, he recognizes that "our knowledge of North Korean politics remains limited". A very wise remark, indeed. Information is hard to come by, but the situation is not hopeless. Gathering knowledge of North Korea requires patience, yet it is cumulative. Relying on "informed sources" is at best tricky, and at worst, it allows for manipulation and for satisfying a reporter's political agenda. The rub is not to jump to hasty conclusions, and open avenues of contact with Pyongyang.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 19,'08)


[Re China as friend, not foe, Nov 14] It is astonishing to find that Kent Ewing's stint in Hong Kong has not changed his Westerner's mentality. He is now asking when China will have a Tibetan or Uighur as its leader. First of all, the future leader, whether he be from Tibet or Xinjiang, must be a Chinese in spirit. Secondly, this future leader must be learned and highly educated to take on this heavy job. Tibetans and Uighurs are presently encouraged to attend universities by allowing them lower entrance scores in competitive exams. This person must prove himself worthy for the job. I would like to ask Kent Ewing if he knows of any Chinese in Hong Kong who were ever elected to the highest office during the 99 years of the British colonial regime.
Wendy Cai
USA (Nov 18,'08)


Kent Ewing's article, China as friend, not foe [Nov 14], makes some good points about how many Chinese should re-evaluate their longstanding views of America's racial situation. But I would argue that the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States has little to do with such a re-evaluation. White racial supremacy stopped being a dominant feature of the ideology of the American political elite decades ago. The arrogance of the American political class is instead primarily based on feelings of civilizational moral superiority derived from its mythology about how they won the two World Wars and the Cold War. Part of the populist right-wing animosity in the US against Obama during the election was because he is black, but more of it was because he was portrayed as culturally alien and disloyal. At a time when the US is fighting Muslims, Obama's middle name, his time in Muslim countries, and the politics of his pastor were far bigger handicaps than his skin color. Had former secretary of state Colin Powell run for president, he would have faced only a fraction of the venom that Obama faced. Likewise, contrary to Ewing's assertions, Chinese-Americans cannot expect to reach the highest political offices in the US in the foreseeable future, even if Japanese-Americans or Vietnamese-Americans might be able to. Obama won the election because the Republicans' campaign to fearmongering about Obama's background was overtaken by the greater fear of economic penury, in the face of which Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden appeared calm when their Republican rivals Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin appeared incompetent. Obama's strident affirmations of loyalty to American militarism and plutocracy in response to these attacks also helped. What does Obama represent then? He is a modern-day Mameluke: foreign in origin, but assimilated and loyal to the status and grandeur that the American establishment offers him. It does not mean that the poor and the dark-skinned in America will get much of a better deal. After all, the Medieval Islamic states often were ruled by dynasties founded by slaves, that did not mean there were no longer any slaves in those countries.
Jonathan X (Nov 18,'08)


[Re Blind leading the one-eyed , Nov 17] Chan Akya's impatience is understandable. He in fact cannot restrain himself from venting his spleen at China, India and Brazil, and perhaps South Korea, for falling into line at the Group of 20 meeting in Washington. Although to his way of thinking the pickings are slim, he seems to have lost sight of the fact that for China and India and Brazil, attending a conference of such import was an offer too tempting to refuse. It brought a shine to their economic coat of arms and welcomed them at long last into a restrictive club of nations. Saying this, it was obvious that besides a set of general principles, the "one-eyed" US with a lame-duck president could not sort out important issues, especially as President George W Bush delivered a speech touting the principles of the very market economics which landed the world in a serious financial slump. The G-20's value lies elsewhere. One, momentum, if any, fell to Europe; two, the group will reconvene in month three of the Obama's presidency - when these very countries will have a better understanding of what measures the new administration will be undertaking to restore confidence in global markets ... to bring the US out of the worst economic crisis in almost a century. And as such, better coordination would obtain to put more backbone into an agreement which won't stand on pious hopes and dreams. It would have been rash to have expected any more than "generic fluff", as Chan Akya artfully puts it, from the November G-20 meeting.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Nov 18,'08)


[Re Obama urged to forgo Iran threats, Nov 17] Listen carefully and you can hear the gnashing of neo-conservative teeth and the wailing of cold-warrior souls, proclaiming doom and death and the end of Western civilization if president-elect Barack Obama does this or that foreign policy initiative in the Middle East. They desperately want to foist on Obama a discredited [Defense Secretary Robert M] Gates, who should have been embalmed long ago, and predict calamity and chaos in Iraq if we leave "early". They predict the emboldening of terrorists if we show anything less than indomitable resolve to spend ourselves into oblivion chasing mountain chimeras in Afghanistan and insist on more soldiers, more weapons, more treasure thrown into the abyss of lost imperialist ambitions. They want a nuclear sword hung over Iran's head, confident they can avoid all the mistakes they have made over and over again for the past 50 years. They have a betting record that would have got any two-bit Las Vegas bookie sleeping with the Gila Monsters a long time ago. These neo-conservatives have shown a remarkable inability to judge any nation's will, determination or resolve, including their own. These pseudo-patriots connive to sap America of its strength and vitality pursuing their messianic delusions. They predict disaster whenever someone opposes their views, and sugarcoat the actual disasters their short-sightedness, bigotry and cultural ignorance produces. They have no understanding of history, no respect for local customs, draw the wrong conclusions and make absurdly inappropriate analogies - the frequency that a neo-conman spouts "Munich!" is a sure-fire sign ... Yet for some reason they hang around, like the toothless tiger who threatens to gum its enemies to death. Dying of laughter is more likely. Obama is wise to ignore their unwise and prejudiced counsel, knowing full well that their only agenda is the enrichment of the big defense contractors they all want to work for after their military career. We will withdraw from Iraq and eventually Afghanistan and the world will continue to revolve around its axis. Yet some worlds will end, true enough; the corrupt worlds of military-industrial-political venality and unbridled greed.
Hardy Campbell
Houston TX (Nov 18,'08)


[Re US's road to recovery runs through Beijing, Nov 14] Francesco Sisci and David P Goldman's suggestions on how China and the US can cooperate for the financial well-being of the two countries remind me of the pork barrels tied into the $700 billion bailout package. For the US to get out of its financial quagmire, it must export. For so long the US missed many opportunities to improve its financial standings by tying its own hands and using "security concerns" as an excuse. Goldman's suggestions have again included a lot of pork barrels, such as democracy and how to handle the so-called "rogue states". How quickly we have gone into our daydreams when we have not awakened from our nightmares!
Wendy Cai
USA (Nov 17,'08)


[Re US's road to recovery runs through Beijing, Nov 14] China is feeling the weight of the global economy as it shuts the thousands of factories which were once the powerhouse of its exports-based economy. Beijing is seeing its army of unemployed grow significantly. So, it takes no stretch of the imagination to suggest that China's road to recovery runs through the US. With the ascetic tastes of a monk, the American consumer has put a sharp break on his former wanton spending and not saving. The George W Bush administration has duly taken note of this reversal of consumer spending, and has had to revise measures to deal with a deepening recession, thereby recognizing the central role of the consumer. For his part, the American consumer has spontaneously rediscovered the layaway plan, through which a few dollars a month set aside over time will enable him to buy electronics or household appliances and so on, without burdening himself with credit card debt. Suddenly, too, it is all right to save money for a rainy day. Obviously, this endangers the once prevailing economic philosophy that it is good to spend, spend, spend. Thus, an abrupt stop in spending has caused a downturn in Sino-American trade. Furthermore Goldman has not pointed out that China's economy is and has been propped up by massive infusions of American capital and outsourcing. He also forgets that the US is not traditionally an export or perish economy. As such, the old rules now no longer apply as a new president comes to office in January, one that is intent on jump-starting a failing economy with taxpayer incentives to provide jobs for Americans. It is equally useful to stress that recent surveys show that in the current economic climate, it is cheaper to manufacture items which China produces right here in the US. In brief, the bright picture Goldman paints in the article has dark shadows of doubt.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Nov 17,'08)


[Re US's road to recovery runs through Beijing, Nov 14] The authors propose a US-China treaty. While it is a praiseworthy idea, the items that they list are a terribly mixed bag with colonial/imperial implications: why can’t even the more progressive Western intellectuals like Sisci and Goldman not shed their implicit belief in the superiority of Western society?
1. "A roadmap for China's democratization" should not be even mentioned. Nobody but the Chinese ... can decide the future of the Chinese political system.
2. "Environmental and energy-efficiency goals." US energy consumption per capita is still far higher than that of China and the US has done everything in its power to torpedo the Kyoto Protocol.
3. "An agreement on strategic arms deployment in Asia." The US is the biggest weapons exporter in the world.
The two last points should be discussed, but do the authors really believe that the US will be willing to increase energy efficiency, move forward on Kyoto and reduce weapons sales? This acceptance would be the only way to generate meaningful discussions on these items.
Carlos Zarate (Nov 17,'08)


[Re Pakistan torn over its tribal areas, Nov 14] I would like to know how Syed Saleem Shahzad gathers information about Pakistan army operations, as he is not fully aware of the facts. He should also mention that the commander of the so-called Taliban, Baitul Mehsud, was tracked by Pakistan's intelligence agencies many times, and in order to neutralize him immediate help was sought from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization command to send in drones to take him down, but every time this request was turned down. So the question arises, who is helping whom and who are the invisible hands funding these groups in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to fight against Pakistani troops?
Shahid Khan (Nov 17,'08)


In Strolling out of Iraq [Nov 12] Brian M Downing spells out what the region wants: the US out of the Middle East. Downing makes the region's sentiments quite clear. But his article fails to point what will happen with the absence of a US presence ... One can readily see a withdrawal of the United States at this time will increase Iran's power. It does not need to "take over" Iraq but simply control the new government's policies. The future actions of Israel without a definite US presence are too complicated to raise in a comment. Downing's article also fails to mention that other world powers that are not necessarily friendly to US foreign policy are looking to gain an ever-bigger presence in the Middle East. Nations like China, Russia, India and the European Union. Add to this the growing war between the lands of Afghanistan and Pakistan and one can conclude the US has to stay. One even can come to the conclusion that the Middle East region is in a quagmire and the US cannot extricate itself without a severe backlash from the region and in domestic politics.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, USA (Nov 14,'08)


It is hoping against hope to expect that [US president-elect Barack] Obama will carry some special consideration for the Muslims of the world as it was seemingly once his biological father's religion, and he professes to be Christian. In global and national politics, country interests take overriding priority, especially when administrations are infested by neo-conservatives. Obama will be president of a secular democracy and is an American. We should expect him to only look after his country's interests. Introspectively speaking, the way that Muslims care for the interests of other Muslims, neighboring Muslim countries or as a Muslin fraternity, has often put us to shame. We kill each other in our own countries, we let others kill Muslims, for example in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Palestine for our power interests. Why build up hopes on Obama for a religion to which his father once belonged? To hope for something better, Muslims must do some soul-searching, self-actualization, overcome weaknesses and build up strength, rise within and form a global fraternity. Only time will tell how Obama performs: but for better or worse, let us first try and keep our own house in order.
Nooure Zeenate Jehan
Nazimabad,Karachi (Nov 14,'08)


[Re Paulson's Lilliputian moment , Nov 14] Julian Delasantellis has chosen well in comparing the US Secretary of the Treasury to Lemuel Gulliver in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. It has long been obvious that Henry Paulson has not been up to the tasks that the subprime mortgage meltdown has thrust on his office. In fact, he has done everything to compound the situation, and thereby made a bad deal worse. Think only of his letting the world's largest vendor of commercial paper, the venerable Lehman Brothers, fail and the crash that followed. Now, he has flip-flopped on his original plans for the US government to take as collateral the "toxic mortgage instruments" from the hands of the bulge bracket and smaller banks; instead, he has done what he should have done from the very start, taken equity in these weakened institutions. To me, since Paulson has flit like a bee from one exotic nostrum to another to stop the hemorrhaging in the markets, without much success, he is more like the philosophers on the floating island of Laputa in the third book of Gulliver's Travels, who labor long but with utter failure in hope of turning human waste into gold. Unfortunately, the secretary's mandate ends in 70 days; that is more than enough time for him to do more harm in a deepening recession.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Nov 14,'08)


Nepal's noted journalist Dhruba Adhikary, who seems always an honest, professional journalist, has done well in his recent article, Bhutan's new king raises Asian eyebrows[Nov 11]. I agree with his analysis of the two Himalayan nations, Bhutan and Nepal, with a few small misgivings. I find his reference to the "... transfer of power from monarchy to democracy now underway in Nepal" a little hard to digest, as it might confuse those who feel monarchies are also democratic - there are many monarchial countries in the world where democracy still flourishes. As far as the prevailing monarchy and democratization of Bhutan by the king is concerned, it is not a step taken voluntarily by the king, but rather because of pressure to do so by the de facto power, India. It is well known in intellectual circles around the globe that the life of the Bhutani monarchy is solely dependent on the wishes of India, which snatched power of the state through the Darjeeling treaty. In Nepal's case, the majority of Nepalis are against India's hidden strategy to give Nepal the same status as Bhutan. Although Nepal is legally not bound to do so, the observed attitudes and motives of its political leaders raise the risk of Nepal most likely becoming another protectorate of India. The motivation, initiation, involvement and policy of India has a played great and decisive role in changing Nepal from a constitutional monarchy democracy into a republic, and the step has not yet been finally settled by the people themselves through a referendum or other method of endorsement ... It is most important in democracies to allow the people to exercise their sovereign rights, this cannot be taken away from people in any country that would like to call itself democratic.
Dibakar Pant
St Paul,USA (Nov 14,'08)


[Re India reels over Obama's silence, Nov 12] It is not the first time that former ambassador M K Bhadrakumar has oversimplified or read too much into incomplete events. Now that it is widely known that president-elect Barack Obama did in fact call the Indian prime minister, he must at least gather the courage to apologize for misleading readers and magnifying rumors. If he insists on using half-facts to illustrate his favorite theories, let him at least avoid the condescending and patronizing tone he often descends into when describing things Indian.
Prabhu
Hyderabad, India and London, UK (Nov 14,'08)
You possibly missed the point. The article was accurately based on the fact that, after 120 hours, Obama had not yet called. - ATol

Kaveh Afrasiabi in UN tackles pillars of intolerance [Nov 13], gives us his views regarding "gender- and religion-based discrimination", however, I find it interesting that someone who writes so much about the government of Iran has nothing to say about the arrest of Esha Momeni. Ms Momeni spent a month in Iran's prison system for having the audacity to think women deserve equal rights. Afrasiabi also attacks Hindu nationalism, but fails to mention it was a response to violent Islamic nationalism. He also writes "Islam's message of peace, a message that has been much buried under piles of Western Islamophobia recently". I think the dozens of bombs exploding around the world every day set off by Islamic radicals speaks far more loudly then the writings of a few Western conservatives.
Dennis O'Connell
USA (Nov 14,'08)


Re: Strolling out of Iraq, [Nov 12] Yes the US can, should and must stroll out of Iraq, the sooner the better. But one issue no one wants to touch is the issue of war reparations. Iraq was a self-sufficient country prior to the US invasion. It’s continuing survival during decades of sanctions unequivocally establishes that. But Iraq is far from self-sufficient today. Let me give an example: the US, on the pretext of restoring marshlands to the "marsh Arabs" (a "feel good" story carried by Time Magazine and other publications), intentionally destroyed many dams which diverted water to irrigation projects. The real rational for this action was to deprive Iraq of its self-sufficiency in food, making it absolutely dependent on food imports, as it now is, for survival. This is yet another war crime, which joins a very long list. Who will rebuild the dams now, and so much else besides?
Francis Chow (Nov 13,'08)


Taiwan nabs an ex-president" [Nov 12], by Cindy Sui, displays a little intentional or unintentional sympathy toward Taiwan's ex-president. There has been a vast accumulation of crime committed over the last eight long years by the ex-president and his inner group of relatives and "friends". And the new administration, in fear of stirring up inter-party animosity and being labeled vindictive, has been very slow and deliberate in its ongoing investigation and prosecution. So much so the general public has expressed disappointment. Now ex-president Chen Sui-bien is temporarily held because during questioning over the "juicy" details he chose to remain silent. The vast number of overseas transmissions of huge funds has been carefully examined, and raised questions to which he would not answer and avoid self-incrimination. ... It is sad that the "big-wigs" of his DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] have remained relatively aloof if not critical of the new administration, because their own skeletons are held by Chen who had access to their files during the last eight years.
Seung Li
(Nov 13,'08)


[Re Singapore, Sands stand by their bets, Nov 12] The downturn in financial markets has not dampened plans for a casino in Singapore. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) sees the global recession as an opportunity to create a world-class integrated tourist center with a casino at Marina Bay. As gambling in Macau stalls, a spanking new casino in the Merlion city-state is now a wish coming true, for the Singapore government has banked on plans that a casino in Singapore will tap into the private wealth in its surrounding ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] neighbors. In spite of the economic downturn, as Muhammed Cohen reports, it will be more flexible on gambling rules for both tourists and for Singaporeans. One way or the other, the PAP has its eye on future growth and enhancing Singapore not only as a strong player in financial markets but as a beacon for regional and foreign tourism. Let it not be said that the PAP misses a beat in taking advantage of any situation which will enhance Singapore's prestige and its place as a First World economy.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 13,'08)


I love your articles, but your web design is stuck in 1999. Please get a revamp soon.
Ari Tamat (Nov 13,'08)
We're working on it - ATol


[Re China's yuan in conspiracy crossfire, Nov 6] In this article, Wu Zhong states: "... The xenophobic theory [that the global financial crisis is perhaps a 'currency war' waged by the West or some Westerners to contain the rise of China] fails to explain why the West, or Western conspirators, would want to instigate such a devastating, almost suicidal, crisis, merely to contain China." The people who can cause such a crisis stand to gain a great deal by buying up assets on the cheap and increasing their power. The harm from the crisis does great harm to middle-and lower-class Westerners, however the David Rockefellers of the world have never been more powerful. Look at the bailout package and the massive new powers given to the elite class. Many Americans hope China will not allow our central banker-run government turn the world economy into a massive new fascist-socialist one.
Gabe Harris (Nov 12,'08)


Regarding Pepe Escobar's predictions in 2004, Barack Obama rules, OK [Jul 30 2004], Escobar is certainly a poet, prophet, and wordsmith extraordinaire for the 21st century, but the question remains: will president-elect Obama become the vital, progressive voice our nation needs to get us out of this debilitating mess of our own making? Or will Obama remain the strategist of moderation that got him elected? The nation and the world needs no more cult figures, but the "everyman" in Obama provides him with a great degree of power to make change happen. Let's hope he is not relegated to a savior figure as some voices have suggested. The people have handed him a rucksack overloaded with all this nation's failings, which is too much for one human being to carry alone. Yet I hold a great deal of hope that good men will debate with and advise him, and that power in all its diverse intentions, will not eat away at his basic humanness.
Beryl K Gullsgate
Minnesota, USA (Nov 11,'08)


Former US Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan claims he was shocked by the financial tsunami that hit the world markets. How could he have known? He was only in charge of the world's most powerful monetary agency for 20 years, and more than any other set the policies (or rather removed the safeguards) that caused the "tsunami". We hear the same from a parade of current and past treasury secretaries, chairmen, CEOs and other irrelevant people sitting in the White House: they ensured that whatever public protection survived the deregulation frenzy of the [former US president Ronald] Reagan years was finished off, and that the outsourcing and right-sizing hysteria lost all measure. "Less government interference!" was the cry to adoring cheers from the audience and media hacks. Meaning less government protection for the public interest, and no interference with the private plunder of the decades past. In late 1978 the Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah. As soon as the mullahs consolidated power, they put on trial and then shot as many ex-Shah officials as they could catch. Among them was Amir Abbas Hoveida, who was prime minister for 14 years, for six years privy counsel to the Shah, and the eminence grise to the Peacock Throne. He was charged with a wide variety of crimes. In his defense, he appeared disheveled on TV to cry out, no doubt in all sincerity: "But I was only prime minister for 14 years, how can I be responsible?" Likewise Greenspan and the CEOs. They were only in charge of their corporations, or the world economy, for the past 10, 20 or 30 years, how can it be their fault? Of course it isn't. Their real objectives were met: massive bonuses for themselves first and last, and who cares if the corporation or the world system, whatever that's supposed to be, collapses. So what if millions of jobs are lost, or billions of other people's savings vanish: all that ever mattered was "give me my bonus". So after the creaking was first heard came calls to their servant, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his employees in the White House: "Get our money". The servants did as told and delivered the $700 billion from the US taxpayer to the individuals who wrecked us. Just one example: in October 2008 the CEO of Lehman Brothers coolly told Congress that it was "appropriate" that he was compensated $350 million since 2000. I personally regret there are no firing squads waiting for him and all his ilk, because I would line up to join at once. It would certainly make for a cleaner system next time around.
Kali Kadzaraki
Texas (Nov 11,'08)


There will be a large earthquake at the end of January, 2009 in western Indonesia. Also, there will be another big earthquake in central China like last year in July, 2009. Please be prepared. By now you probably have realized my calculations are 95% correct. I am a professor in Southern California, and I just provide this information to inform, and not to scare, the general public. I calculated the May 12 earthquake in central China last year and notified Asia Times Online three months before it happened by e-mail.
Javid Afrasiabi (Nov 11,'08)


[Re We only need one Bretton Woods II, Nov 8] We do need one Bretton Woods II, but it won't come into being at the Washington meeting that US president George Bush is convening this coming Friday. His administration has been antithetical to everything a new Bretton Woods stand for. And now in the heat of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, as a lame duck, he is forced to do something. Yet judging by the latest moves by his Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, handing over an infusion totaling $150 billion or so to AIG to keep it afloat ... the Bush administration is working still under the much discredited economic theory that the markets will regulate themselves. They won't. The other countries attending the confab on November 15 do recognize the seriousness of the worldwide economic crisis, but they too are scrambling to rescue themselves first. A concerted and coordinated effort is needed. And it will come about with a new president in the White House, it seems to me. A revived Bretton Woods will come about only with discipline and agreement on common financial weights and measures to stabilize volatile markets. And a key factor lies in taking to heart the full importance of the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, and with the taming hand of government intervention.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Nov 11,'08)


The [US president-elect Barack] Obama phenomenon, the one that Pepe Escobar is so excited about in The Keys to the Country [Nov 7] requires as Senator Hillary Clinton has said, a willing suspension of disbelief. In order to agree one has to assert that a politician from the south side of Chicago with next to no academic and legislative accomplishment or executive experience, is going to with help from former Clinton Administration officials, reorder the calculus of self-interest that individuals, societies, cultures and nations have employed for a very long time into if not heaven on earth then a reasonable facsimile. I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed. I can see Escobar's next headlines, "President Obama- how could so much hope go so wrong?" Or perhaps, it will be more demanding, "Change, you call this change?"
Brad Lena
USA (Nov 11,'08)


[Re Yellow-brick road, Nov 6] Despite the recent drop in the price of gold, I believe The Mogambo Guru's bullish outlook on the metal is on the money. However, owing to a host of factors the gold price likely will trend down some more in the near term before heading up. While the yellow-brick road indeed may lead to future riches, it's also lined with misleading and potentially dangerous signposts along the way. Gold investors will do well to exercise caution and discipline.
John Chen
USA (Nov 11,'08)


[Re Big names jostle for top posts, Nov 7] After the elections, guessing who is going to join the Barack Obama White House has become the favorite parlor game among pundits, talking heads and the press. No one really knows, yet the rumor mills fill up time on the television and radio and space in newspapers and magazines. [The term] "Clinton retreads" comes easily to lips. Let's look at what we know is out there. One, president-elect Obama is reaching across the aisle, and so there is no rocket science in saying that he will pepper his cabinet with two or three Republicans. Two, he has offered Representative Rahm Emmanuel the post of chief of staff. The choice of this Illinois congressman simply underscores that Obama plays hard and plays to win. Emmanuel helped the Democrats retake control of the Lower House of Congress in 2006. Three, the soon-to-be 44th US president is serious in what he does, and will not walk into the Oval Office without a game plan; months before his victory at the polls, his team had already set about drawing up programs to deal with the worsening economic crisis, the war and getting the country up and running again. Four, unlike US Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, he has let it be known to Detroit that he won't let General Motors fail. As everyone knows, Obama faces a turbulent ocean of problems when he assumes office. It is obvious that he will hit the ground running, and if anyone doubts his seriousness or his abilities, he only has to look at the way that Obama ran his campaign. He is comparable to the CEO of a huge corporation; the newly elected president in a way is a technocrat who rewards talent and productivity, and in his style of work and perhaps governing, he is a direct descendent of Henri duc de Saint Simon, the 19th-century reformer. Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Nov 7,'08)


"The whole of society ought to strive towards the amelioration of the moral and physical existence of the poorest class; society ought to organize itself in the way best adapted for attaining this end." - Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, (1760-1825)
It was a good thing that you highlighted the Pepe Escobar article Barack Obama rules, OK which predicted this week's presidential winner four years ago. But then I went through the archives and reread an article that was barely two months old How Obama lost the election by Spengler [Sep 3]. ... Is it not time for Spengler to do some introspection and reassess his analytical skills? ...
Harris
India (Nov 7,'08)


In Muhammed Cohen's article McCain: Yes, he could've [Nov 6], he implies Senator John McCain could have won the US election for president. He then states a number of mistakes McCain made which cost him the election. So, he could have won the election, but he didn't. Yes, that is correct. His mistakes, from selecting Governor Sarah Palin as a running mate (a colossal joke) to running as a representative of a failed president's party, with no new ideas to set him apart, are exactly why he was rejected by the voters. His numerous mistakes, and the fact that McCain 2008 was not McCain 2000, are the very reasons he lost. That's the way it is supposed to work. He was unfamiliar with the core difficulties facing America and had no ideas for resolving them. Cohen simply restates the idea that as a war hero he "deserved" the job. He sacrificed his ideals from 2000 and sounded old. He picked a running mate who had no world view of her own. Her actions during the campaign and after the election prove it.
Robert Passman (Nov 6,'08)


Takahashi Kosuke makes a bold leap of faith in Kim could make Obama flinch [Nov 6]. President-elect Barack Obama is a cautious man by nature, and it is unproven that he has or will have a "go it alone diplomatic approach" to North Korea. It remains unclear if Pyongyang will be at the top of his list of priorities when he is sworn in as the 44th American president in January, faced as America is with the worst economic crisis in almost a century. Kosuke has swallowed whole the red herring of no preconditions in dealing with Kim Jong-il's regime. Has he forgotten the framework that exists between North Korea and the US for defusing and shutting down Pyongyang's nuclear program? Has he lost sight of the on-again off-again negotiations that the Bush administration has had with North Korea? For even the most curious observer, this means "preconditions". Obama is not the reluctant suitor that George W Bush was in dealing with Kim. In fact, second guessing or speculating on which path the newly elected president might take in dealing with North Korea is at this point nothing but an exercise in futility.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Nov 6,'08)


Wu Zhong's view [China's yuan in conspiracy crossfire, Nov 6] that China ought to help in solving the global financial crisis is too far-fetched. China needs at the moment to clean the snow from its own front yard. With its exports shrinking, thousands of factories have closed and millions are laid off. China needs all its resources to steer its ship on an even keel. All Western countries are practically just shoring up their own financial entities. The suspicions about conspiracy are understandable. If Western countries keep harping on that China is manipulating its currency, couldn't the US be in a better position to do the same thing on a bigger scale with its reach since it has NATO countries and all its allies around the world? The revaluation of the yen caused recession in Japan for more than a decade. China's US treasury bonds have lost billions of their value in the past few months alone.
Wendy Cai
USA (Nov 6,'08)


The article Mission accomplished, Part 1 [Nov 6] by Julian Delasantellis reads like "doom and gloom" about electing Barack Obama, and it may hold some truth. One major aspect of this election is the end of the "burden of the white man's guilt" towards African Americans. The white electorate came out in large numbers to vote for an African American president. In true faith, no longer can African Americans claim blatant discrimination by the white majority for that coveted position ... Just getting the job alone has solved that problem. But Obama has to prove that he can handle the job and his election cannot have come at a worse time. The US economic crisis, which has spread like cancer across the globe, cannot be solved by any leader of just one nation even if that leader is a Nobel Prize winner in economics. It would take a whole new approach by many world leaders working together to stem the rapidly deteriorating economic condition of the world. But Obama may surprise us all and give plausible solutions to these dilemma. ... If he fails to bring solutions to the economic mess or the Middle Eastern wars - plus a plethora of other problems such as the open border, abortion or right to life, etc - he will not only be blamed for inexperience but also for his race. At this moment the world is aglow with the phenomena of a black US president. But once he takes office he will be judged in the first 100 days (as usually done with US presidents) on what he, and most importantly his Democratic Party, bring to the table. President Bush will hold his position until January and during this time he can launch a war against Iran, make the situation in Pakistan even worse and ignore the open border crisis. What he does in this time will affect the leadership of Obama. It will be up to Obama to find a solution to the past administration's actions and the current world and domestic problems that will not hurt the US. In any case, good or bad, Obama and the Democratic Party will have to take the responsibility. The American electorate has put their hopes in the chance that Obama will be a harbinger for a new prosperous age both for the US and the world. Now we must sit back and see what his administration will deliver.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
USA (Nov 6,'08)


[Re Send off the clowns, Nov 4] Got to hand it to Allen Quicke - the man doesn't mince words when it comes to extolling the virtues of the Bush administration. On a serious note, any expectation of wholesale changes and a speedy economic turnaround under an Obama presidency will most likely be met with disappointment. As the election euphoria fades, the earlier stages of an Obama term will be witness to much pain and suffering by the American people, and president Obama will be lustily lampooned for his "socialist antics". Hopefully, he'll stay the course, and by the end of his second year in office, his economic initiatives will begin to bear fruit ... one can sense that the hitherto comatose American public is awakening, is unhappy with the state of the nation, and is demanding change. And change, as they say, is good.
John Chen
USA (Nov 5,'08)


Allen Quicke's Send off the clowns [Nov 4] isn't dreary because of its predictable polemics; it's dreary because it lacks imagination. I for one would like anyone at ATol to envision a world order sans the American gorilla. It is the 21st century after all, and it is high time for the rest of the planet to get cracking - decouple from the US economy, build, staff, fund and maintain a global defense force (failing that, a global humanitarian force, and make sure there is no fraud, political payoffs, bribes, favoritism, etc), increase domestic consumption so you can lift ... people ... out of poverty by stimulating exporting countries, dominate technological R&D, effectively assimilate immigrants, restrain China's greenhouse gases. Surely the contributors at ATol can articulate how this can be achieved. If countries are unwilling, then don't blame the gorilla when it does whatever it wants. The first step in dealing with a monkey, ape or primate on your back is to stop feeding it.
Brad Lena (Nov 5,'08)


I enjoyed your editorial Send off the clowns [Nov 4]. If people didn't care what the rest of the world thought, they wouldn't be reading your paper. I hope you'll offer more in the future. I am amused by the Republicans. Consider how the Republicans would have reacted had [Bill] Clinton done the things that [George W] Bush has done. To be fair, we can't lose sight of the fact that the Democrats (for the most part) did what was easy, giving the Bush people whatever they wanted. In a few years, when we are suffering from runaway inflation and high unemployment we would do well to keep in mind that the majority of the population got what they voted for.
W
South Carolina (Nov 5,'08)


[Re India seeks 'velvet divorce' from Iran, Nov 4] One should keep an open mind as to the possible futures of the Middle East. For example, there are strong indications of an impending implosion ... Pakistan from economic, military and social problems. A very likely result of such an implosion would be the seizure of atomic weapons by fringe groups and the use of some of them against Indian forces in and near Kashmir and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces near Kabul. India and the US would be in dire need of a neutral Iran at such a time.
Ron Mepwith
USA (Nov 5,'08)


The one thing I don't see David Fink addressing in The impending strike on Iran [Nov 1] is the reluctance the military has been showing about moving on US President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's directives. That much has been obvious. I believe they have been successfully blocked from attacking Iran over at least the last four years, give or take a few harsh border incidents. Bush and Cheney may attempt another "Minor Airforce Base", but I believe everybody is hip to these boys' modus operandi and will do their utmost in keeping a leash on them. I do think there is a 90% chance that they will be successfully blocked from committing a November or December "surprise" in Iran. There is too much at stake and cooler heads will prevail. I think Colin Powell's stepping forward and endorsing Obama was a message to the boys. I would give anything to be a fly on the wall.
Christina Kaye
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA (Nov 4,'08)


In the US people have become disillusioned and joined the "I don't care" group because they don't see results from whomever they vote for. The president has stuffed the Supreme Court with young justices who have the same ideology. The new president will have a majority in the two houses of Congress and therefore he cannot be stopped. Washington DC is run by lobbyists who control Congress with gifts and campaign money. Democracy is but a theory if the leaders only care about themselves and not the common good of the people who voted them in to govern.
Wendy Cai
USA (Nov 4,'08)


Regarding Killer touch for market capitalism [Oct 30] and other articles like it describing the economic meltdown in America. In all these articles it is remarkable what is missing. That is, the extent of damage done to the US economy and its implications for US national security. Has everyone forgotten so quickly what caused the breakup of the Soviet Union? By looting the US economy and bringing it to its knees, the captains of Wall Street, aided and abetted by the Bush/Cheney administration and its ideological cronies, have done to the US economy what no terrorist could have ever dreamed of. The economic destruction is perhaps the worst national security threat faced in a generation. If you are not economically strong nationally how can you possibly be viewed strong internationally? The next occupant of the White House will have no margin for error dealing with this enormous problem.
Fariborz S Fatemi
McLean, Virginia, USA (Nov 4,'08)


[Re US caught in ill winds over North Korea, Oct 31] The war of words is on between Seoul and Pyongyang. It's as though two young toughs are daring each other to knock the chip off each others' shoulder, knowing full well no one will. Yet Donald Kirk's suggestion that Washington's strategists and tacticians have not grasped the significance of the traded insults is not persuasive. Furthermore, it is to the US's advantage that it remain far from this furious exchange of hot air. More to the point is the deteriorating fallout from the global recession and the toxic effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown on South Korea's economy. The volatility in the market place suddenly has stripped South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of his reputation of a savvy businessman who can tame the markets. Lee's fall from public grace curiously mirrors, as South Korea's economy limps towards recession, the verbal attacks on Pyongyang and especially on the health of Kim Jong-il. Pyongyang has retaliated in turn, and with rhetoric which should surprise no one. Saying this, the bad turn in the world markets will have direct repercussions on US-South Korea trade and the Free Trade Agreement. The storm in financial markets has little or no effect on Pyongyang, but it does portend badly for South Korea's first world economy. And to me, that it is the real ill wind sweeping the Korean peninsula.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Nov 3,'08)


[Re A bumpy ride for the US over Syria, Oct 31] This attack on Syria is part and parcel of the [George W] Bush administration's outlaw methods. Under his guidance the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] and the US military have violated Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela - the list seems endless. Bush should be tried as a war criminal, and a menace to polite society.
Tom Gerber
USA (Nov 3,'08)


Professor William E Cooper's response to, Ma goes too far, too fast for Taiwan [Oct 30], raises a question no one can answer. It is easy for any outsider, who has not taken recent history and international strategic interests into account, to prescribe a solution in the name of "harmony" and "magnanimity". In a war, Taiwan cannot be defended. But China has other more pressing things to occupy itself with at the moment. Heavens know what would transpire in 10, 20, or 30 years, in the absence of any environmental calamity or nuclear accidents. This writer feels an "interim" solution may emerge after further deepening of economic and cultural integration, and that Taiwan will achieve a diplomatic realignment, thus easing any possible tension across the Strait. Then armed conflict will be avoided and it is up to future generations of the respective populations to settle their things in a peaceful way. Outsiders can talk but have no say.
Seung Li (Nov 3,'08)


Ma goes too far, too fast for Taiwan [Oct 30], by Cindy Sui, comes tantalizingly close to being fruitful on the Taiwan issue when she suggests: "In the minds of Ma and the [Kuomintang] KMT, the issue was never about selling out Taiwan, but doing what is necessary - fostering a relationship in which Taiwan can benefit from and not be cut off from the economic powerhouse of China, and in which the two sides can peacefully coexist, without threats of war." The insightful reader would have found the fruit if she had expounded on what she broaches. The premise is, as usual, diluted and mollified, perhaps to comfort many but also to feed into denial in Taiwan. As time progresses, the vulnerable island will likely face an increasingly assertive stance from the Chinese mainland, which will target the island's trade dependency and/or energy. In order to deviate from the current course toward peaceful coercion, it will be Taiwan, not the Chinese mainland, that will need to start the first major military offensive. It won't. For the mainland, threats alone, upon the background of lopsided advantages in all fields, will be quite effective. Within a couple of decades, the international business community, including Taiwan's industrialists, will ask that the sovereignty issue be clarified before major investments in the island. Would one want to invest billions in an island whose market and resources are increasingly questionable? If Taiwan wants peace, then it walks right into the mainland's plan. Don't most people in Taiwan want peace? So, most in Taiwan also want to walk into the mainland's plan. Nothing short of the actuality of a brutal war would alter the international political texture of the Taiwan issue, which centers on the maintenance of peace and diplomatic recognition (acknowledgement diplomatically defined) of the [People's Republic of China] PRC's claim on Taiwan. Actually, I believe Taiwan was in the best bargaining position before the "state-to-state" fiasco of former president Lee Teng-hui, when the independence drive was less salient to the Chinese mainland, and when some trickery from Taiwan was possible. The Chinese mainland might have granted a more apparently compliant Taiwan some international space if it had believed that the island would not use that space to expand its separate identity. Now the mainland will never give Taiwan any international space, and the fact that it will not need to has become more salient, except to those still in denial. The author, perhaps unintentionally, concludes her previous article Stormy weather for Taiwan's Ma [Oct 4], with an insight as she asks: " ... How the Taiwanese public will warm up to China will depend largely on Beijing's actions ... " The Chinese mainland can, will, and has to use peaceful coercion to slowly compel Taiwan to accept a modified Hong Kong deal (likely with Taiwan bearing an agreed upon amount and level of arms), but eventually, after a few more decades of a modified Hong Kong, a sufficient degree of commonality across the Taiwan Strait must be palpable on both sides for there to be true reunification. Peace, even starting with coercion, and cultural link applied over decades, may eventually lead to such salient commonality.
Jeff Church
USA (Nov 3,'08)


[Re Tigers fly from besieged den, Oct 30] An article today stated that Tamil actors have staged an "all black dress" meeting to highlight the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils (but not for the thousands of innocent Sinhalese citizens). This lopsided sympathy highlights India's weakness. For decades New Delhi has turned a blind eye to this civil war, maybe in order to placate the leaders of India's southern state of Tamil Nadu. Because of this, the Sri Lankan government turned for help to both Pakistan and China who were glad to offer it. New Delhi's apathy has already caused India to lose an important part of its national security. Now India is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. If the Sri Lankan government wins this war with military aid from China and Pakistan there is a good chance the Sri Lankan government will give China and Pakistan access to her strategic harbors, right at the doorstep of India's southern border. If the Tamil Tigers manage to split Sri Lanka and create their homeland of Eelam, separatist movements in India will get a moral boost plus the possibility of logistic support from this newly formed "rebel" nation. Simply put, by catering to Tamil Nadu, New Delhi has been blinded to her own nation's security concerns. This demonstration by the Tamil actors highlights the role Tamil Nadu has played in this civil war. The Sri Lankan military sees victory at hand, and the divisive role Tamil Nadu has played. Sri Lanka is no vassal state of India and will not forget the role that India, Pakistan and China have played in this civil war. After all is said and done India will be the biggest loser due to New Delhi's apathy and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu's ethnocentric stand.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, USA (Nov 3,'08)


October Letters