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May 2005

I've admired [Henry C K] Liu's writing and was excited at the prospect of reading his analysis of the financial aspects of peak oil, which is what the article [The real problems with $50 oil, May 26] seems to at the start. Unfortunately, when I got to his "Fact 9" and its assertion that the US has "21.8 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves", I stopped. The many world-renowned petroleum geologists working on the problem of oil's peak and decline, such as those at ASPO [the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas], estimate that about 2 trillion barrels of conventional oil was the total global endowment, of which about half has been extracted. I suggest that Mr Liu educate himself regarding the realities of oil and its depletion, because "Fact 9" exposes his ignorance and destroys any further authoritativeness for his essay.
Karl Sanchez
Yachats, Oregon (May 31, '05)

Fact 9 should read: "According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US had 21.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 1, 2001, 12th-highest in the world." The article has been corrected. The point is that proven oil reserves increase with higher oil prices and new technology. In 1885 the US Geological Survey concluded that it was unlikely that any oil would ever be found in California. California has since produced about 20 billion barrels. In 1891 the US Geological Survey concluded that it was unlikely that any oil would ever be found in Kansas or Texas. (US oil companies have foolishly ignored their own government and spent millions of dollars drilling for oil in Texas.) The bottom line, according to estimates from the US Department of Energy based on new technologies and a price of US$27 per barrel, is that the US has at least 204 billion barrels of oil. Yet the world has been warned repeatedly about the prospect of running out of oil. - Henry C K Liu (May 31, '05)

It is not surprising that Henry C K Liu would embrace the idea that the world is "awash in oil" [The real problems with $50 oil, May 26]. He is a neo-classical economist and these guys have been so thoroughly indoctrinated in the idea of the invisible hand of the market that they are incapable of facing facts that contradict their ideas. These things that disagree are called "externalities" and ignored. Oh well ... it is a small world that they live in. Right or wrong, we will soon get the chance to see "real world" buck up against "economic fantasy". This Christmas, when the US sees real shortages in oil and prices are above $75, perhaps they will sleep easier after some "clever with his fingers" economist figures out how this is all really just some externality.
Ben (May 31, '05)

Re India digs deep for trade and commerce [May 28]: The Sethusamudram canal should not be seen as just a prestige-enhancing project for Tamil Nadu. Its potential in terms of increasing [India's] east coast-west coast traffic is huge. Also, its usefulness and effectiveness in terms of improving "India's capacity to check smuggling and movement of LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] cadres across these waters" is equally important, if not more so. As [Sudha] Ramachandran points out, according to security analysts "the canal would enable the Indian navy and coast guard to deploy larger vessels than they do at present and allow them to deploy faster as well". This is definitely an important feature in emergency situations. Incidentally, the dredging of the channel in the seabed will give Indian engineers valuable experience in such endeavors.
Giri Girishankar (May 31, '05)

As a Turk living abroad, I agree with everything you mentioned in the article [Turnabout for Turkey, May 28], at least the major points, but unfortunately my country is run by everyone except ethnic Turks who make up most of the population ... That same elite (writers, journalists, etc) who embraced [Samuel] Huntington now de-embrace him after what he said during his visit and talk. Prior to his visit, those people were using "Turkey" as a solution ... to Huntington's "clash of civilizations" thesis ... I deeply believe that Turkey has great potential to [overcome] problems [that] came with modernism and post-modernism, and lead many nations ... without getting into bed with Western powers, but not many people with money and power in Turkey have such visions or wishes. They want this status quo to go forever [so as to] keep people under control. I was saddened to see that only Huntington sees this as a foreigner ... in Turks' eyes, they are Turkish, they are spiritual, they are decent normal people, they are Middle Eastern, they share Middle Eastern culture, etc. This Western ideology ... came from [above], not from [below].
K (May 31, '05)

Nepal losing its way [May 27] seems to look at Nepal's situation from only one perspective. I do not understand why established journalists like [Dhruba] Adhikary fail to have patience and let the king do his job. As a citizen of Nepal, I would not support his writing.
Dr Sanjeev Gautam
Kathmandu, Nepal (May 31, '05)

Nepal losing its way [May 27] is well written. It is now high time that Nepalis understand who has been pulling the strings of the puppets in the country. [Recent incidents] have made India's interest very clear. If the king was really going to do something, it should have been obvious by now.
Samantha Lewis
Australia (May 31, '05)

Dhruba Adhikary's write-up Nepal losing its way that appeared on May 27 [objectively] reflects the diplomatic dilemma [Nepal] is facing vis-a-vis its relations with "traditionally friendly" countries and the acute political gridlock that it confounds internally, with no prospects of early resolution. King Gyanendra's February 1 action was in fact precipitated by none other than the political actors of the country who unanimously helped Sher Bahadur Deuba to put the democratically elected parliament to a premature death, all for vested political interests. That marks the genesis of constitutional crises. The phenomenal growth of the Maoist insurgency is indisputably a byproduct of the "democratic misrule" and the long-neglected deficiency in addressing the socio-economic anomalies that plagued the impoverished communities of the remote areas. Added to this predicament is the diplomatic faithlessness of India which Adhikary has succinctly dealt with. The Western countries, under the overt leadership of the United Kingdom, for whose imperial interests thousands of Nepalese laid down their lives during the two World Wars, have all pursued a Nepal-bashing policy only to oblige the Indian hegemony. It is a sheer double-crossing by Britain, which does not want to antagonize its former colony by looking at Nepal's current problems from an independent perspective. The recent revelation that Nepal's top Maoists had been escorted from their hideout by India's intelligence agents [to help] them to meet Indian communists should have embarrassed these Western countries, including the US. To put it in the most conservative terms, such behavior is nothing but diplomatic perfidy. Nepal's displeasure reportedly conveyed to the Indian and British envoys through a demarche a few days back by the foreign secretary was in fact long overdue. These countries ought to forsake their colonial hangover and desist from carving out the template of Nepal's political destiny in a foreign [capital]. My thanks are due Adhikary for his fearless writing.
Ratna Bahadur Rai
Kathmandu, Nepal (May 31, '05)

Yoel Sano's review [The Force is with the conservatives, May 27] of the latest CGI [computer-generated imagery]-infected space western, Star Wars (episode something), is quite correct in seeing the pseudo-liberal blathering of this film as masking the essentially reactionary politics at its core. A film that worships weaponry and warfare - regardless of the platitudes trotted out by various characters (and to be clear, the dialogue is little better than one finds in fortune cookies or Hallmark greeting cards) is going to be a Valentine to empire. Last time I wrote to ATimes I was castigated by several other letter writers for condemning the A-bomb obliteration of Hiroshima. I suspect those writers would enjoy this film and find great solace in its empty rhetoric and justifications on war and destruction. The real politics of this film most closely resemble what Ed Herman once described as the cruise-missile left - those who think we need armies to intervene and stop various wars and genocides (usually with little grasp that the governments of these armies started or supported these wars in the first place). Sano is also right to point toward the strange romanticizing of feudal ornamentation. If he doesn't come right out and say so, that is how I read it. The fawning over Jedi Knights and various kinds of royalty - the cosmetic fetishizing of imperial designs and dress - is almost parodic. Would that it were truly parodic. This is not a political film. The Battle of Algiers is a political film. That this would be confused in today's ueber-culture is a most depressing reality.
John Steppling
Krakow, Poland (May 31, '05)

It's a bit funny to read the comments of Faraz from Denmark [letter, May 27] on B Raman's article [A skeptic's take on Indo-Pak relations, May 25]. It's not a surprise that Raman was associated with RAW [Indian Research and Analysis Wing] and that is reflected in each of his writings about terrorism. His analysis is very much based on the experience Indians had from the Pakistan side (read Pakistani military junta), and of course Kargil was the right example to spot. I couldn't find even a single figment of imagination in that article. The most interesting pieces of your comments are [about] "oppressed Kashmiris" and "indigenous freedom struggle". Well, Mr Faraz, who are those oppressed Kashmiris you are talking about? Is it just the Muslims in Kashmir? Have you ever gone through the number of Kashmiri Pundits that were killed in this "freedom struggle"? What about the millions of Kashmiri Pundits who are displaced from there due to terrorism and living outside Kashmir ? Are they not Kashmiris? I don't think I can see anywhere in the world an "indigenous freedom struggle" that kills [its] own civilians and innocent children. Well, maybe it's a new breed of freedom struggle. A couple of weeks ago they attacked a school [and] massacred more than 20 children. Maybe that's the nature of this "indigenous freedom struggle". All these [things] happen almost every week there and you talk about the "human-rights violation" by India. Well, well ... maybe we all should add this new kind of "indigenous freedom struggle" into our sociology textbooks and call these "freedom fighters" ... "leaders of social renovation".
Hari K
Kochi, India (May 31, '05)

Dear [Chrysantha] Wejeyasingha [letter, May 24]: It is Lord Krishna, not Lord Shiva, who says, "Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people ..." (Bhagavad Gita 11:32). Even though Lord Shiva may be in charge of annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, in the ultimate analysis it is Lord Krishna who is the "cause of all causes" (Brahma Samhita ...).
Bharati Sarkar (May 31, '05)

Dear Spengler: Why does everyone concern themselves with the state of the so-called "West"? The closest there has ever been to a unified "West" was during the Roman Empire and later during Christendom. In both cases, neither reigned over all of Europe and both were put to an end by Northern Europeans (Goths for the former and Protestants for the latter). As for the threat from the so-called "East" or more accurately China, from the time of the Romans to prior to [Christopher] Columbus "discovering" America, the most technologically advanced civilization was that of China, which was on the verge of the industrial revolution by the time of Genghis Khan. Not only that but during that period their geopolitical power at times reached as far south as Indonesia and as far west as Iran. In addition, the Romans, the Spanish, and the British Empire (prior to the opium trade) all had large trade deficits with China. Can you say "deja vu"? The world is simply reverting to the way it used to be: a world in which the "West" is divided (in Europe between the "old" and "new", and internally due to Islamic immigration), where the old powers of Persia and the Turks are once again emerging in the Middle East, Russia once again reverting to a backward oligarchic-ruled society in which the vast majority are poor, and where the region that matters geopolitically and economically is the East, one which is dominated geopolitically and economically by China. I suggest that the so-called "West", especially Europe, get used to it. Its 15 minutes of fame (those few centuries of dominance) is over and most likely will never return again.
Elvis Esparza (May 31, '05)

Thanks, Asia Times [Online], for giving me a free-speech opportunity. Being an Indian Dalit or untouchable, this free speech is something I can only dream [of] but not practice in India as by practicing free speech in Hindu-dominated society the fate is either [being] burned alive or the gang-rape of our Dalit women by Hindu mobs. Thanks again for such excellent support to suppressed people like us. God bless you and your team. I am telling fellow Dalits about your site so that they can also enjoy this true speech freedom.
Govind Sikand
India (May 31, '05)

I admire your publication a great deal for the lively and enlightening debate to be found within its pages. But more often than I would like, your contributors seem to weigh too heavily in favor of grandiose theoretical polemics; playing fast and loose with the evidence. A recent example is the contention made by Ramtanu Maitra in Remaking Central Asia [May 27] that the rise of Hizbut-Tehrir is a British-led plot to weaken the major non-Islamic Asian powers. Yet if his reasoning is to have any shred of credibility, he must present [two] things: (1) That Bernard Lewis's Eurasian policy prescriptions have remained unchanged from the late 1970s to the present day. Back then, it was widely perceived that the USSR was on the march and that America's Asian and African allies were in disarray. Today, Russia's grip on Central Asia seems to be weakening, China's security policy is primarily focused on Taiwan, and the US already has a permanent military presence in the region and is locked in battle with Islamic militants. (2) That Britain grants Islamist organizations an especially lenient asylum policy denied to dissident groups of other ideological stripes. If [Maitra] is unable to convincingly suggest the above to be true, then his thesis is utterly useless in explaining the current world situation.
Jonathan X
Shanghai, China (May 27, '05)

I thoroughly enjoyed B Raman's piece Move over Zarqawi [May 27], particularly the excerpt form the Washington Post detailing the near-capture of Zarqawi himself and the actual capture of his laptop, complete with medical information, pictures of himself and his contact list. Who would have thought this mastermind would be so foolish as to carry a laptop with his picture, medical information and contact list, instead of committing this information to memory like any other resistance fighter? What a stroke of luck! God must truly be on our side. Not far from where Zarqawi eluded capture, his prosthetic leg was also found, and local witnesses later confirmed that he was last seen hopping across the desert like Terry Fox.
Francis
Quebec, Canada (May 27, '05)

Your choice of analogy is interesting. Terry Fox (1958-81) remains a hero in your country for his epic attempt to run across Canada to raise money and awareness in the fight against cancer, to which he had lost his right leg. One of the many theories surrounding the wounding of Zarqawi is that al-Qaeda plans to use his fate to bolster his hero image - if such a thing ever existed - in Iraq. - ATol

I was extremely disappointed to read B Raman's A skeptic's take on Indo-Pak relations [May 25]. It is indeed surprising how such biased opinions find their way into this otherwise balanced publication. B Raman's writings are clearly reflective of a typical Indian hegemonic mindset, and his orientation in Indian intelligence (RAW [Research and Analysis Wing]) is clearly visible. In line with his usual style he has simply blamed Pakistan for all the problems in Kashmir and has comfortably forgotten to [mention] the indigenous freedom struggle there and India's failure for the last 57 years to fulfill its commitment of providing the fundamental right of self-determination to the oppressed Kashmiris (despite its much-touted democratic credentials) and of course the rampant human-rights abuse in the Valley. If B Raman's writings in any way are indicative of the prevailing mood in India, then God help the peace process.
Faraz
Copenhagen, Denmark (May 27, '05)

It appears that Sudha Ramachandran's main aim in writing Sri Lanka grapples with Islamic threat (May 24) for Asia Times [Online] is to show the Islamic jihadists in a better light at the expense of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] of that island. And most of what she wrote is unedifying (I am trying to be polite) and somewhat uninformed ... I have been involved in Sri Lankan politics for more than 50 years. I have taught in a Muslim school and lived among them in Colombo. I am in constant touch with the events in Sri Lanka through my friends relatives and activists. Of course, it goes without saying I have friends among the Muslims of Sri Lanka who speak Tamil, which is my language also. Contrary to what Ramachandran writes, there is no collective animus between the Muslims and non-Islamic Tamils in eastern Sri Lanka. It is just her wishful thinking. As Ramachandran herself has confessed, some Muslim Tamils (like some non-Muslim Tamils) work for the Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF). They are not an honorable bunch of people. They have committed every crime known to man against unarmed Tamils. The LTTE whenever practicable try to neutralize them, whether Muslims or non-Muslims. Unfortunately, there are some Tamil speakers, and most Sinhalese, who think like Ramachandran - everything done in the name of the Sri Lankan government is sacrosanct and anything done by the LTTE to defend itself or the victimized Tamils is abhorrent. Let it be known ... it was the LTTE that instantly went to the aid of the Muslim Tamils of the eastern [part of the] island who suffered disproportionately from the tsunami and not the Sri Lankan government nor Ramachandran, her sanctimony notwithstanding. Despite efforts by the Sri Lankan government politicians, Ramachandran and her ilk, Muslims and non-Muslim Tamils have a good relationship. Let us keep it that way, madam. Like the proverbial "wolf lamenting the sheep's getting wet", Ramachandran uses intemperate invective to allege child recruitment by the LTTE. She cares two hoots for Tamil children; the aim is to give vent to her hatred for the LTTE. The Sri Lankan Sinhala army has tortured, killed and disposed of the bodies of hundreds of Tamil children with the knowledge, before and after the fact, of the Sri Lankan government. The NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and world bodies which are supposed to look after the interests of the children have done nothing about these atrocities but with consummate irony accuse the LTTE of trying to criminalize their yeomen service. The LTTE takes care of the children, many of whom have suffered in the hands of the army, [been] made orphans, homeless and traumatized. If I had grandchildren living under such frightful circumstances, I would rather they live under the protection of the LTTE, unless Ramachandran with such great sensitivity is willing to protect them ...
Kasan
USA (May 27, '05)

Re India races into space [May 20]: Govind Sikand rightfully laments (in his letter to the editor [of May 25]) the lack of social justice and equality in Indian society, thus lacking the credentials to be a modern democratic nation. He is not alone, I can assure him. Many from the so-called upper caste also experience the same. What can one expect from a nation where even established middle-level political leaders proudly exhibit such a public display of unashamed sycophancy and slavishness as to literally fall at the feet (in seeking blessings) of their party chairperson? Splashes of such photos abound in the media without any eyebrows raised. India is a combination of aristocracy, oligarchy and feudal lordship, all rolled into one. Anybody who tries to project India as a democracy is fooling himself/herself and others. India is what I would call a "demonocracy" - of the demon (politician), for the demon (politician), by the demon (politician), wherein, except for those directly or indirectly connected to political parties and politicians, the rest (probably over 90% of the ordinary people) are shut out (from social justice and equality).The ordinary public only matter when it comes to collecting taxes and bribes. India a democracy? Never was, never will be, unless the ... hypercorrupt, sycophant, self-serving current politicians [are] replaced with self-respecting, community-serving, goal-oriented politicians, not ever ready (for the cameras) to fall at the feet of the party chairperson for personal gains.
Nara
USA (May 27, '05)

Regarding the Ask Spengler article Women as priests? Women never forgive anything! [Apr 27], ... Most men like to portray women as being unforgiving because, by their very nature, they want us to also forget so they can continue with whatever behavior requires forgiveness. Unfortunately, forgetting does not equate with forgiveness. I can forgive a transgression, but to forget so that transgression can be continuously repeated against me is tantamount to sheer stupidity or insanity (my definition of insanity [is] doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results). In my lexicon, blind forgiveness is a promotion of irresponsibility on the part of the transgressor. So my question is, if all it takes to keep having a clean slate in the eyes of God/dess is to hit your knees and ask forgiveness and get up to repeat the reason for the knee-hitting episode, then how can we expect humanity to ever evolve mentally/spiritually/emotionally/physically out of childish me-first-mentality adolescence?
DragonDove
Austin, Texas (May 27, '05)

To add to Pepe Escobar's article [ Pipelineistan's biggest game begins, May 26] and to make a minor correction: It is as yet not clear for how long Kazakhstan will send some of its oil to the BTC [Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline]. So far a figure of 400,000 barrels a day has been proclaimed. Yet in 2005 the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) that runs through southern Russia is due to pump over 600,000 barrels a day - double what it was sending in 2003 - and an agreement has been signed to boost the throughput capacity to 68 million tons (over 1.3 million barrels a day) by 2007, in all likelihood to help fill the 700,000b/d Burgas-Alexandroupolis (Bulgaria-Greece) pipeline that bypasses the [Turkish] Straits. And while the US and its allies can surely boast of an impressive achievement, Russia is well on her way to expanding her global energy presence through the 1.6 million b/d pipeline to China and the Far East, to go along with 200,000b/d contribution to Kazakh-China pipeline and the rail shipments to China, expected to rise to 300,000b/d in 2006. Besides CPC, another major potential project for transporting Kazakh oil through Russia might be the Far East pipeline since it will be an extension of the Siberian pipeline network, itself connected to the Kazakh lines, giving the latter country an opportunity to export to East Asia. Currently it seems that Kazakhstan would have to boost its exports by an additional 1.4 million barrels a day by 2007 considering its commitments to CPC, BTC, and China (200,000b/d in a 400,000b/d pipeline in 2007). Will there be enough oil production to deliver on these promises or will someone - the West, Russia, or China - have to wait?
Leon Rozmarin
Hopedale, Massachusetts (May 26, '05)

[Re] Tom Engelhardt's The metrics of losing [May 25]: A sober and refreshing commentary about what being in a state of zealotry implies ... According to an old adage attributed to an unknown sage, it (zealotry) is indeed a double-edged sword. As it emboldens one's blood it also narrows one's rationale. With the contributions of Henry [C K Liu], Pepe [Escobar] and Tom, ATol has indeed reached the zenith of the online global websites. The least that can be said is thanks.
Armand DeLaurell (May 26, '05)

In response to the news article US flips its lid over 'middle finger' tag by Siddharth Srivastava in the May 25 edition of your paper, I would like to point out that Siddharth has incorrectly identified Sikhs as behind the bombings in Delhi theaters. The police have linked the bombings to Kashmiri militants and the investigation is still ongoing ... To carelessly blame Sikhs shows unprofessionalism and amateurishness on his part.
Charanjeet Singh (May 26, '05)

Siddharth Srivastava did not "blame Sikhs", he simply observed that that the crime "appears to be the handiwork of fundamentalist Sikh elements". Given the apparent motive for the bombings, such suspicion will remain unless and until police determine that others were to blame. - ATol

I really think that Govind Sikand [letter, May 25] has the wrong idea about ISRO [the Indian Space Research Organization]. ISRO is actually one of the better-run sections of the Indian government. It has contributed in many ways to India and in the long run will help the country save some serious money. For example the space program isn't simply there to put the flag up in the vacuum of space, it serves some vital services to the poor in the villages. India can launch its own telecommunication and television channels, thus interlinking the small villages more effectively. The ground sensor systems of ISRO help provide crucial info to the farmers and tell them what crops are best suited for their lands and where the best replenishable groundwater sources can be found. A new system [is planned] to set up educational facilities in far-flung villages. If a village doesn't have a teacher the students can learn from a teacher in a city who communicates with the kids through video conference. Doctors too can give vital checkups in far-flung villages through this system. ISRO also helps in the national-security aspect in a variety of ways by making us independent of other powers in this department. ISRO also makes a little bit of money on the side since it sells space on its launchers and many countries pay good money to have their satellites launched by ISRO. ISRO certainly isn't a waste, and compared [with] many other government ministries its budget is quite minuscule. ISRO is actually internationally renowned for helping the common man. I suggest that Sikand try to get hold of the New Scientist's "India Special" edition for more information. Space is a vital area for India and it helps the common many in many ways whether direct or indirect, and if we are going up there anyway, what is the harm in a little flag-waving while we are there in the final frontier? I agree that there are problems within India but the approach that Mr Govind seems to suggest is to ignore the international and technological aspects altogether. I am afraid that is just impossible, you cannot ignore the superpower and you just can't become isolationist since the modern world is getting ever more interconnected. Cocooning ourselves won't solve anything. After all, won't the common man need electricity, which the nuclear power plants help provide? Weren't the poor farmers asking for electricity subsidies in the Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh state elections? So won't being energy independence and less reliance on expensive foreign oil help us give them better services? Things aren't all that black and white and international diplomacy, research, and domestic administration are all part of the same package. No successful country can ignore any one of these and still hope to improve themselves. One shouldn't forget that you have to spend money to make money. India's efforts in these fields may seem costly today but they are already in many ways beginning to pay off.
Aryan Singh Rathore
London, England (May 26, '05)

Govind Sikand [letter, May 25], you make a good point that India in hugely disparate living conditions amongst its people cannot ever be considered a modern and prosperous nation without fundamental structural changes and the needed prosperity (through focus on its strength in the international marketplace). May I suggest that it can only begin when Indians start identifying themselves as Indian foremost and not as Dalit, Brahmin, Khetri or whatever else?
Nara
USA (May 26, '05)

The metrics of losing [May 25] by Tom Engelhardt is one of the very best articles on Iraq I have ever read. I thank ATimes for publishing it. You continue to uphold your reputation as the best damn "Times" in the world.
Francis
Quebec, Canada (May 25, '05)

I am really surprised at the way Sudha Ramachandran (Sri Lanka grapples with Islamic threat, May 24) portrays the Sri Lankan Muslim community and emergence of militant groups with the support of Middle Eastern money. I would be interested to see if [she] can provide any evidence of Middle Eastern money used for arming Muslims in Sri Lanka. Money sent by charity groups for digging a well, feeding an orphan, supporting a widow or even reconstructing a place of worship cannot be said [to be] funding for militant groups. Middle Eastern money to fund Muslim militants is a bogus claim. There may be a few weapons in the hands of civilians, be [they] Sinhalese, Hindus or Muslims, [but] this cannot be concluded [to be evidence] for the existence of a militant group.
Seyed Deen
Australia (May 25, '05)

Dear GHouse [letter, May 24]: You question Sudha Ramachandran's highlighting of Islamic terrorism in general and in Sri Lanka [Sri Lanka grapples with Islamic threat, May 24]. [What] else do you call terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam around the world? The last time I checked, Muslims espoused their religion and their jihadi/religious cause before they flew planes into [New York's World Trade Center], before they hacked an innocent in Iraq, before they killed children in Belarus, etc. You wish the writer to write about Hindu terrorism and Christian terrorism but you are unable to identify a single thread connecting them except the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]. As the writer pointed out, the LTTE is fighting for an ethnic and [linguistic] cause independent of religion. I have never seen a label for the LTTE as a Hindu group since it has some Tamils of all religions represented in it except for Muslim Tamils. As the writer pointed out, some Muslim Tamils and some Muslim Sri Lankans have made a common religious bond to commit terrorist acts in Sri Lanka. Now what would you call them other than Islamic terrorists?
Dirty Dog
San Francisco, California (May 25, '05)

I am writing in reference to India races into space by Siddharth Srivastava (May 20). His claim looks ridiculous and ultra-hypothetical. Being an Indian untouchable or dalit, I can imagine a nation going to space while its more than 300 million untouchable people are still living lives worse than animals in the 21st century. A nation doesn't become modern and prosperous by nuclear weapons and space rockets, it becomes modern and democratic only when it has social justice and equality for all its people regardless of castes, and I strongly believe that this quality is seriously missing in Indian society. I am not writing this letter to highlight the plight of untouchables but rather to underline the ridiculous priorities of the Indian government that, instead of giving [priority] to the social sector, is giving [priority] to everything but social justice and equality of its citizens. As [for] Srivastava's ... US looks nuclear India in the eye (May 14), again I want to say that the future of India lies in its people, not in outside superpowers. Maybe India is in the good books of the US these days, but these books change rapidly and the Indian government should not put [priority] on US policy but rather on its citizens, giving them equality no matter what caste they belong to.
Govind Sikand
India (May 25, '05)

The letters of Frank from Seattle keep dogging ATol readers. The consistent theme in them (other than racism and fear) is that President Chen Shui-bian does not represent Chinese people living in Taiwan. That may indeed be true, since at most 15% of the population can be defined as Chinese, with the remaining 85% being Taiwanese or Shandiren (aboriginal).
Daniel McCarthy (May 25, '05)

I would like to ask Sudha Ramachandran [Sri Lanka grapples with Islamic threat, May 24], does she know anything about Islam before she writes anything about terrorism and Islam? How can she brand a community as "Islamic terrorist"? Why does she forget about other communities, like Hindu terrorists, Christian terrorists? Money from the Middle East is used for funding militias. Do you know that the Tamil Nadu government helped to bring up the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] to the present condition? Could you point out someone/institute which has funded ... Muslims in East [Sri Lanka] to buy arms? But until now the Indian government/[states have been] helping the LTTE ...
GHouse (May 24, '05)

The article US marches toward sanctions on Iran [May 24] reflects the fact that Iran has consistently aimed her rhetoric and support of terrorism against Israel, which is not even mentioned in this article. Iran has no love for Israel and for decades stated clearly her position regarding the sovereignty and integrity of the State of Israel. If Iran achieves the capability to produce nuclear bombs and the necessary missile technology to deliver her deadly load, it won't be against the US or the EU but directly at Israel. The very existence of Israel is under threat of this growing "nuclear Iran". Even if sanctions fail and, as the article states, the US opts for military action against Iran, Israel will be right by the US side if not ahead of it ... The Israelis might launch a preemptive strike against Iran either [at] US request or on her own if the scenario of war is eminent. If war breaks out between the US and her allies against Iran, Israel will be the first to receive the Iranian blow ... I have no doubt Israel is ready and prepared to attack Iran when the sanctions fail, followed closely by the US military and her allies. If this happens even India's recalcitrant refusal to disengage from building a pipeline to Iran will cause severe setbacks to India, and I believe New Delhi knows this ... Whether the Iranian leadership is untrustworthy is not the issue, the Iranian leadership has made it amply clear what her intentions are concerning Israel. That very stand alone makes Iran too dangerous a nation to gain nuclear and missile technology. The article Armageddon: Bringing it on [(May 20) speaks of] the Islamic world against the US as the "final battle" of good verses evil. Unfortunately the article is too simplistic and one-sided. The world as we know it has 6 billion people in it, of which 1 billion are Muslims and 2 billion are Christians. Not all Christians nor Muslims will fight each other. It will be armies from some nations against armies and terrorists from some other nations. The rest of the world whether they be Hindu, Buddhist, communist or secularist aren't included in this grand scheme. Even if a war [were] to take the dimensions of World War II, extrapolating the current population into the calculations of war, it still would leave most of the world quite alive and their religions flourishing. The "Armageddon" scenario may be happily accepted by both Christians and Muslims but it is alien to most other faiths, including communism. Maybe the words of Lord Shiva, "I have become death, the destroyer of worlds," may come true for Muslims and the armies that are predominantly Christian, but [they] may not have any bearing to the rest of mankind.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (May 24, '05)

John Napiorkowski [letter, May 23] told us that it does not matter where you live. It is the cultural and the capability of reading the information in that society [that] matters more. Mac Bishop [Taiwan leaders paint poll with broad strokes, May 19] lives in Taiwan and still does not have a clue about what happened in Taiwan. ATol editor keeps telling us that those white men in Asia know more about Asia than Asians living overseas. It seems like the white man in Canada cannot agree with that argument. Why cannot we let Asians express more of their own opinions about their own countries? I hope John can let his wife express her own opinions directly too. Most Asians do not need white spokespersons to speak for them. Please let Asians speak their own minds, regardless of where they live.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (May 24, '05)

Though it is couched in his usual racist rhetoric, Frank makes a worthy point here: it would indeed be interesting to know the views of John Napiorkowski's Taiwanese wife, if she would be so kind as to send them to us. - ATol

The two faces of Pakistani terror [May 18], an interesting article by Siddharth Srivastava, beats on the terrorist mantra projected by [hegemonic] powers on [disfranchised] people of Palestine, Chechnya or Kashmir. It's important to realize that history proves that people can be subjugated but not indefinitely - the will to resist will always be there as it's the essence of human nature. Kashmiris have been subjugated by India for long in spite of UN resolutions. India on [the basis of] its military might is trying its best to subjugate them and I think in the post-[September 11, 2001] scenario when Palestinians, Chechens and Kashmiris are portrayed as terrorists, India's fortune is on the ascendancy. However, the future of the millions lying below the poverty line in the Indo-Pak subcontinent does not lie in crushing the aspirations of people under the boots or through print. It lies in finding ways to identify and make happen win-win scenarios for all stakeholders. I wish Siddharth Srivastava used his capabilities in that direction instead of branding Pakistan a terrorist [state] so that his and my future generations may enjoy peace in the Indo-Pak subcontinent.
Arshad Malik (May 24, '05)

It's interesting [to consider] all the general theories on [the events of September 11, 2001] and the Jewish connection ... as it is not hard to compare September 11 to the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and think there is possibly something to it all. But one has to go no further than history to realize all of that is a typical tactic called "divide and conquer", which is an old Roman war method. I call it "divert attention to someone else". Blame them for what one is actually doing. Henry Ford's pushing the book The International Jew was a Catholic scam by a Catholic. The Jews are not the ones who drove the world into the Dark Ages, it was the Catholics [Why the beautiful is not the good, May 17]. The Catholics are the ones who for 2,000 years have been going all over the world making war and spreading lies about this religion called Christianity or Catholicism. The good old days of just burning people at the stake and cutting the natives' heads off just doesn't go over very well these days. If anyone wants to make blame for why [US President George W] Bush is still in office, just ask the Catholics ... who number one in every four Americans. Now you know why Bush was on his knees before the pope and then kissing his ass just one more time before they boxed the gay man up. Don't get me wrong, I think the Catholics and Jews come out of the same box of religious fraud and as long as we have these beliefs then the Earth will have wars. Political parties, religion and the media make for good control of the masses. Now let us learn some simple math: Plutocracy > Democracy = Fraud.
Craig Crowley
Thailand (May 24, '05)

The US's willingness to end the more than three-decades-long nuclear-energy blockade of India, as expressed by Secretary of State [Condoleezza] Rice, is indeed a very welcome development. India has remained a responsible nuclear nation despite being a non-signatory of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] and the world community has known it too well. Whatever be the motivations of the US in its newfound willingness to end the blockade, its basis is reportedly India's high "trust factor". India is looking to increase its generation capacity to meet its rapidly escalating demands of power by resorting to more and more nuclear energy in light of its humongous bill for imported oil. The US's willingness to work with India on nuclear technology is well timed and should be appreciated. Similarly, the recent offer of nuclear reactors by Russia is also a welcome development. India should take advantage of the economies and the diversity of the designs thus available. As Shrivastava has pointed out in his column [US looks nuclear India in the eye, May 14], Russia is already helping India construct a nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. If these offers come to fruition, it largely becomes India's responsibility to develop a comprehensive and far-reaching nuclear-power generation policy.
Giri Girishankar (May 24, '05)

Well, let's hope this is fantasy and all your predictions are fallacy: "In Muslim legend, 'Khorasan' is from where an army will emerge to support Muslims in the Middle East. Their battle will end with victory in Palestine and the revival of Khilafah (caliphate). For the past few decades, Muslim academics have described Khorasan as the Central Asian states, Afghanistan and Pakistan" [ Armageddon: Bringing it on, May 20]. We in the West know what this is about. We will never allow a bunch of ignorant primitives living in the 10th century to drag us into the Dark Ages. Too bad such ignorance still flourishes in the world, but that is the legacy of Islam.
Robert Tulloch (May 23, '05)

You in the media just keep throwing more gasoline on the fire of hate every time you rush to show the carnage of a car bombing, a beheading, a transgression. You must accept your part in this as well. You do not come out smelling like roses either.
Joy Miller (May 23, '05)

As a journalist my work is to give an assessment of the situation and put into perspective. I am only trying to do this; I am not aiming to pass a judgment on such belief, nor aiming to write a commentary.
- Syed Saleem Shahzad

Yes, India races into space [May 20] with pride and dignity. It may have been slow getting to that point, but Indians can certainly take great pride in the fact that the achievement was the result of hard work over many years by Indian scientists and technologists, in the face of sanctions by the US and other developed nations by restricting their cooperation. India's space technology is being used to build synergies into its missile technology. What brings dignity to the achievement is that India has performed highly responsibly during all these years, without peddling its technology to other countries for money or to meet other objectives. India's record in nuclear technology development has been the same. The recognition by the developed nations of this impeccable record has come not a little too soon. Hopefully, India will now get a chance to advance its technology in the areas of space, missiles and nuclear energy in the future without any undeserved constraints, and become a competitive force in commercial launching of satellites for other countries. Hopefully too, India will be able to expand its power generation capacity by increased utilization of nuclear energy, as an alternative to oil, to meet its domestic power needs.
Giri Girishankar (May 23, '05)

I have a rebuttal to Alexander Bukh's [May 20] commentary on how Germany's apology can't be applied in the case of Japan [Japan through the looking glass]. Bukh wrote, "However, Japan never had the well-designed and premeditated policy of genocide that is the main characteristic of the European trauma." With all due respect to Bukh's claim, Japan did engaged in a "well-designed and premeditated policy of genocide" in Korea. Japan's policy of genocide in Korea took place in the form of destruction of cultural heritage and forbidding the use of Korean language, all in an attempt to erase Korean identity and history. And countless lives of Koreans were lost under Japanese rule. A systematic destruction of a whole national identity is also a policy of genocide. Because of people like Bukh, Japan will never face up to her wartime atrocities and there'll never be a true reconciliation between Japan and her neighbors.
Sean (May 23, '05)

Referring to the commentary Lebanon and its message [May 20]: Rabbi Moshe Reiss's article is quite creative and wrong. He is giving Oxford University and Yale University a bad name. Some might think that's where he gets his erroneous information from, which of course is not the case. One must keep in mind that if it were not for the success of Christianity, Judaism would be just another obscure religion. The fact that Jesus was Hebrew is used by many to promote the idea that Judaism and Christianity are the same. They are not. In fact, Jesus did not agree with the Jewish hierarchy practicing their religion in a marketplace/temple makeover, courtesy of Rome. It is well known that Jesus trashed the place. That is one of the main reasons the Jewish high priests wanted Jesus killed. He exposed their farce. Today we hear from some scholars that King Solomon built some sort of magnificent temple, most probably using some Greco/Roman ideas. No such thing existed. The Israelis have been digging in the area for over 100 years. Nothing much is uncovered showing any grandeur for Judaism architecture. There is also nothing in the Sinai Desert. And not surprisingly, and erroneously, there are claims that Hebrews (an Egyptian tribe) were instrumental in the building of the pyramids in Egypt. These days, many Jews, Rabbi Moshe Reiss included, would like to rewrite history to fit their fantasies.
Robert Smith (May 23, '05)

This letter is to clear up a misunderstanding which Mac William Bishop expressed in his reply [May 20] to my letter about his article Taiwan leaders paint poll with broad strokes [May 19]. He stated that I accused him of having a pan-blue pro-China bias. Nowhere in my letter did I state this. Perhaps he's thinking of someone else? Perhaps it's a Freudian slip? Regardless, that is another mistruth which I would like to clear up. I simply stated that his article did not reflect the whole situation accurately. And as for accuracy, Mr Bishop is completely out to lunch with respect to the media presence in Taiwan. That is extremely surprising, being that Mr Bishop is 1) in Taipei and 2) a journalist (whom I assume is an expat from a democratic country). How he can honestly tell the Asian Times Online readers that Taiwan has ... even remotely balanced media (with a straight face) is beyond me. Yes, even as a layman in Vancouver, I can make that assessment (Vancouver has a multicultural channel which receives multiple news feeds from Taiwan every day). However, my lengthy stay in Taiwan with my Taiwanese wife and her family (for several years) cemented that belief earlier. Ask anyone who supports Taiwan as being democratic and independent and they will tell you that the KMT [Kuomintang] media domination still exists (how could it not? Taiwan is still a very young democracy). And, as for the pan-green media - I would argue that [they are] far more neutral than any of [their] pan-blue competition. Why doesn't Mr Bishop want to get into talking about the TV stations? Simple. Because the overwhelming majority of them are pan-blue - and I would argue that most Taiwanese get their information from TV. As for Mr Bishop dismissing my argument that the coverage was dismal with respect to the National Assembly election - here's a quote from the editor of the Taipei Times, who seems to agree with me. "A recent opinion poll suggests that most voters don't know the election date - May 14 - and that half don't know what the elections are for, or what impact they will have. This is largely due to the media's obsession with the China trips by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan and People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong" (Taipei Times editorial, April 25). But I suppose that's a further example of "hyperventilating". Do some simple analyses, Mr Bishop. How much combined coverage was given to Lien/Soong's trip and the dead comedian? I think if you did some research yourself you would find that three hours with President Chen [Shui-bian] pales in comparison. But alas, I forget - you have friends with views ranging across the political spectrum.
John Napiorkowski
Vancouver, British Columbia (May 23, '05)

I am surprised that Mac William Bishop tells us that either we have to agree with him or we are hyperventilating extremists [letter, May 20]. Despite my disagreements with [letter writer John] Napiorkowski, I still think he does not deserve that treatment from Mac Bishop. Everybody [is entitled to] their views. Honest opinions should always be welcomed regardless if you like them or not. Mac Bishop admits that he sold his soul to the pro-green camp for a [pitiful] paycheck. I am wondering where the article from the pro-blue camp is. Where is the spirit of fairness and balanced reporting?
Frank
Seattle, Washington (May 23, '05)

The media or, in this instance, newsprint [seem] to have forgotten how powerful and influential they are [Just who is the 'son of a bitch'?, May 18]. Both the Newsweek and Sun publications have broken basic journalistic laws by publishing stories and photos based on unnamed sources. Refusing to identify a source, just as an unnamed writer hides behind Name and Address Supplied, is no different than uttering a lie. A faceless fact is a bald-faced lie. As a former journalist and editor, it was always policy to print nothing without a name attached. No name, no print. "They", as a source, was unacceptable. If someone said something, then be man or woman enough to put your name behind it. So shame on Newsweek and The Sun for dragging dirt over open wounds and not having the guts to name the sources who committed the errors.
Walter Hoar
Hong Kong (May 23, '05)

The Koran is a message, not a physical object [Just who is the 'son of a bitch'?, May 18]. What may or may not have been desecrated was just so much paper and ink. To worship a physical object such as a book is idolatry, and idolatry is forbidden in Islam. The message itself could not have been desecrated using the methods described by Newsweek. The reaction from certain quarters to the Newsweek report bespeaks not devotion to Allah but illiteracy and ignorance. It is these same groups of people that tend to be volatile, intolerant, and prone to violence. The answer to terrorism may lie not so much in democracy as in education.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (May 23, '05)

Regarding the article Energizing new wars (May 18), the scenario depicted ... is downright frightening. I read an article that there is the potential in wind power to generate enough electricity to power the entire world by utilizing just 20% of the wind resources of the globe. If this is true and nations don't act now in R&D [research and development] in wind, solar and other sources of power, the opportunity to be independent from fossil and gas energy will be "gone with the wind". Take India for instance: she is blessed with abundant solar and wind resources due to her location near the equator. Wind farms could also be solar farms, thereby saving land, and the solar cells can energize the windmills to turn if there is no strong breeze to do it. That would be a win-win solution, and I cannot think of a better place than Rajasthan to have massive wind/solar farms.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (May 23, '05)

I appreciate the letter from Lan Tran [May 19]. I am an Indian who is living in the US and have spent more than two years in China. Although my stay in China was temporary, considering 5,000 years of Chinese history, everyone there is temporary. Lan Tran has to some extend downplayed the impact of religion on the nationality perspective. In [a] world where wars are being fought on religious lines, this is a stand we should appreciate. [If] people of different nationalities are proud of their nations and downplay their religious affiliations, this world may become a better place.
Ayush
Orlando, Florida (May 23, '05)

Another very interesting and insightful article from M K Bhadrakumar, The lessons from Ferghana [May 18]. Among many good points is that Russia and Kyrgyzstan have not parted ways, as the tendentious Western commentaries casually quip every now and then. I only wonder, however, if the Khanabad base [in Uzbekistan] is as essential to operations in Afghanistan as it is made out to be. The US has bases there, and can build more, but Khanabad and Manas [an airbase in Kyrgyzstan] could be slowly turning into tools in the geopolitical competition in the region. To add to Bhadrakumar's article, not only has Kyrgyzstan's acting leader [Kurmanbek] Bakiev recently promoted the question of dual citizenship with Russia, but he has hinted, so far only generally, about willingness to expand Russian military presence in the country, something Russian leaders have planned since late 2004. In Uzbekistan, the approaching growth in gas and oil extraction and exports from Lukoil's and Gazprom's contracts - worth approximately [US]$2 billion - is likely to give succor to the government's plans for social and economic development, while the sales of Uzbek-assembled Daewoo cars in Russia rose by 170% to 35,400 units - the fourth highest sold in Russia - in 2004, according to Itar-Tass [the official Russian news agency]. Perhaps next time Bhadrakumar might address the developments in Kazakhstan, and perhaps Azerbaijan, since now the swarms of "revolutionaries" are redirecting themselves to the former country. And what of Azerbaijan's [President Ilham] Aliev and his improving relations with Iran and the Russian radar station still at Gabala? Will not the US reckon it is time for another overthrow ... is Aliev feeling expendable?
Leon Rozmarin
Hopedale, Massachusetts (May 20, '05)

Finally, someone is reporting the news! I very much appreciated Syed Saleem Shahzad's fine piece on the end of the world as predicted in the Bible and Koran [Armageddon: Bringing it on, May 20]. Now that we are clear on what is happening, what are we to do about it? After 9-11 [September 11, 2001], we (the US) had a perfect opportunity to reach out to the Muslim world with the hand of peace. We could have sought greater understanding. We might have brought Islamic leaders together with Christian leaders to form some sort of coalition that would promote greater cultural understanding and awareness. But we did not do this. Rather, we chose to use force to make the world safe for MTV and Sex in the City, and the Muslim world is reacting just as any person with a grain of intelligence would predict. Many of us saw this coming. Twice we tried to stop it at the polls, but we failed. I think the part that disturbs me most about our failure is how so-called Christians have twisted the words of my savior, Jesus Christ, to condone war and bloodshed - and now torture. Jesus said to love each other. How does one love one's enemy? How about this: listen to him. Try to understand what he believes and why. Then, perhaps, he will listen to you. My work has taken me all over the world. In every place I have ever been, I have found people to be good, loving, caring, and respectful. I have found this to be true in communist countries and capitalist countries. I have found this to be true among Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists. So here's the deal, we can start loving each other now, as God has commended, or we can die in the flames of a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Mike
USA (May 20, '05)

This letter is in response to John Napiorkowski's extremely courteous missive on March 19 regarding my article Taiwan leaders paint poll with broad strokes. I find it amusing that Mr Napiorkowski accuses me of a pan-blue [as Taiwan's opposition parties are known], pro-China bias, as generally I am lambasted by the pan-blues and the pro-China camp for my supposed pro-Taiwan independence views. But when he says, "Any foreigner living in Taiwan (for any length of time) knows that the media is overwhelmingly dominated by the oppressive pro-unification KMT [Kuomintang] party (sic)," it is obvious that he hasn't the slightest clue what he is talking about. For instance, I myself am regularly employed by the Liberty Times Group, which owns the Liberty Times, a Chinese-language daily (one of Taiwan's largest newspapers by circulation), and the Taipei Times, an English-language daily. These newspapers are well-known for their pro-independence, pro-green views. Of the five largest Chinese-language newspapers in Taiwan, two are pro-blue, pro-unification (the China Times and the United Daily News), two are pro-independence, pro-green (the Liberty Times and the Taiwan Daily), and one tends toward political neutrality (the Taiwan edition of Hong Kong's Apple Daily). I won't begin to go into the TV stations. However, I feel compelled to point out that when Mr Napiorkowski says the only coverage in the news prior to the election was about [KMT chairman] Lien [Chan's] and [People First Party chairman James] Soong's trips to China and the death of one of Taiwan's most famous comedians, he again exposes his ignorance of what is happening here. There are literally dozens of political talk shows in Taiwan, and all of these went into overdrive before the election, as did the daily editorialists and pundits. President Chen Shui-bian gave at least three hour-long interviews on different TV stations in the week leading up to the election, in addition to hosting numerous rallies. Mr Napiorkowski seems to have missed the point of my article entirely, which was that, due to the record-low turnout, the poll was not a "victory" for the Democratic Progressive Party any more than the December legislative elections were a "defeat" for it. I have lived in Taiwan for some time, and I count among my friends people with views ranging the entire political spectrum. That's part of the wonderful thing about Taiwan that always gets lost when hyperventilating extremists such as Mr Napiorkowski and Frank from Seattle start spewing their views: Taiwan is diverse, open and vibrant. But perhaps it looks different from Vancouver.
Mac William Bishop
Taipei, Taiwan (May 20, '05)

In America the firm InVision was charged with violating the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) in its dealing with the Thai government [Thailand blasted by airport scandal, Apr 30]. The firm pleaded "nolo contendere" and settled out of court. The reaction of the Thai government to the implied corruption allegation proceeded as follows: First there was an immediate denial that any corrupt practices took place. Second, there was a threat to blackball the American vendor and to cancel the order. Third, an order was issued to the Transport Ministry, the implicated party, to investigate itself with respect to these allegations. Fourth, there was an attempt to remove the auditor general from office and to have her replaced after she initiated an independent investigation. Not only are we corrupt we are also confused. Help us.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand (May 20, '05)

I agree with Lan Tran [letter, May 19] that today's India has nothing to do with that ancient country where Buddhism originated. I also agree with John Napiorkowski that ATol should not publish so many articles about Taiwan authored by foreign writers. Chinese in Taiwan should also have a chance to express their opinions. They expressed their strong opinions on the Taiwan streets that they do not like to be ruled by [President] Chen Shui-bian and his party. The recent historic low attendance of the poll indicates that they do not think the election is going to change a thing about their lives. They have to think about a better way to preserve their peace in Taiwan.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (May 20, '05)

Vincent Maadi's May 13th letter to the editor was in error on a few points. First, Americans never were drawn into Dien Bien Phu [Vietnam]. That was the French in 1954. During the American involvement, Dien Bien Phu was in North Vietnam. The Americans never put large formations of ground troops there, mostly only small reconnaissance teams. Second, Dien Bien Phu is 250 miles [around 400 kilometers] from the Gulf of Tonkin, not 600 miles. Third, the US military is highly unlikely to get away with underreporting casualties. The power and freedom of the US press - good or bad - is legendary, and it, coupled with angry family members wondering where their serving sons and daughters were, would indeed reveal the truth. Moreover, while the American military has through history behaved atrociously on occasion, it has corrected itself just as much. For example, it was an American military man who stopped the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, and it was the also American military people who helped bring to light the Abu Ghraib scandal. These people would never let their brothers in arms die unnoticed. To assume so is to immeasurably underestimate the US military mentality. Lastly, while there are indeed similarities between America's war in Vietnam and Iraq now, there are also just as many differences. One is that the communist Vietnamese had a highly active political wing that offered a definite, alternative form of government other than what South Vietnam and the US had to offer. This is not the case with the Iraqi insurgents who kill more Iraqis via terrorist acts than anyone else. Second, at present the Iraqi resistance is largely carrying out terrorist acts on civilians and car bombings of some US forces in urban areas. While the Vietnamese communists did carry out acts of terror, such as the 1965 My Canh floating restaurant bombing, most of the conflict was jungle guerrilla warfare and maneuver warfare by opposing forces of company, battalion, and regimental size. Iraq is none of this.
Jimmy
Orlando, Florida (May 20, '05)

Again, as seems to be the trend with Asia Times Online recently, your writer (Mac William Bishop) has failed to report the whole situation in Taiwan [Taiwan leaders paint poll with broad strokes, May 19]. What's more, his assessment is illogical. Bishop says "The National Assembly election cannot be described in simplistic 'unification versus independence' terms, and in fact had little to do with cross-strait relations." That's funny! The writer could be forgiven for his ignorance (or bias) if he were living outside of Taiwan. However, at the end of his article it clearly states that he is based in Taipei. Any foreigner living in Taiwan (for any length of time) knows that the media is overwhelmingly dominated by the oppressive pro-unification KMT [Kuomintang] party. Leading up to this important election (yes, there is more significance to this event than the writer lets on), all that could be found on TV and in print were the treacherous escapades of [KMT chairman] Lien [Chan] and [People First Party chairman James] Soong and wall-to-wall coverage of the death of a famous Taiwanese celebrity. With journalism like this in Taiwan, who can blame the people for being ignorant about the important issues for this election? As for the rain skewing the results to favor the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] - did it only rain in KMT territory? Come on. In actuality, the recent visits [to China] by Lien and Soong backfired. The people who cared to vote certainly did vote, with this recent sell-out in mind. Otherwise, Lien and the KMT would have had a majority. They were on the same side as the DPP on these election issues after all. In the last month or so we've had two major indications that the Taiwanese official independence movement is as strong as ever: one million marched against China (in Taipei) in late April, and now we see the results of this most recent poll. How many more indications of this solid trend in the Taiwanese consciousness are Bishop and others like him going to ignore?
John Napiorkowski
Vancouver, Canada (May 19, '05)

Ramtanu Maitra (in Rising to India's defense, May 19) seems to have missed one point. The defense scandals and the subsequent witch hunt against [former prime minister] Rajiv Gandhi's government were not just smoke and mirrors. It was a deliberate policy of the then-ruling Congress Party to use defense deals as a way to secure political funding. The fact is that this strategy opened the door for systemic corruption with not only generals and admirals, but colonels and captains prematurely retiring from the armed forces and becoming salesmen. While no country has a non-corrupt system, the system should serve the strategic and tactical requirements for the armed forces. In that regard, one must characterize the questions surrounding the infamous Bofors [gun] scandal, the HDW submarines, the Mirage 2000 fighter and other deals signed by Congress as legitimate and the media as doing its job rather than running a witch-hunt. Pranab Mukherjee, then as finance minister, must surely be aware of this history firsthand.
AP (May 19, '05)

I've been reading your online edition for quite some time now and have a few comments to make. First and foremost, I enjoy your columns and your unique point of view. Unfortunately, I've noticed that your Indian writers have a distinct bias and pro-Indian viewpoint. I wouldn't call their writing news reporting so much as propaganda. Case in point: the recent article by Manjeet Singh Pardesi titled India and China: Neither friends nor foes [May 18]. The author seems to credit everything in China to Buddhism and India's influence in China via Buddhism. First of all, Buddhism was one important aspect of Chinese culture; to state that it influenced everything is a bit of an exaggeration. Though Buddhism was invented in India, to state that India influenced every aspect of China through Buddhism, including Confucianism and Taoism, is overstated. Secondly, to state that India played such a role would be tantamount to stating that Western civilization owes everything in its culture to Arab and Jewish culture because Christianity happened to be invented in the Middle East. Though Buddhism was invented in Nepal on the Chinese/Indian border, much of Chinese culture today was greatly influenced by Chinese scholars expanding Buddhism on their own. The central aspect of Chinese culture is Confucianism, not Buddhism, as most Chinese in the present day are not practicing Buddhists. Further, the article seems to omit past conflicts with India, especially during the period under Emperor Kublai Khan [1279-1294], when large swaths of India were subjugated. Not only that, the article seems to understate Chinese cultural influences on India. All in all, I enjoy reading your articles online but find the constant nationalistic, pro-Indian/pro-Hindu stance to be laughable. There really is a nationalistic blindness to the articles being written by Indians online.
Lan Tran (May 19, '05)

Please note that the Indian writer you refer to is part of our Speaking Freely section, in which we allow guest writers to have their say.

I thank Henry C K Liu for his response [letter, May 18] to my question regarding the views of people in China and Hong Kong regarding his policy suggestions. I would like to continue this discussion by pointing out a fundamental difference between Liu's point of view and my own. Liu writes, "Colonialism is very much the rule of one foreign people over another in their homeland, with the disregard for the voices of the people only definitional collateral damage." Liu also writes, "People and political systems have a very different opinion on what democracy is." These statements merely muddy the issue of whether the Chinese people and Chinese citizens residing in Hong Kong should be consulted about their system of government. If the voice of the people is important, then the people must be allowed to speak before they can be heard. Every concept of democracy accepts that free speech, in whatever limited form, is critical to having representative government. A desire for less discussion explains the drive to centralize power in Beijing, as Mr Liu suggests. Liu himself is a good example of the restrictions placed on free speech. He seems to be incapable of reflecting on possible problems in the Chinese government. He is, however, very capable of making stinging criticisms of the United States' Patriot Act and American hypocrisy in "promoting democracy". I agree that democracy in the US is collapsing under right-wing assault. How much longer open criticism of the government will thrive in America is uncertain, but today it is still quite easy to engage in organized political opposition and the right of free speech remains largely intact. Being able to speak freely and honestly is not an American invention. The entire Marxist movement was a response to oppression of worker's voices by industrialists and their allies in government. Mr Liu is free to make his views known in English on American websites. Recently, an online forum at Tsinghua University was shut down, as it became a host to open discussions by Chinese students. It is obvious that the voice of the people is not cherished, but stifled, by such actions. Surely Mr Liu does not believe his own compatriots to be inferior and unworthy of the same opportunities he himself enjoys to make his views known and engage in discussion.
G Travan
California (May 19, '05)

If you would like to continue this debate further please move the issue to our forum, http://forum.atimes.com

I wish to comment further on Mark Schrider's letter of May 18. I am at a great loss in understanding how actions of the American army can go beyond the reach of any American court or the International Criminal Court [ICC]. Why is the US military so influential, while its judiciary is apparently so indolent? The US is possibly the only democratic nation giving its forces so much power over political decision. It is because of this special dispensation that the US Army has committed barbaric crimes against Abu Gharib prisoners in Iraq and detainees held illegally and without trial at Guantanamo Bay. I strong believe that the US troops should not be exempt from prosecution at the ICC. Desecration of the Koran by some bastard American soldiers should not go unpunished, and the hush-hush job, possibly under pressure from the [George W] Bush administration, by Newsweek is totally unconvincing. All Islamic countries should unite and demand that President Bush hand over these illegitimate soldiers to Saudi Arabia to be punished according to Islamic Sharia law. An apology will not make millions of Muslims happy and satisfied, and until Islamic justice is seen to be done to those responsible for this sordid act, the matter will not be buried in the dust. Muslims will never tolerate this sinful display of arrogance by American soldiers, and if President Bush wants peace with the Islamic world, this should and must never be allowed to happen again on any soil.
Saqib Khan
London, UK (May 19, '05)

While the desecration of anything that is sacred to another is inherently wrong [Just who is the 'son of a bitch'? [May 18], I tend to believe the initial version of the Newsweek story on the desecration of the Koran at Gitmo [Guantanamo Bay, Cuba]. Why? Quite simple. In US prisons, it is common practice for guards to go into an inmate's cell while they are seeing a visitor or are otherwise out of their cell and toss the cell. They will then throw whatever the inmate holds most dear, be it a family photo, prayer beads, a Bible, a Koran ... in the toilet. So it would not surprise me that a common tactic used to break prisoners here in the US would be used in attempting to break detainees being interrogated at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, or any of the other unknown and unnamed US detention facilities around the world. It would not require any great stretch of the imagination to think that the administration put pressure on the editorial board at Newsweek to quash the story and discredit their source. Given the [George W] Bush administration's penchant for secrecy and aversion to the truth, it is very likely the case. These revelations are nothing new, they are simply being used to pressure media outlets that question administration policy to toe the ideological line. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Meyers, stated that the riots in Afghanistan have more to do with the general dissatisfaction with the political process than anything else. So, this coincidental violence provides yet another opportunity for the US administration to force US media outlets to come to heel.
Mark Schrider
Columbus, Ohio (May 18, '05)

For all the many pages of great beauty in it, the Requiem in D Minor is hardly one of Mozart's greatest works [Why the beautiful is not the good, May 17]. For one thing, the Requiem was never finished by Mozart, who was dying as he worked on it. A fellow named [Franz Xaver] Sussmayr was the first to finish it, but others, aware of the Sussmayr version's shortcomings, have made their own attempts. For this reason alone it simply cannot compare to Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi, the final six symphonies, the last 10 or so piano concerti, or The Magic Flute. As for modern ears recoiling at the music of the 1430's, Spengler simply doesn't know what he's talking about. Anonymous 4, Paul Hillier and many, many others have made successful, well-paid careers by performing the music of [Guillaume de] Machaut, his contemporaries, and his predecessors. Furthermore, [Igor] Stravinsky and [Anton] Webern were only two of the many great composers of the past 100 years who cited Machaut as a major influence. (Of course, to Spengler, probably neither Stravinsky nor Webern qualify as great composers, but that's another argument. Suffice it here to say, they are.)
Richard Einhorn
New York, New York (May 18, '05)

G Traven [letter, May 16] asks an important question about majority popular opinion with regard to the issue of the rule of law [Hong Kong appeal court in the dock, May 14]. Unfortunately, while everyone is supportive of the principle of democracy, people and political systems have a very different opinion on what democracy is and how it should work in different social/cultural, historical settings. On the issue of Hong Kong, the negotiation of its return to Chinese sovereignty was conducted bilaterally between the British and Chinese governments, with no participation by the people of Hong Kong. While there are people in Hong Kong, there is no "people of Hong Kong", nor is such a polity recognized by any other polity. The rule of law is independent of politics and cannot be applied selectively according to one's preference for any one particular political system. The rule of law in the US provides legitimacy and legality to the US Patriot Act, which is generally acknowledged as a law that drastically curbs civil liberties for the sake of homeland security. The agreement between the British and Chinese governments was that there should be no change in the legal, socio-economic and