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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 administrative structure of Hong Kong for 50 years. As pointed out in my article, under the English common-law system, legality is based on precedent, with the inclusion of extensive non-statuary law. The legal authority in common law rests on tradition, custom, and especially precedent. Democracy and freedom were not a tradition, custom or precedent in colonial Hong Kong. Therefore, it can be logically argued in a Hong Kong court that democracy and freedom are in fact illegal within the context of "50 years without change", even under Chinese sovereignty. Mr Traven suggests that I should realize that what made British rule over Hong Kong colonial was not the race of the British but their disregard for the voices of the people they ruled. The fact of the matter is that 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. The National People's Congress (NPC) is a duly elected legislative body which the Chinese constitution identifies as "the highest organ of state power". The people in Hong Kong are duly represented in the NPC, thus the voices of the people in Hong Kong are not disregarded by the legislative actions on the part of the NPC. The misuse of the principle of democracy for purposes of geopolitical propaganda weakens the credibility of the US campaign to spread democracy around the world, especially when it is to be accomplished by force. The US has repeatedly tried to topple democratically elected governments not to its liking, the latest example being the [George W] Bush White House's efforts to engineer a coup in Venezuela. In his speech to the National Endowment for Democracy in November 2003, President Bush admitted to a historic failure in US policy. Over the past six decades the US has sought geopolitical stability through anti-communist regimes that did not set liberty as a priority, with total disregard for the voices of the people.
Henry C K Liu
New York (May 18, '05)

There are sons of bitches and then there are sons of bitches. It is important to distinguish between the two. Jim Lobe's Just who is the 'son of a bitch'? [May 18] describes the Pentagon's petulant response to their flibbertigibbet employee who divulged the Koran-in-the-toilet story to a Newsweek reporter. The gist of the Newsweek story is almost certainly true. But, according to many, the source and reporter are sons of bitches because they should have known that people would die as a result of going public with the story. I doubt that those who are now apoplectic over journalists reporting the facts really want to apply that standard consistently. Using their reckoning, some of the biggest sons of bitches would have to be the members of that long chain of command that extended from Pentagon pencil-pushers to the White House, who, over a decade ago, decided that it would be a good idea to keep American troops in Saudi Arabia indefinitely, after they had accomplished their mission of protecting Saudi oilfields from the rampaging Saddam Hussein. How many people have died partly as a result of that boneheaded decision? Well, the question is wrong because the reckoning is wrong. I don't blame culturally blinkered bureaucrats in the Pentagon for the loss of a single life due to the actions of terrorists. I blame them for carelessly goading the real sons of bitches - Osama bin Laden (wherever his body lies) and all of his wretched cohorts and minions. The clueless Pentagon planners of yore, and now the oblivious Pentagon whistle-blower and Newsweek journalist, bear an immeasurably infinitesimal share of the blame for the resultant bloodshed. All but that insignificant iota of blame belong exclusively to the Osama bin Ladens of the world and all who preach and teach hatred in the Muslim world. It helps to keep your sons of bitches in perspective, and ranked accordingly.
Geoffrey Sherwood
New Jersey, USA (May 18, '05)

The article you [Syed Saleem Shahzad] wrote about the interrogation of the Uzbek [Back on Osama's trail, May 14] is very thought provoking, and it leads me to believe that the reason the [George W] Bush administration has not gone after [Osama] bin Laden with more voracity is precisely the reason you have stated: the uprising afterward will be so incredible that no one really has an idea how far-reaching or devastating it could be. Thank you for your riveting and informative article, I really like reading things you write.
Veronica (May 17, '05)

I would like to add my comments to the letters on Taiwanese independence/reunification with China. I would to comment that the Taiwanese people have a separate and distinct language from Hokkien (a dialect of Chinese spoken by millions of ethnic Chinese) is about as rational as claiming that Americans speak "Americanese". I believe that legal and political experts should be drafted in defining the issues at hand here, concerning Taiwan's constitution (which states unequivocally that Taiwan lays claim to mainland China), it's bearing on international law, Taiwan's judicial system (based on Western models?) and objective legal arguments both for and against independence. Should the "minority" of Taiwanese (who probably number in the millions and who the Western press casually ignores) who would prefer some sort of political union as opposed to outright independence be charged with treason and/or exiled to mainland China since their political views do not coincide with the independence hardliners?
Omege Lee
Melbourne, Australia (May 17, '05)

Regarding Why the beautiful is not the good [May 17] by Spengler. Spengler seems to lack the rigor of empirical analysis required to command a "culture" view of history and present it with consistency. The statements, "The high art of the West gave these rude men (barbarian invaders) a presentiment," and "High culture betrayed the interests of the Church almost upon its birth during the late 15th century," are NOT consistent, since the invading barbarians came well before the 15th century. The rest of the piece on music itself was masterly.
Nara
USA (May 17, '05)

I refer to B Raman's latest diatribe trying to pass for an expert opinion [Islamic blame game, May 17]. Raman and Spengler have joined the anti-Islam brigade of the neo-cons, but a funny thing is happening; the more anti-Islam rhetoric and propaganda [there is], the more people in Europe and the US are converting to Islam. The reason being that people have seen through the entire fraud of blaming Muslims for all ills. [US President George W] Bush, [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, [Australian Prime Minister John] Howard, and the entire neo-con cabal have turned their own people into economic serfs. Muslims had nothing to do with the great stock market theft and destruction of the industrial base of America and Europe. Capitalism, communism and all other "isms" have been exposed and are dying. Amazing how negative turns to positive. Victims join hands with other victims. The Koran says that "you plot and plan but Allah is the greater planner".
Vincent Maadi (May 17, '05)

Naren Bala [letter, May 13] wrote in response to Saqib Khan [letter, May 10] that the Taliban were created in the 1990's under General [Muhammad] Zia-ul-Haq. It seems his understanding of Pakistan history is a little slippery. Yes, they were created in the 1990's; but not under General Zia. They were created during the regime led by Benazir Bhutto. But had the US never supported the fundamentalists in Afghanistan, this whole thing would never have happened. State's with civil war on their borders have a history of supporting one side or another for their own interests. A case in point is the Indian government's decision to support the Nepalese King [Gyanendra] despite his anti-democratic behavior; that was after India got involved in Sri Lanka's Tamil conflict (going so far in one period to have training camps on Indian soil) and the reason why it is open to "helping" out however it can. Then there was it's involvement in the east Pakistan secession battles. But this is not unique to South Asia, such behavior seems routine in Africa and is also a common feature of South America.
May Sage
USA (May 17, '05)

Dear [George Zhibin] Gu, I have read your article in Asia Times [Federation could be win-win for China, Taiwan, May 11]. It provides me with some creative views. First of all, it cannot be denied that Taiwan has its own government, people, sovereignty, military, ability to deal with foreign affairs (few countries recognize Taiwan as a country), Constitutional Law, complete judicial system, and currency. Therefore, in terms of your point of view, if Taiwan joins a federation in the future, how should it deal with military force, foreign relationship, and the real status in the world? Secondly, most of people in Taiwan recognize themselves as Taiwanese. We speak Taiwanese. We recognize Taiwan as our homeland. For us, "one China" is a remote idea. Therefore, I disagree with the idea of unification for Chinese people living on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Thirdly, from the Hong Kong experience, we all know how China intervenes in the autonomy of Hong Kong. Therefore, how can we make sure that Taiwan will totally enjoy autonomy?
James Wang
(May 16, '05)

George Zhibin Gu's article, Federation could be win-win for China, Taiwan [May 11], is a fine joke. A federation is a grouping of two or more sovereign states. To even discuss the idea of a federation, the People's Republic of China would need to first acknowledge Taiwan's sovereignty. Since [former president] Jiang Zemin painted China into a corner with the ridiculous "one China" principle as a precondition to any talks, no leader of China has had enough courage to acknowledge Taiwan's sovereignty, so the federation idea is clearly beyond consideration. And from Taiwan's point of view, there is no reason to jump into bed with a nation that is constantly threatening war against you. China has positioned itself as Taiwan's greatest threat and greatest enemy. Until China proves that it can be a friend without duplicitous intentions, China cannot be trusted and Taiwan cannot consider the idea of a federation. Nonetheless, I would like to thank Mr Gu for acknowledging Taiwan's sovereignty (as separate and independent from China) by suggesting the idea of a federation.
Daniel McCarthy (May 16, '05)

Referring to New tactics on Taiwan [May 14] by Yiyi Lu: the recent visits to China by the leaders of Taiwan's Nationalist Party [Lien Chan] and People First Party [James Soong] are just an illusion of peace in the region; the talks bring absolutely no progress to the reunification of China and Taiwan. The ruling party of Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party, has rejected all the propositions in the talks. Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian condemned James Soong and Lien Chan as traitors of Taiwan. The recent National Assembly election shows that the people of Taiwan still support the ruling party and their pro-independence policies, since the ruling party is determined to progress towards independence, despite all the threats from China. If China wants to take Taiwan in, they will have to convince the public. By convincing the public, the anti-independence opposition parties will gain power and initiate programs to independence. But this does not mean inviting representatives of an opposition party that shamelessly praises the Chinese government in public. It also does not mean passing anti-secession laws that guaranteed military action if the Taiwanese government declared independence. If China wants to win the trust, they should change their aggressive policies; stop oppressing Taiwan's involvement in the international arena, open up trading channels, open the border, and show the Taiwanese people that China is not an enemy but a friend. Lloyd Ho
Hong Kong (May 16, '05)

Yiyi Lu [New tactics on Taiwan, May 14] argues that the there is now momentum behind unification with China in Taiwan. Really? What proof does this writer have? Here's my proof against this argument: [Taiwan] President Chen [Shui-bian] and the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] won the special election on constitutional reform. It seems to me [opposition leaders] Lien [Chan's] and especially [James] Soong's treacherous journeys to China have been received as they should be in Taiwan - as attempts sell out against the Taiwanese people. China has not given one concession to the Taiwan policy with it's so-called negotiations with the opposition members. Does this writer think that the people of Taiwan are stupid enough to believe otherwise? Also, I chuckled to myself after reading this writer's reaction to China's anti-secession law. I was among the crowd of people protesting this anti-democratic and unacceptable law that indeed changes the status quo. The hatred for this law is deep - make no mistake about it. No matter how much the [Kuomintang] KMT-biased media ignores this, the reality is evident with the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese that you talk to - Taiwan is NOT a part of China.
John Napiorkowski (May 16, '05)

Because the sovereignty of Taiwan is still in dispute, please refer to the idea of "reunification" or unification as "annexation", because in any unification, China would bring armed forces to Taiwan that are not already on the island. Since Taiwan enjoys de facto independence, and no one disputes this, a forced takeover by China or Chinese-born Taiwanese politicians is annexation. Additionally, the word "reunification" assumes that Taiwan was united with communist China, which was never the case. When the People's Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1949, the Republic of China had already been established on Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek's forces.
Friend of Asia (May 16, '05)

Given Spengler's constant boosting of Pope Benedict [The pope, the musicians and the Jews, May 10], I think I have finally found his real identity. He's none other than Joseph Ratzinger.
Andres Salama
Argentina (May 16, '05)

I would like to sincerely ask [Henry C K] Liu a few questions [Hong Kong appeal court in the dock, May 14]. Does he believe the majority of people in Hong Kong would support his suggestion to "create a new Basic Law Constitutional Council in Beijing with exclusive jurisdiction over constitutional issues"? Does he even care? He may argue that this is an issue of Chinese sovereignty, to be decided by the entire Chinese nation and not just Hong Kong. In that case, does he believe a majority of Chinese people would support this proposal? Mr Liu cites the US Bill of Rights to justify the legitimacy of amending a constitution. If he accepts the importance of the Bill of Rights as a precedent, he surely also accepts its basic premise: that government should base its policies on the will of the people, as expressed in meaningful consultation and open discussion. Mr Liu should realize that what made British rule over Hong Kong colonial was not the race of the British, but their disregard for the voices of the people they ruled.
G Travan
California, USA (May 16, '05)

J Sean Curtin's article on Japan [ Tokyo and its Russian yoke, May 12] shows again why Japan can't be a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Japan can't even have a cordial relationship with any of its immediate neighbors. Japan has no independent foreign policy. Japan is truly a lapdog of the US. Why should the US get two votes in the Security Council? With strong objections from its closest neighbors and a foreign policy crafted in Washington, Japan has no place in the UN Security Council.
GongShi
USA (May 13, '05)

I refer to article From Fallujah to Qaim [May 13] by Charles Recknagel and Kathleen Ridolfo. The racists who believed that "Ayrabs" could not fight and would roll over and play dead when the American forces invaded Iraq, have caught their American benefactors in a deadly trap, which will prove to be a greater defeat than that suffered by them in Vietnam. The American military and media are grossly under-reporting American deaths, and some of their reports are pure fantasy and illusion. If one believes that Americans are losing so few of their personnel, then one also has to believe that America has already won the war in Iraq. Just as in Vietnam, when the Americans moved their troops to Dien Bien Phu (about 600 miles inland from the sea), the Iraqi resistance has drawn the Americans further inland to Qaim and the Syrian border. There is no escape for the Americans from the death trap they have gotten into.
Vincent Maadi (May 13, '05)

Allen Quicke sets up scholars of Southeast Asia in a row, then bowls them over [Academia abducted by flying sources, May 10]. He finds that they are an incestuous cabal of scribblers who cite one another in copious footnotes. He accuses them of shortsightedness and [of being] without prescient minds which are able to read tea leaves in the cup of the future. Quicke finds them deficient in analyzing terrorism and violence in Southeast Asia. The issues that Quicke raises fall into the murky waters of intelligence services and information sharing among states about the comings and goings of known terrorists, or the rabid, hateful teachings in masjids [Islamic centers and organizations] and madaris throughout the region. Look at the Philippines: there the Muslim separatist struggle has been going on for decades, from a time before al-Qaeda existed. Manila has been trying to stamp out the fires of separatism and the rise of a Muslim, Sharia-ruled state. Scholarly ink has flown on the Moros, but the dots were not connected to a wider network till 9-11 [September 11, 2001] and its aftermath. Or look at Pakistan, which was and is a haven for Muslim extremism. There, even the secular Ms [Benazir] Bhutto [leader of the Pakistan People's Party] hooked her star to the fundamentalists to maintain herself in power. Were it not for the attempts on [Pakistani President General Pervez] Musharraf 's life, Islamabad pursued a lackluster chase after al-Qaeda operatives and homegrown fundamentalist fanatics. In consequence, that Quicke expects the very scholars that he mocks to do better than say that Manila or Islamabad or Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur has not been fully able to extirpate terrorism and violence in [their] countries, is a bit thick. They neither have full access to intelligence files nor the contacts to piece the whole cloth together. They try as best as they can, and yes, do produce interesting and at times useful analyses of radical Islam and the danger that its perversion of the Koran and the Haddiths pose to the stability of Southeast Asian states. It is anachronistic and too easy to thumb one's nose at the work of these scholars.
Jakob Cambria
USA (May 13, '05)

Very good article by George Zhibin Gu [Federation could be win-win for China, Taiwan, May 11]. Regardless of how one weighs Taiwan's right to self-determination against China's claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, all who have a direct or indirect stake in the Taiwan issue should agree that a peaceful resolution is the primary goal. All other considerations pale in comparison. A conflict between China and America over Taiwan must be avoided at all costs; therefore any dialogue between Taiwan and China is encouraging. Having Taiwan become a partner of sorts in a loose confederation with China is a potential solution. It may be the only way to remove the Sword of Damocles from above the heads of countless millions of Chinese, Taiwanese and Americans. The devil, however, will be in the details. Emerson M S Niou of Duke University, in North Carolina, authored a compelling essay titled "Understanding Taiwan Independence and Its Policy Implications". In it, Mr Niou describes the recent evolution of the science (or art) of surveying Taiwanese attitudes towards independence. The results are nuanced, but provide reason to believe that a majority of Taiwanese are willing to accept a compromise solution like confederation. If you distill the results of several surveys conducted in 2001 and 2002 by the Taiwan Election and Democratization Studies group, you find that, quoting Mr Niou: "A significant portion of the respondents could accept both independence and unification conditionally because a majority of the respondents (72%) could support independence if it does not lead to war, and a majority of the respondents (64.2%) could support unification if the two sides become compatible." And I imagine that the number of Taiwanese supporting unification, under certain conditions, will increase as long as the momentum from Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan's momentous trip to China is not lost. George Zhibin Gu's article strikes a tone and attitude that I think is extremely important for the mainland Chinese leadership to emulate. Sword-rattling has served its purpose. But now that China has the rapt attention of the Taiwanese, it is a new day - time for China to emphasize its benevolent side.
Geoffrey Sherwood
New Jersey, USA (May 13, '05)

I see your hatemonger B Raman is out in full flow again [Mr Osama, are you OK?, May 11]. Raman's rantings are getting tedious and hackneyed. Please, Raman, we get the message: Pakistan is bad, Pakistan harbors terrorists, [Pakistani President General Pervez] Musharraf has Osama [bin Laden] in his state guesthouse. This reasoning works good for a while, but gets boring real quick. I don't think Raman has anything worthwhile to say, except giving his usual bigoted, hateful twist of all affairs pertaining to Pakistan. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. What would Raman have Pakistan do? Raman's slant that Musharraf has Osama borders on the ludicrous, given that he doesn't have any worthwhile evidence to support his hypothesis (except for quoting a couple of anonymous Mullahs who have prayed for Osama's health. Talk about building a rational argument). You might as well say that the United States has Osama or India does. Without any factual evidence to prove it, it may make for some interesting headlines but such acquisitions would be labelled as yellow journalism. Raman's background, as a director of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), India's espionage agency, (a fact you conveniently omit now in his bio) shows where his allegiance lies. How can you expect such a person to be objective in his analysis when it comes to Pakistan? Surely you see the conflict of interest here. Bigots like Raman thrive on fueling hatred. In that respect Raman is no different than Osama bin Laden.
Kamran Ali (May 13, '05)

I wish to comment on B Raman's letter of May 12 [Mr Osama, are you OK?]. I would like to say to him that Osama bin Laden is probably a much cleverer person than his clotted mind would ever imagine. I believe that the only safe place left for him to hide now, since he has been haunted in every corner of the globe, is the White House under President [George W] Bush's bed or on his ranch behind a bush or in his attic. I would suggest Mr Raman should also look under his bed every night before he goes to sleep in case his nightmare would come true. I do not believe it at all, and it is very hard for me to to trust Mr Raman to say that he is not anti-Islam and at the same time, he demonstrates his inherent mental darkness towards Islam and the Muslims. However, I wish to point out to him and his friends alike that the root cause of all evil and violence that we see in the world now is because of the Bush administration's belligerent and warmongering policies around the globe and, in particular, against Islam, because he considers it to be the biggest threat to Christianity and capitalism. Any Islamic country that dares challenge him becomes his easy prey and is crushed to pieces. Bush has encouraged law of jungle and the tag of terrorism is his easiest excuse to subdue Islam because it challenges his newly found faith and love of materialism. He is a bullyboy who thinks that he can conquer the world with his philosophy of life. Our blood is no cheaper than that of an American or of a European or a Hindu. The Americans and their allies in Afghanistan and Iraq have killed over 140,000 innocent Muslims; and yet the Muslims are being blamed and targeted as the enemy of peace. I wish that some of the non-Muslims with opaque visions and prejudiced minds could look with the eyes of a Muslim and see our wounded hearts and then judge us rather than passing judgement with meager intelligence. The Muslims are sick of seeing their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children killed or maimed, their houses, businesses and livelihood destroyed in this endless cycle of violence. We the Muslims want peace around us and a dignified way of life, but if our survival is attacked, we will defend it with body armor, if not tanks.
Saqib Khan
London, UK (May 13, '05)

This is in response to Saqib Khan's letter (May 10). The Taliban and al-Qaeda never existed in the 1980s, when the US supported the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviets. They were created in the 1990s. General [Muhammad] Zia-ul-Haq and Pakistani intelligence agency ISI [Inter Services Intelligence] decided that they were going to funnel all assistance to the extremist and Islamic fundamentalist sections of the Afghan rebels. It is hypocritical to criticize American support for Saudi Arabia when Pakistan provides military units and military personnel to maintain and to operate military equipment for the various Gulf Sheikdoms.
Naren Bala
USA (May 13, '05)

Hi B Raman. Assalamu alaikkum and namashkar! Hope you are doing fine, even though your religion (Hinduism-Brahmanism) is loosing its fanatic and fascist ground in India. Hope you are doing fine, even though your party, BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party], has lost democracy at the expense of the Gujarat genocide. Hope you are doing fine, even though your country (democratic India) has lost the battle of Kashmir to the dictator and killer of democracy, [Pakistani President General Pervez] Musharraf. Hope you are doing fine, even though your intelligence agency, RAW [Research and Analysis Wing] lost its battle with the CIA [US Central Intelligence Agency], Mossad and the ISI [Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence] in encasing the 9-11 [September 11, 2001] effects that are shaping the new would-be world order and making it in favor of Hindutwa. Now let me come to the point: What has made you think on the matter of [Osama] bin Laden's silence [Mr Osama, are you OK?, May 11]? What makes you worried about the "return" of the Taliban or al-Qaeda? What makes you roar about the arrival of Islam as the epicenter of world events? I will explain to you the answer. You may be a Hindu fascist in mind and a Hindu secularist in public and have small entry in the payroll of RAW, so, you cannot judge the world situation as being a prejudice Hindu fanatic. You also cannot understand the meaning of Sabiqoons mentioned in the holy Korean as those who have initiated and led world events by the courage of jihad. Being part of a Kafir world, deniers of justice and human rights, you are never let (by the God almighty Allah) to understand the meaning of Islam and its magical return to the New World Leadership by its proud Sabiqoons or the "front runners" in the immediate future. So is the reason you have a wrong and confused interpretation on the matter of the "silence" of the great leader and Sabiqoon, Sheikh Osama Muhammed Bin Laden. And please feel comfortable and happy in finding Mr Osama, and doing his duty to humanity with full sincerity, commitment and a fully satisfied mind.

Postscript: Feel free to communicate if you are not angry at me or Sheikh Osama. I will explain to you the concepts of our religion and the roll of its leader that are undertaken. Also note that teaching religion is not our duty, but knowing it is your duty, and we might gain some profit altogether at the end of time, when all of us called to settled our disputes by the creator and owner of our soul. And finally, just note that my understanding of bin Laden is from my mother, who told me soon after Osama's first speech on 9-11 in al-Jazeera, "His face looks like a great leader and innocent. He is a determined leader and brave soldier of Islam. He will not command to kill innocent people, but wrongdoers." I trust my mother after Allah and His Prophet, Muhammed.
For and on behalf of our beloved leader, and the leader of billions of oppressed and justice seeking: His Excellency, Sheikh Osama Muhammed bin Laden.
Abu Adeeb (May 12, '05)

B Raman responds ...
Many thanks for your message. Please do keep in touch and try to educate me, if you so desire. You have said your Sheikh Osama is okay. I do not know how to react to it. If I said, "I am glad he is okay," [US] President [George W] Bush might send me to Guantanamo Bay as an al-Qaeda sympathizer. If I said, "What a pity, he is still alive," you and your Sheikh might issue a fatwa against me. So, I keep quiet. President Bush and Sheikh Osama have made this a very difficult world to live in. I may be anything, but not anti-Muslim nor anti-Islam. Warm regards.
B Raman (May 12, '05)

B Raman, as usual, has come up with another useless tale [Mr Osama, are you OK?, May 11]. Doesn't he know that all of those recordings have been proven as fake, including those videos? He needs to carry out some research as I won't do it for him. There should be no platform at Asia Times for careless authors like him. Mainstream media like yours failed to inform the public that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the war could have been avoided. [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair and [US President George W] Bush lied to the international community, but Mr Raman will only believe what those hawks tell him, right or wrong.
B A Lunat
United Kingdom (May 12, '05)

Dear B Raman: Regarding your article Mr Osama, are you OK? [May 11], I regret to inform you that Osama bin Laden is dead, and actually has been so since December 2001, having succumbed to complications arising from his prolonged kidney illness. I realize that for certain people dependent on Osama's legend, his death has been a grievous loss. But personally, I think most people will be glad to know that he, and the reason to start more wars to hunt him down, simply no longer exists. Mr bin Laden's funeral announcement, carried in the foreign press but ignored by the US mainstream media, can be seen at http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osama_dead.html.
Mike (May 12, '05)

I have generally enjoyed reading B Raman's columns, until this last one: Mr Osama, are you OK? [May 11]. As a professed intelligence analyst, I expect B Raman to be a rationalist, evidence based and appealing to the reader's reasoning and intellect, as he has often done in the past. However, with his latest foray into rumor mongering and passion stoking, Raman has entered the domain of the Religionist. It is the Religionists who indulge in stoking irrational fears and hatred of one group or the other, as Spengler's professed mission on ATol demonstrates. I sincerely do hope Raman will stick to his usual rational analysis and leave kindling passions to Spengler, the Religionist. One Spengler is one too many for any forum.
Nara
USA (May 12, '05)

My colleague Spengler noted in his May 10 column The pope, the musicians and the Jews that Benedict XVI might be the most innovative pope in many a year by looking backward. [He called him] "a preserver in a dark age"; an intriguing definition of "innovative". I have, on the other hand, written my concern that the pope may become an inquisitor. One of the first announcements made after his installation was his firing of the editor-in-chief of the Jesuit magazine America, Father Thomas Reese (I wonder if we are related?). He apparently wrote or approved some articles not too favorable to [Benedict's] Church. That is not a good sign. Spengler also noted that Pope Pius XII was a "captive" of Hitler, a well known fact. Does Benedict intend to follow on making him Saint Pius XII so that good Catholics can pray for his intervention? Spengler's joke about the Jews and the musicians causing world problems was wonderful - "Why the musicians?" ask the storm troopers. The Jew asks, "Why the Jews?" Benedict, in 1985, finally allowed Mozart to be played in the Vatican; so he finally got the Joke. Was Mozart removed from the index of forbidden works at the same time? Mozart is as immoral as the Song of Songs; if it were not canonized it would surely be forbidden. Spengler noted, "If the Vatican addressed large communities of observant Jews in Poland, for example, its message would resonate with the heavens." Since, as the pope, Benedict can speak infallibly - like God - can he raise the 6 million dead Jews, and then we can hear his message here on Earth? I would just as soon wait for my home in heaven, if that is where I go. But then as Spengler notes, "Benedict XVI will find exegesis of the Hebrew Bible less challenging than dealing with a people that actually speaks biblical Hebrew." His predecessors, John XXIII and John Paul II, accepted some responsibility for Jewish deaths. Do you, Spengler, believe this celibate pope who fosters celibacy can repopulate Europe? If he worried less about cohabitation and celibacy and not at all about forbidding condoms he might do some good. But then in this area he has no experience. Perhaps if priests were not celibate they would understand something about cohabitation and the repopulation of Europe. Do you believe he can convert the Muslims in Europe - according to Bernard Lewis they are likely to be a majority in Europe by the end of this century? I recently lectured a group of English and American Evangelical Christian Zionists in Jerusalem. The leader of this group wrote a book about the "fact" that Muslims world wide "will" soon convert to Christianity (Christine Darg, Signs and Wonders in the Muslim World), she was kind enough to give me an autographed copy. It is possible that my history of the Holy Inquisition [The pope or the inquisitor?, May 6] makes me worry more about inquisitors?
Rabbi Moshe Reiss (May 12, '05)

The article titled US media and Iran's nuclear threat [May 11] by Kaveh Afrasiabi, is an excellent document in clarifying the issues and biases. Publication of this type of article in the American media would help for a better understanding of the situation.
Jahanbakhsh Behnam (May 12, '05)

I truly appreciate the comment on the China and Taiwan relationship by Henry Ting (May 10) [Getting in on the Taiwan-China act ]. I think China and Taiwan reunification, as suggested by the writer, will surely avoid another calamity in the form of war that may destroy the lives of many more Asians, while the people in the West will have another opportunity to sit in their luxurious living rooms and enjoy the scenes of death and destruction in Asia. China is a country that has a very good relationship with Bangladesh and the Muslim world. As far as I know, going to war like America is not China's cup of tea. Americans are warmongers who always destroy human lives. I hope in the near future China will be able displace the USA from its position as a sole superpower on Earth. Good luck to the Chinese and Taiwanese in their efforts at reconciliation. We can ill-afford another war in our beloved continent.
Mohammad Salim
Chittagong, Bangladesh (May 12, '05)

VE [Victory in Europe] Day 60 years later: I remember being at my grandmother's and grandfather's on the East side of Manhattan, New York, full of Jews, most escaped from Europe. There was a huge Nazi flag in the street and people were jumping on it, spitting on it. The happiness was amazing to a six-year-old child. A month ago I was on Normandy, Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword and Gold beaches [in France]. General [Dwight D] Eisenhower named them - despite French fussiness about their language, they are still called by those names. My Uncle Mikey was on Omaha Beach, where 10,000 American soldiers died in several days. He is still alive today at 94 years of age. I was with my grandson Benjamin; he had a granduncle on Sword Beach [who] also survived. They still have, as monuments, the German bunkers, monstrous guns and traps on the beaches. Seeing the beaches and the arms, you understand why so many Allied troops died. There is a mountain with a steep, almost vertical-degree hill where 250 American Rangers climbed. Almost 200 died. The Rangers took the mountain. These young men knew they were going to die. The French gave this hill to the Americans forever. It is quite different than seeing Saving Private Ryan the movie. Despite the death and gore in the movie, this was real. You can see how many miles the Germans could see - all they needed was ammunition, it was like shooting in a barrel. It was a warm spring day; some people where swimming. I could not stop being cold. Fifty million of God's children died of all religions and all ethnic groups; not including its prologue World War I. Can we all pray, never again.
Rabbi Moshe Reiss (May 11, '05)

To B Raman: You are too much. I enjoy your commentaries and policy analysis but today's reading [Mr Osama, are you OK?, May 11] was especially refreshing. It put a smile on my face. Keep up the wonderful work.
Shaun (May 11, '05)

It has been quite a long time since I wrote to you [B Raman]. Your paper Mr Osama, are you OK? [May 11] was quite unconventional. We have over the years been watching/reading in the media about the US banning one or the other terrorist outfits. One fails to understand whether it really matters, for surely all these outfits have multiple fronts who would be collecting funds and there would be persons who would be contributing to their sinister cause under various heads. In any case, whether the US law bans them or not, the ground reality does not seem to have changed, with militants and terrorists continuing to enter India and carrying out their activities. Unless the approach of the Indian government changes, India will continue to be bled by Pakistan's jihad.
Kumar (May 11, '05)

Is there a point to any of B Raman's analysis, other than the ISI [Inter Service Intelligence], Pakistan and Muslims being behind all the problems? It seems quite apparent that Mr Raman is mentally handicapped and needs to be in an ashram. He is a clear example of nepotism and not meritocracy being rife in government service in India. We have suffered tremendously because of incompetent civil servants such as Raman.
John Daniel
Thane, India (May 11, '05)

I trust that ATol will indulge in accepting a composite letter from Sister Mary and I (Mary is actually a sister of mine). Most of the views expressed, specifically in reference to Spengler's piece The pope, the musicians and the Jews [May 10] are attributed to her. The reason for that is that I could not contain my laughter after reading Spengler's joke attributed to a Jew back in the 1930s. I was able to get in touch with her, in between bouts of laughter, and prevailed on her to read The pope, the musicians and the Jews. This she promised to do after surfing a couple of Patriot Pastors websites. Herewith a sampling of her reaction. Try as he might, Spengler is no Krusty the Clown (a cartoon character on the television series The Simpsons). He believes the new pope will side with the Muslims, and that is not good and shows his Germanic bias. He strongly insinuates that a nation with no Jews in its population is not a cultured nation. He darkly hints that if it was up to him all the European composers/musicians should have been Jewish, including Wolfgang. [Mary] concluded by saying that based on what she has heard and seen on American Idol on the Fox network, she might, on an off day, agree with him. As far as Europe going to "hell" in a hand basket, she suggested he get a CD [compact disc] of the Beatles song Those Were the Days. Not to be outdone by an apostate, I would add that given what Pepe [Escobar] wrote about the Bilderberg Club [Bilderberg strikes again, May 10], the time is ripe for that club to insist that those groups and/or individuals wanting to join must show their appreciation of music and culture. Those that have large petroleum deposits, though, should be allowed certain tolerances.
Armand DeLaurell (May 11, '05)

Thank you, ATol, for publishing Federation could be win-win for China, Taiwan [May 11] by George Zhibin Gu. Its significance and timeliness is self-evident. Beyond, getting a peaceful resolution demands courage as well. Please allow me with two suggestions: First, please keep the paper in a special box in your front page so that all peace-lovers can share the message; second, please have more wise men and women address further on the issue.
T D P Li
Guangzhou (May 11, '05)

As usual, Spengler has got my ire up with one of his articles. His latest, The pope, the musicians and the Jews (May 10), is full of interesting observations and theological suppositions. What a great place to hide an intimidating statement that has no proof. Spengler said, "Few Jews remain in Europe outside of the half million in France (ok so far, no dispute here), a community whose future status may be incompatible with the accommodation of 10 million Arab Immigrants." On what do you base this suggestion, Spengler? I haven't been all over France, but I have spent enough time in Paris to have had lunch several times at a spot near the Place de la Republique while I watched an Arab political rally in a neighborhood that is of mixed race. Then I hopped the green line [Paris Metro] and hung out in the park, shopped and walked around and enjoyed the sights in a lovely and quiet Jewish neighborhood. Why do you do this, Spengler? Do you really think the Jews are in any more danger than any of the rest of us? Or do you want to inspire the stupid right-wing Christian Zionist fundamentalist [George W] Bush supporting Americans to come to Paris and kill a Muslim for the endangered Parisian Jews? I'm sorry that so many Jews and others feel that the Jews will be wiped off of the face of the Earth at any second. I would like to say that fearing for the survival of the Jews is an irrational fear, but considering their history, I can't say that. I can say that considering current events, my own fears for the survival of millions of people who are not Jews is not irrational either.
Beth Bowden (May 11, '05)

Thank you, Allen Quicke, for your absolutely delightful and thoroughly refreshing review of Terrorism and Violence in Southeast Asia, Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability [Academia abducted by flying sources, May 10].
Dr V L Velupillai
Germany (May 10, '05)

Getting in on the Taiwan-China act, May 10 by Henry Ting is a good article. I recommend everybody who either wants war or peace to read it. I am wondering why other people are not happy about the peace talks [between] Chinese people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. If other people can leave Chinese people alone, there will be peace in East Asia. If other people want to tell Chinese people what to do, there will be resistance in the format of war. Peace or war seems a simple choice to make. However, in real life, it is just too hard for some people who like to boss Asians around. I hope reading Henry Ting's article will wake some people up a little. Although I am not going to hold my breath.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (May 10, '05)

Just a note to say how much I enjoy your site. It is a wonderful antidote to the press releases of the mainstream media here in the [United] States. I am constantly recommending it to my friends. Thanks.
Finley Walker
Greenfield, Massachusetts (May 10, '05)

Pepe Escobar is sifting through ashes [Bilderberg strikes again, May 10]. Twenty years ago the suspects were gnomes of finance who met as the Trilateral Group. Now we have the Bilderberg Club. The culprits are who the politically correct would put into the dead, white, European male category. However, these men in the aerie of high, global finance are very much alive and move in and out of the markets, countries and governments. As far as we know, these groups are in the private sector, and as such, they include or exclude whomever they wish. Let's look at an example from the past. During the war against Napoleon, Great Britain accepted money from a group of brothers known as the Rothschilds. Not only did the British government accept the Rothschilds' largesse, it also received intelligence by courier pigeons that Amschel Rothschild sent from the Netherlands, a service which helped mate Napoleon's continental designs. A Frenchman might say that the Rothschild group formed a closed, private preserve looking to impose its influence to aid and abet Napoleon's enemies. Not only that, this Rothschild group was part and parcel of a Jewish conspiracy to capture world markets. Such superficial analysis such as Escobar's is a step on a slippery slope leading to conclusions which feed hysteria and spread false implications.
Jakob Cambria
USA (May 10, '05)

I want to comment on Where did all the angels go? [May 7] by Andrew Field. Mr Field forgot there is a country called South Korea. The Koreans are furious, too, over the Japanese textbooks and Yasukuni Shrine issues. What's his excuse to defend Japan in this case? Mr Field tries to say that since there is really no angel, then no one has the right to blame others who distort history. Well, isn't that fun. As a historian, he should be well aware that there is actually a basic set of morality. Killing is wrong; not admitting it is wrong too. What Japan is now doing to its wartime past is wrong, even though no other countries have the right to blame it. So stop defending [Japan]. China is glossing over its own history and it is extremely wrong. However, that China is wrong doesn't really change the fact that Japan is wrong too, does it, Mr Field?
Lloyd Lan (May 10, '05)

Ken Moreau (letter, May 4) wrote: "About 55 journalists have been killed in the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. No journalist who reported the prescribed propaganda was harmed." Of the 55 deaths cited, the vast majority were killed by "insurgents", or caught in crossfire. I assume Mr Moreau is alluding to embedded journalists when he refers to those who "prescribe propaganda". If so, here is a partial list of embedded journalists who were not harmed in Iraq - they were killed: Michael Kelly, editor-at-large of The Atlantic Monthly; Julio Parrado, of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo; Christian Liebig, of the German weekly magazine Focus; Jeremy Little, of NBC News. Pepe Escobar's most recent article Pentagon cut and paste [May 5], unlike his prior article, does not claim that the Pentagon intentionally kills journalists. Maybe someone can explain why.
Geoffrey Sherwood
New Jersey, USA (May 10, '05)

I read several articles where the Pakistani government is allowing FDI [foreign direct investment] from any nation other than India. India should look south instead of west for FDI. Sri Lanka, though with a smaller population, has a far higher degree of literate people (somewhere in the range of 95%). Sri Lanka also fares well on many other indicaters: long life expectancy (75 for women and 70 for men), low infant mortality rate. But the clincher is that Sri Lankans are far more educated than Pakistanis and therefore have the educated manpower that India can gain rich benefits from. A close relationship with the strategically located island will serve India both in commercial and military expectations. India has not taken Sri Lanka's potential seriously for decades, and it is time this changes. Other major powers are making overtures to the Sri Lankan government, such as China, Pakistan and the United States. India cannot afford for Sri Lanka to be too closely allied to any of the above nations, [it] needs to aggressively invest in the island and help the government fight the ongoing trouble with the Tamil Tiger rebels, who now have reached their influence into the state government of Tamil Nadu.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (May 10, '05)

To Mohammad Salim [letter, May 9]: You sound like a broken record that has been played over and over again by other Muslim writers. You make points such as: 1) One can't blame Islam for a minority of terrorists; 2) Terrorists are justified in their actions since cruelty was perpetrated on them, etc. Have you stopped to ponder that all of the Islamic countries have significant state control over freedom of speech and the media including, Bangladesh? In fact, even private media outlets fear reporting honestly on world issues lest they be accused of blasphemy. In Pakistan and Bangladesh the entire 9/11 [September 11, 2001] tragedy and its aftermath were reported in the most anti-American fashion, with predictable results. The latest State Department document on threats/risks show Pakistan as the most anti-American country, with Bangladesh not so far behind. Have you also stopped to think about the fact that every one of the terrorists who hacked or hijacked brought Islam into the living rooms of the world and not the Western/American media? The same goes for terrorists in Kashmir, who have hijacked the call for azadi [freedom] into a call for jihadi with the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pundits in the valley. Violence should be condemned in the strictest terms. Chrysantha Wijeyasingha [letter, May 2] was talking about this lack of condemnation as the deafening silence on the part of the Muslim world. You unfortunately go a step further. You justify a terrorist's heinous acts as deserving of retribution. Have you pondered that the victims of a terrorist are innocent civilians and do not deserve the needless pain and sorrow perpetrated on them and their families? My last point is a question for you. How do you expect all readers to have kind words for Islam after you openly pronounce your support for jihadism - ie, death and violent retribution - in the name of your religion?
Dirty Dog
San Francisco, California (May 10, '05)

I wish to comment on the [letter] written by the Royal Consulate General of Saudi Arabia and published on May 5. Saudi Arabia has always been a mystery and enigma to me, though it is the most pivotal of all Islamic countries. [It is] potentially the richest country in the world in terms of wealth but is still a very complex desert kingdom ruled by an autocratic Saudi king, princes and their extended family members for the last 75 years. It is the very antithesis of Islam, and it is totally anti-Islamic that a royal family is entitled to rule an Islamic country. [This] applies more to Saudi Arabia as it is the birthplace and motherland of Islam, protector of the House of Allah, and should be a beacon of glory for the Muslims of the world. Islam absolutely rejects the concept of earthly kingdoms and forbids hereditary rule. Interestingly, the Saudi government is very careful in projecting two different images: one for its domestic consumption and the other for preserving the kingdom with the cooperation of the United States for protection, without which it cannot survive. So, it is a very duplicitous game being played by the Saudi royals; first to save their skins, and second to sit tight for as long as possible on the Saudi throne. The fact is, Saudi public opinion is not heard or written about as the government controls the media. (A large majority of young Saudis are vehemently opposed to American attitudes and polices in the Middle East and are increasingly heard on the streets.) It [Saudi Arabia] was the breeding ground of al-Qaeda and Osama bin laden, a fanatic Wahhabi and archenemy of the royals who must be eliminated. The government cooperated with the Americans to fight against terrorism and al-Qaeda. It gave an opportunity to President [George W] Bush to bash around and hit Muslims on the head with a claw hammer and invade Islamic countries and kill thousands of innocent Muslims, and Israel takes advantage of Bush's doctrine and kills Palestinians in the boldest fashion. Incidentally, Wahhabism was unwittingly or innocently nurtured by the Saudis and deliberately by the United States when it was fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Taliban and al-Qaeda were best buddies of America and the West then, but after the collapse of communism, they became the worst of enemies. It was this treachery that made al-Qaeda more virulent against the US and others it considered the US's cronies. America was enemy No 1 of al-Qaeda. Wahhabism is a violent sect and an alien concept in Islamic theology, but it is a creed that was adopted by the founder of the Saudi royal dynasty, Ibne-Saud. The whole purpose of this duplicitous game played by all sides is that the US maintains its political hegemony in the region by controlling the jugular veins of the Middle Eastern royals and corrupt regimes, ensuring its and the West's oil supply and guaranteeing Israel's security. Islam has become the victim and is being targeted as enemy No 1. Innocent Muslims are being killed in the thousands in this dirty game, and I blame the Saudi government for its duplicitous role in it.
Saqib Khan
London, UK (May 10, '05)

Just a quick note to say thanks to the entire ATol staff generally, and Pepe Escobar particularly. Although I, of course, applaud his most recent work [Pentagon cut and paste, May 5], I'll offer this note of thanks for the first work of his I ever read and the one I always recommend to people I send to your site for the first time: the pipelineistan series [ Pipelineistan parts I and II, January 2002]. There are many comments made about the bad effects of outsourcing, but in this case the fact that you took over the work of the American media has been pretty good for those of us who have found you and your fine publication. So in this important time, thank you once again.
Don Davis
North Bend, Washington (May 9, '05)

Again, Pepe Escobar's Pentagon cut and paste, [May 5] shows why Mr Escobar is one of the world's leading journalists. His frank, intuitive reporting style is a welcome relief from the majority of American reporters, many of whom are no more than puppet transcribers rewording Pentagon press releases. They then have the bravado to label this propaganda news, and the majority of the American public buys into this sham. That the American military in Iraq is deliberately targeting un-embedded journalists is easy to discern, except for simpletons and the slavish followers of Rush Limbaugh, known as ditto-heads. The Pentagon doesn't want the American public to know of the true cost and the ongoing horrors being visited daily upon the civilians of Iraq. Having the American press in bed with the Pentagon is a convenient way to spread lies and disinformation. The Pentagon and the White House have learned enough about disinformation to be able to give lessons to Hitler's minister of information, Josef Goebbels. I wish Mr Escobar a long and fruitful life, so he, like [journalist] Jahr Damail, can truthfully report on the American military's criminal occupation and destruction of Iraq. Thank you, Pepe.
Greg Bacon
Ava, Missouri (May 9, '05)

Henry C K Liu (Sovereignty, democracy and militarism, May 7) states upon an examination of history that all conflicts ideologically driven are, at heart, religious conflicts. As a recent example, he cites the Cold War. President George [W] Bush's line that the US government is trying to spread freedom and democracy throughout the world, resonates like the call to religious war in that, as Liu points out, it involves regime change. In its brief history, American-style democracy and the attempt to propagate it has killed more [people] than either Catholicism or Islam did over centuries ... Liu says there may never be a formal end to the Iraq war. It will drag on as all religious wars do. This follows from the misdirection of leading anti-war agitators like Naomi Klein who are side-tracked by the niceties of philosophical hair-splitting rather than changing the facts on the ground. Those plundering the US taxpayer with phony, no-bid, reconstruction contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq and for the building of permanent military bases there, must instead be exposed to the world for their rapacity and cynicism, and brought to justice before a court of law. This is not likely in the Republic of the United States, and is further rendered unlikely by the penchant of the anti-war crowd to sing hosannas to the shadows of democratic, ideological formalism. Gregorio Kelly (May 9, '05)

If Henry C K Liu is indicative of the "Oriental thought process", then we have a lot of catching up to do. Beyond amazing.
Catine E Perkins
Bastrop, Texas (May 9, '05)

Andrew Field is naive, and being a teacher, apparently, of Chinese and Japanese history, he is doubly simple-minded [Where did all the angels go? May 7]. To compare the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution with the Japanese genocidal invasion is an example of stretching of amazing proportions. To call the Chinese demonstrations a "frenzy" and then not call the demonstrations in Xinjiang the same is inexplicable. Japan may have a right to dispute Chinese textbooks as regards the Japanese invasions in China, but Japan has no right to raise how the Cultural Revolution is discussed in Chinese textbooks. If the Japanese get away with whitewashing one textbook, it will lead to the wholesale whitewashing of their entire history. Lying about their history of genocide in China means only one thing, and that is they are likely to do it again, in which case I have a right to stand up and say that I am ready to respond vigorously.
Frank Yeo (May 9, '05)

This is in response to Andrew Field's article, Where did all the angels go? May 7. There are 56 ethnic groups in China, and most people living in Tibet and Xinjiang belong to two of them. From my opinion, the current Chinese government is one of best and [most] exemplary governments in the world in handling the ethnic group issue. The Chinese [government] has been encouraging all its citizens to respect the cultures and traditions of other ethnicities. It has been a well-known fact that they have been taking great efforts in helping minority groups to develop modern technologies in their regions and improve their living standards. Both Tibet and Xinjiang are part of China, not colonies. A few hundred year ago, many European countries used weapons in a very cruel way to force many nations and continents to become their colonies. China was one of the victims. The US and Australia were both colonies before they became what they are today. It is absurd and irresponsible to [say] China has colonized Tibet and Xinjiang. In every society there are always a few bad people who try to disturb the normal life of the rest of people and the rules and orders of the law. It is the responsibility of governments to protect the interests of society and more than 90% of the people. That is exactly what the Chinese government has been doing in Tibet and Xinjiang. It is right thing to do to help [create] a better understanding of the truth and fact in Tibet and Xinjiang.
Bill
Dallas, USA (May 9, '05)

Andrew Field, in his Where did all the angels go?, May 7, has a very obvious omission. While citing luminous examples of historical "atrocities" from his professor's chair in Australia, he avoided the nearby case of Western settlers poisoning the aborigines in an attempt to wipe them out of existence. Also, there is a fine "historical" detail in the recent anti-Japan protests in China that as a historian Field ought to grasp. A couple of former Japanese prime ministers apologized and admitted to Japanese atrocities in China and elsewhere during the war [World War II]. Now a new Japanese prime minister has approved of the changes in the history textbooks, which amounts to negating Japan's own previous accounts of historical facts.
S P Li (May 9, '05)

Daniel McCarthy's letter of May 6 listed a number of high-profile events that happened after the founding of the PRC [People's Republic of China], which he claims were never taught in Chinese history books. If this letter was translated into Chinese and read by Chinese students, I guarantee they would believe Mr McCarthy had just landed on Earth from Mars and were recovering from a time lag of a couple of millenniums, because these events are not only detailed in the textbooks used by tens of millions of Chinese students, they are unmistakably labelled as "mistakes", "disasters" or "failures" attributed to the Communist Party, its leadership and Mao Zedong himself (Recent and Modern History of China for High Schools, Volume II, People's Education Press, 2000). During the years following the end of the Cultural Revolution (1976), bookstores in China were loaded with books critically reflecting on these events, and literature, the arts and television/movies were so heavily dominated by these themes that people were literally fed up with what was called "Scar Literature", featuring sad stories of the 1950s to the 1970s. Any person who can read Chinese and cares to visit a bookstore in Beijing today can easily find hundreds of books on those events listed by Mr McCarthy, even though they may not occupy as many bookshelves as before because most younger Chinese are also reading about [former US president] Bill Clinton, [actors] Jack Walsh, Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt, [basketball star] Yao Ming and the latest dating stories of the newly crowned Miss Hong Kong. While Mr McCarthy may find it amusing to be the zillionth person to repeat some Cold War era propaganda, I am not sure his readers would appreciate his insult on their intelligence.
Raymond Cui
Beijing (May 9, '05)

It is refreshing to see writers of Subhash Kak's intellectual caliber added to ATol's already impressive list of contributors [Asia's two butterfly syndromes, May 4]. It is indeed brave of Kak to bring to this forum his trans-disciplinary "metaphorical", "analogic" thinking process, given the high likelihood that such Gestaltic perceptions would be lost on most readers who tend to think only in concrete terms and thus see things only in black and white or as East versus West. Of course, Kak is only too aware of similar treatment meted out to ancient Indian literature by "literal" academia; as those familiar with his other writings know full well. The blissfully unaware, in the meantime, can be forgiven the crass and ignorant characterization of Kak as an "Asian swallowing whole Western constructs of Orientalism" [Jakob Cambria, letter May 5]. It is quite obvious that the [metaphor of] two Butterflies - one madame and the other monsieur - does apply, and aptly so.
Nara
USA (May 9, '05)

This is in reference to Chrysantha Wijeyasingha's mail (May 2). I think (biased) American media has grossly misled the writer regarding the situation in the Muslim world. Since September 11, 2001, how everything changed for Muslims in the West could easily be seen. If the writer feels all Middle Eastern countries had been silent and watched the pathetic mortals dying in the US twin towers with joy and celebration, what has it got to do with the Muslims in Europe and America? Surely US television did not show these people dancing with bliss the moment they heard about the destruction of the towers. Why then [have] they been targeted, killed, abused, tortured, incarcerated without any substantial evidence against them; [why have] their daughters raped by inhuman white people, their children kicked out of schools, their houses burned and their livelihood destroyed? If some misguided hijackers were responsible for the terror acts against USA, I don't think it is rational blaming each and every Muslims for that act. Let us keep our religion aside and observe the whole post-September 11 scenario through the eyes of humanity. Do you think it is human to kill and torture innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, America and India just because some people from Islam perpetrated the act of terror against the USA? What do you want Islamic media to do, other then show the criminals and terrorists who have been killing our people for more than half a century? Do you want us to glorify their inhuman acts and award them with distinguished honors for massacring our people? Al-Jazeera has been rightly showing the brutal acts of inhuman Israeli and American soldiers against our brothers. The world must grow up and challenge US hegemony and the domination of the West against the East. Our people are taking up arms because our governments are not democratic. They don't represent us. They cower in fear of America, so innocent Muslims had to answer the cruel acts of the Israelis and Americans. Yes, jihad is the duty of every Muslim when enemies attack us and plot to destroy us. The USA should stop policing the world. It should understand this is 21st century and Muslims won't tolerate its atrocities any more. If you all treat us as terrorists without thinking of us as human beings, it won't be long before your so-called deafening silence in the Muslim world will be broken with the cry of jihad, and no USA could stop more than 1.5 billion Muslims from going against their enemies.
Mohammad Salim
Chittagong, Bangladesh (May 9, '05)

In Five tough questions for Japan [May 6] Zhiqun Zhu wrote, "A nation that cannot own up to its history will not play a bigger role in international politics." Then China must be doomed, because its history books fail to teach that 1 million landlords were murdered by mobs in 1949-50, that the Hundred Flowers Movement of 1956 enticed intellectuals to come forward with constructive criticism of government polices while the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957 sent those intellectuals and tens of thousands of others off to prison labor camps. And Chinese history books also leave out the Great Leap Forward of 1958-60, which destroyed much of the means of production and took farmers away from their fields, and was followed by famine in 1960-62 that killed, based on which estimate you read, up to 30 million people. The Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, which destroyed almost all art and archeological artifacts as well as sent millions off to prison labor camps, is not taught either. Nor is the People's Liberation Army's most recent military victory: the machine-gunning of hundreds of students in the streets around Tiananmen Square on June 4-5, 1989. So according to the standard that Zhiqun Zhu has set, China is in big trouble.
Daniel McCarthy (May 6, '05)

I enjoy reading Spengler's writings, but his latest article Women as priests? Women never forgive anything! [Apr 27] is the worst he has produced so far. Wonder if he wrote it after a bad fight with his wife. On more serious note, around the world, women priests are hard to find (except probably in India, where though they do not become priests, they do rise to the level of saints/god-women in much higher numbers than in any other civilizations). But to argue that this is "because they do not forgive" is as bad as women claiming that "men shouldn't be priests since many of them tend to have sexual preoccupation". If you follow the "Spengler-logic" this claim is equally strong. Maybe women find it difficult to forgive, but that's mostly when it concerns their husband's fidelity. Look around and you'll find that women are most forgiving when it comes to dealing with their children and all other relations. In fact, their capacity to forgive is one of the important reasons for their relatively more peaceful existence than men's. Secondly, why do then the likes of Spengler find it okay to have nuns in the church but not let them rise up to the priesthood? Isn't it true that the path of priesthood is supposed to give training in acquiring spiritual qualities and bring out an inner transformation in an individual? The fallacy of this argument should be a no-brainer for somebody of Spengler's intellectual level (haven't you seen Spengler quoting from myriad Western books spanning over centuries?). I would have expected a more critical and well-thought discussion from you on this issue Spengler, but I must say you disappoint me here.
Nagesh Chatekar
Bangalore, India (May 6, '05)

In response to Rakesh's letter of May 2: I would like to remind Rakesh that since 1989 over 360,000 Kashmiri Muslims have been killed, maimed, or disappeared without a trace, and tales of horrendous torture and rape of young girls and women are heard in almost every Muslim household. An Indian writer, Pankaj Mishra, was told by officials at one Srinagar hospital a couple of years ago that they witnessed 250 cases of death by acute renal failure, caused by putting human bodies in army interrogation centers called Papa 1 and Papa 2. This is happening even now. I wish to remind Rakesh also of the genocide of over 2,000 Muslims spanning three months in the western state of Gujarat by the right-wing Hindu nationalists groups, a barbarity resembling that in Rwanda and of the Nazis against the Jews. Pregnant women were ripped open and burnt, women and girls gang-raped before being hacked to death with swords, and little children butchered. Ethnic cleansing and communal violence is sparked by the so-called "saffron mob" to intimidate minorities. Indians claim to be secular and proud of it, which is unbelievable and preposterous under these circumstances. India and Pakistan have already fought three inconclusive wars over Kashmir, and a fourth was narrowly averted recently. There can be properly negotiated solutions to the question of Kashmir only if the Muslims are free to choose their future. In the long term, only a plebiscite among Kashmiris on both sides of the border, as ordered by a United Nations Security Council resolution of 1948, can hope to resolve the issue.
Saqib Khan
London, UK (May 6, '05)

[Rakib] Iftekher brings up some excellent points in his illustrious letter to Asia Times [May 5]. Let me begin firstly with his accusations on [Siddharth Srivastava] being racist [India finds a new bogeyman, May 5]. This is incredible. Perhaps Mr Iftekher has forgotten that he is from a country which first split from India based on delusional religious grounds and then from west Pakistan on nationalistic (race and ethnicity) grounds. A country that is pro-Bangla[desh] is telling a multicultural country like India that India is racist. What is the Indian race? Is it Punjabi, Tamil, Kashmiri, Bengali? In reality, India is a mixture of many different ethnicities coming together to form one country; please do not insult us with your theories on racism. Do not forgot it was these racist neighbors of yours that took in 10 million refugees just a few decades ago, and it was Indian families that gave their family jewelry to help support the unfortunate refugees. While it is true the Indian government has made some boneheaded moves in the northeast, India is not to blame alone. The greatest period of peace in the subcontinent was just after the 1971 war, after which Pakistan was too busy licking its wounds and Bangladesh was busy sorting itself out as it was a young country. Once Pakistan felt courageous enough, it spilt the fuel in Punjab, and the Indian government, thanks to [then prime minister] Indira Gandhi's flawed policies, happily lit a match and threw it in that fuel, creating a mess that took a decade to clean up. In the east, it was after the military coup in Bangladesh that relations began to sour with the BNP [Bangladesh Nationalist Party], Jamaat-e-Islami and other such outfits, gaining strength during the 1980s and 1990s. I suppose it was India that is responsible for such care bears as the thug "Bangla Bhai" and other self-styled sheriffs of faith and culture that terrorize their own people. I suppose it was India that attacked the temples, idols and processions during the prayers for the Goddess Durga in 2004, in which many Hindus were hurt and their places of worship devastated. Again, I suppose it was India that is conducting assassination attempts on the pro-India Awami League. And I suppose it is India supporting terrorist groups such as the ULFA [United Liberation Front of Assam], which blows up school kids in India as they are celebrating Indian independence day. Don't you think it is funny how none of this makes sense? Just what is a group like the ULFA (which started as a movement to repulse Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam) doing training and enjoying the hospitality of the Bangladesh Rifles? There is much that doesn't make sense. Here are a few things that do make sense. It is always countries in the Middle East and South Asia that blame their non-Muslim neighbors for everything that is wrong in them: Mossad, the CIA [US Central Intelligence Agency], MI6s, little green men (not the Islamic kind), the list is endless. As Bangladesh continues to lose its share in the global textile trade to countries like China and India it will be more desperate to diversify its industrial base. Thus it will look for foreign investment. And if Indian companies see a good deal then they will invest for mutually beneficial reasons. Yet if hostility continues from Dhaka, then this can turn into leverage and India can end up controlling a significant amount of the Bangladeshi economy down the line. An example of hostility: Why does Bangladesh refuse to sell its natural gas reserves to India? The country needs the money, we are willing to pay for it, yet due to ego, Dhaka refuses and thus the gas just sits there. Bangladesh is not using it, India needs it but doesn't get it, and so no one wins. India and Bangladesh are going to have to learn to live together. It's stupid for us to fight, but as long as certain sections within Bangladesh use anti-India rhetoric to stoke up paranoia and win some easy votes, there will be tension. It would be best for all if Dhaka begins to cooperate a bit more and stops supporting nuts like the ULFA.
Aryan Singh Rathore
London, UK (May 6, '05)

I am writing regarding the article on your website by Siddharth Srivastava titled India finds a new bogeyman [May 5]. As a Bangladeshi, I have been reading these articles by various Indian newspapers and Asia Times Online that are nothing but Indian government propaganda to shore up their political lackeys in Bangladesh. The Congress has been in cahoots with the [opposition] Awami League in Bangladesh for a long time and it basically wants to see [former prime minister] Sheikh Hasina back in power. All this so-called rising Islamic extremism and failing state syndrome is just part of that propaganda. If Bangladesh was such a failing state, why would India's own Tata risk investing US$2.5 billion there? As for Bangladesh being "desperately" poor, please give us a break and stop rehashing this old phrase that is no longer true. Just go visit Dhaka - it is now a vibrant metropolis teeming with energetic people that are moving forward. By the way, on all human development indicators recently published by the UN [United Nations], Bangladesh fares better than India. Is India really progressing? If there are 20,000 high-tech jobs in Bangalore, but 100 million Indians don't have access to drinking water - is that progress? Why are so many armed groups in the Indian northeast fighting India? Maybe people like Siddharth Srivastava need to do their job and look at the racist and discriminatory Indian government policies toward the people of the northeast. This is fueling the insurgencies in the northeast in the first place, not some grand design by the Bangladesh Rifles.
Rakib Iftekher
Dhaka, Bangladesh (May 5, '05)

In response to John Daniel's letter [Apr 29] in which he seems to prescribe hugging Middle Eastern governments and the China regime at the same time as being hostile to the rest of the world, especially the Western world. He lampoons those that talk about a "dangerous neighborhood", as "merry Sadhus" (perhaps a subtle slander against Hindus and Hinduism), at the same time, he is rather highly concerned that those that "Indians consider as friends" (not sure how he arrived at this radical conclusion, as to whom do one billion plus Indians consider as friends) are being slandered. I am glad that India is improving relations with Pakistan and China based on shared economic interests, and at the same time, has maintained decent relations with the Middle East. I am also glad that India did not support the Iraq war led by [US President] George W [Bush] because there was no real justification for it. But sadly, that does not erase the fact that terrorism is a serious and a real entity. The hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus deliberately massacred and harassed in Kashmir during the past two decades, has been a direct consequence of Pakistan-manned terrorist schools, Saudi extremist sponsorship, and participation by Taliban terrorists from Afghanistan (a majority of terrorists operating in Kashmir in the past 15 years have been foreign mercenaries from these three places). Common sense tells me we are still miles from considering regimes/political groups that sponsor such bloodshed as genuine "friends". The Americans who talk about "dangerous neighborhoods" may or may not be "ignorant"; that is quite simply not my issue; I'd rather concern myself with those regimes that have been repeatedly challenging India's sovereignty, in rather ugly and violent ways. And this, Mr Daniel, is not ignorance, but realism. Ignorance is hugging and making out with those foreign groups that have been butchering your Indian brothers. Rakesh
India (May 5, '05)

The late scholar Edward Wahli Said would be greatly amused by Subhash Kak's Asia's two butterfly syndromes [May 4]. For him, it would be an ironic twist of an Asian swallowing whole Western constructs of Orientalism. The distinguished professor that Dr Kak is at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, sees the world neatly halved into East and West - West versus East. He neglects that aspect of anti-Western attitudes which some in the West share. Take the case of Giacomo Puccini, the composer of Madama Butterfly. It may surprise engineer Kak that on the stages of the opera houses of the world, the revised libretto of that much-performed opera is used and is the one which has made it a favorite in opera houses' repertory. Thanks to the New York City Opera, the second opera house at Lincoln Center has revived to much success the original libretto, a book which is quite critical of the United States' will to imperialism in, say, Asia after the Spanish American War. As for Kak's comments on the servile nature of the female in Japanese society, he would have a stronger card had he used Pierre Loti's Miss Chrysanthemum. But then, a flower is not a butterfly, although the butterfly might fertilize a flower. As for his facile misuse of the bushido simile, he again misses a step by ignoring the defeated imperial government's appeal to its female population, in August 1945, that, for the sake of national survival, they become comfort women of sorts, to satisfy the army of the American conquerors. When we turn to David Henry Hwang's political pamphlet M Butterfly, we are in the murky world of intrigue and espionage. China uses the wiles of a transvestite to exploit [the diplomat in Hwang's play] Gallimard's inversion for ends of its own. Here, Professor Kak agrees with Hwang in that it is the East turning the West's stereotypes against it. Perhaps. China still suffers the sting of defeat from the Opium Wars, and yes, its defeat on Korean soil by Meiji Japan in 1894. Beijing's recent, orchestrated anti-Japanese protests have nothing to do with Kak's butterfly syndrome. And as such, the use of butterflies for the illustration of his standpoint doesn't obtain.
Jakob Cambria
USA (May 5, '05)

I'd like to briefly respond to Frank in his letter on May 2. He said that "The white people would rather see a war in Taiwan" and "sacrifice the pawns in Taiwan to gain upper hands in their gambit against China". If I'm not mistaken, this is how Chinese are taught in their schools. They are taught that Americans (and other whites) wanted to use Taiwan as a base to destroy China. This is incorrect. The reason why Americans frequently intervene with the issues around the [Taiwan] Strait is because without the US, China could do something potentially harmful to Taiwan, and looking back into past historical context of the CCP's [Chinese Communist Party's] notorious actions, namely the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, it is unlikely for the US to sit by and watch China intimidating the sovereign, democratic island nation. Remember, China's decision-making process is negligent and injudicious. From the "no single opposition votes" in China's decision to pass the Anti-Succession Law we conclude that Taiwan definitely needs someone to safeguard their sovereignty and dignity against China's annexation and possible annihilation.
Stanley Chien (May 5, '05)

Has anyone ever noticed that the Arab world has fought four wars to prevent the recognition of Palestine? (The Israelis recognized Palestine as a sovereign state in 1947, 20 years before the Arab media machine co-opted the name "Palestinian", originally used by the British, for Jews.) Perhaps that explains voting rights (none) for Arab "Palestinians" and their apartheid to "refugee camps" (called "towns" everywhere else) in Arab countries. Israel is (was) the only country in which an Arab can vote in an honest election. I note that this article [How Bolton would reform the UN, May 3] is written by a partisan assistant to [former secretary of state] "Mad" [Madeline] Albright, the happy bomber of civilians and infrastructure in Bosnia. Those bombs kept missing the militia squads in the hillsides somehow.
Ken McPherson (May 5, '05)

In response to the article published on April 12, 2005, House of Saud re-embraces totalitarianism I would like to point out the following: The article has indicated the success of the Saudi authorities in combating terrorism by mentioning that only three persons out of the 26 militants on the most-wanted list are still at large. We would like to mention that the government of Saudi Arabia is very sincere in playing an important role in the international efforts to combat terrorism globally with the same vigor it fights it locally. Last February, Saudi Arabia hosted the world',,,,,,,, DESIGNTIMESP=20703>

Major political developments were introduced in 1992: the Basic Law of Governance, serving the function of a constitution; the Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura), this year with 150 members serving four-year terms, and an enhanced legislative role; and a system of provisional councils, composed of leading citizens who provide input for the local governments in each of the kingdom's 13 provinces.

Saudi Arabia has held municipal elections between February and April 2005 for half the members in the 178 municipal councils in its 13 provinces. Although the current elections were restricted to men, there is a proposal that women will be able to participate in the next election in four years' time.

The King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue was established in August 2003 to bring together leading personalities to discuss important issues facing the kingdom. So far, four national dialogues have taken place, covering education, extremism, the role of women and the problems facing young people.

The Saudi Journalists Association was set up in February 2003 to protect the rights of journalists in the kingdom and coordinate their relations with the media establishment. A similar association for writers is being processed.
The stance of the Saudi government on the issue of reform and the pace of democratization has always been clear. Such change and reform, whether political, social or otherwise should be gradual; it should come from within and should take into consideration the idiosyncratic desires, needs, interests, and aspirations of Saudi people at large.
Royal Consulate General of Saudi Arabia (May 4, '05)

This "scholar" [Chalmers Johnson] is so anti-Japanese one would think the US marines are still on the beach of Iwo Jima [The real 'China threat', http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC19Ad05.html Mar 19]. This jives with Chinese protesters calling "Japanese dwarfs", "Japanese dogs". Pretending to ignore Chinese ethnocentric behavior and not face up frankly to it is an invitation to war in Asia. Just ask any Tibetan or, for that matter, any people bordering China to see what a civilized and law-abiding China was and is.
Hien Nguyen
New Jersey, USA (May 4, '05)

First off, whether China is a democratic country or not, it is fair to say that two issues unite the Chinese people: 1) the reunification of Taiwan; and 2) the demand that Japan emulates Germany in its contrition and responsibility while acknowledging its wartime past. It is disingenuous to lay blame on China's ideology when it is clear that the people are the aggrieved party, and especially when South Korea, a free and democratic country, had also made unambiguous protests concerning Japanese World War II wartime atrocities, albeit in a non-violent manner. Secondly, I feel that it is unfair that while Holocaust revisionists are almost universally pilloried in Western society, [the West] turns a blind eye to Japanese who either downplay or deny outright the "Rape of Nanjing". I am not even sure that Westerners are aware of this event or give a damn about the hundreds of thousands of civilian lives [lost] in this genocidal event, due to anti-Chinese racism.
Omega Lee
Melbourne, Australia (May 4, '05)

In reference to letter of Geoffrey Sherwood [May 2], I offer this final rebuttal: Don't you find the following strange? About 55 journalists have been killed in the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. No journalist who reported the prescribed propaganda was harmed. Although British and Italian and Ukrainian troops were under the same stresses as the US forces, they didn't "accidentally" kill any journalists from any country. The French photo-journalist who exposed the farce of the "Saddam statue episode" was barred from any further US news feed. The truth is not popular with the US military. The Associated Press is currently in litigation with the US military over the cold-blooded murder of a photo-journalist. This event was recorded and has witnesses. You can rationalize all the events you want with the universal excuse "I thought he was a spotter". The US government will assassinate anyone who gives them bad press if a plausible excuse of an accident presents itself. Just think about the reaction of the torture scandal. Instead of rectifying the situation and abiding by the Geneva Convention, we banned further use of cameras. Did that bolster your confidence in the morality of the US military? I'll stick to my opinion - the US targets critical and or truthful journalists.
Ken Moreau
New Orleans, Louisiana (May 4, '05)

This is in reference to the letter by Stanley Chien [May 3]. What planet are you living in? Were you stunned and disgusted when a lot of Muslims were harassed after 9-11 [September 11, 2001] in the US? (I personally know it is true; a Sikh was shot dead because he was wearing a turban.) Your accusation of "never-ending anti-Japanese education" just shows how ignorant you are.
AP
USA (May 4, '05)

I agree with Stanley Chien [letter May 3]. Chinese teenagers' anti-Japanese protests are way out of control. However, I think Stanley should visit more places and pay more attention to the news. The WTO [World Trade Organization] protests in Seattle [Washington] and the recent Taiwan airport clashes are far more violent. There are also anti-Japanese protests in Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam. Recently, Japan is having problems with all four of its neighbors. Why do [people] of other races single out China? Please tell me this type of assertion is not about the Chinese race. I am also curious why ATol did not publish any articles about the recent reconciliations between the Chinese people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The promises of peace in East Asia are not interesting enough?
Frank
Seattle, Washington (May 4, '05)

In fact, ATol did publish such an article on April 25. Please see KMT steals the show with China visit.

John Bolton has, as Maggie Mitchell Salem notes [How Bolton would reform the UN, May 3], criticized [former US president] Bill Clinton for leaving the Republic of China or Taiwan in strategic ambivalence. She should look further back to the strategic blunder that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger made in China. Swept up in the euphoria of the moment, Nixon and Kissinger were willing to dump Taiwan in establishing relations with Beijing - were it not for the late William Gleysteen, who had to remind the then-sitting president and his wheeler-dealer national security adviser that by doing this they were in violation of United States treaty obligations and law. Consequently, Nixon back-pedaled with an uneasy formulation which has since left Taiwan hanging in the wind. Although Mitchell Salem advises on Middle Eastern affairs, she, too, is swept up in a whirlwind of United Nation's bashing. Consolidating agencies dealing with Palestinians will, in the longer run, whip up more anti-Americanism in the Arab and Muslim world. Already the [George W Bush] administration has squarely put itself in the [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon camp, ideologically and strategically. If it is committed to a Palestinian state, it is one which makes it a puppet of Tel Aviv. In what she thinks passes for humor, Mitchell Salem eagerly awaits for the wide axe that John Bolton is willing to wield should he represent the United States at the United Nations. Muscular and triumphant as is her Speaking Freely piece may be, Mitchell Salem should remember the old saying: don't count your chickens before they hatch.
Jakob Cambria
USA (May 3, '05)

Sergei Blagov is always excellent. His objectivity is refreshingly accurate. His article, Vietnam's double anniversary, [Apr 29] explains much of the US's current maneuvers in the Middle East. Many Vietnam veterans and American citizens (I am one) feel that this "special action" was expanded to become a money machine to profit companies with family ties to president [Lyndon B] Johnson and many congressmen. Note how strongly anti-war we became; the "graduates" of these protests are trying, with much less success, to re-live their youth. The fact that many "activists" in the US are federally paid employees (how do demonstrators pay their bills?) on "consultancy leave", and that many of the crowds are street bums paid hourly to hold signs or college students trying to impress the opposite sex, tends to make our "demonstrations" something of a street carnival. Not to mention Saudi media money buying majority shareholder interest on the boards of directors of national newspapers and radio stations, and buying university chairs. The American CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] was formed under President [Harry] Truman, by Wall Street analysts, to enforce American commercial dominance. After WWII, we were the only intact major nation left - both physically and financially. Note the other American institutions from this philosophy, such as GATT [General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade], World Bank, IMF [International Monetary Fund]. Our targeted assassination program, (Iraq, Iran) were attempts to fight wars without killing soldiers. We are not "nice". We are not "fair". Nonetheless, nobody else is either. We are simply far less dirty, and less callous, than any other power. Vietnam taught us to make our mistakes less bloody than the inevitable bloodbath that usually occurs in, say, Muslim, African, Asian, European, or South American imperialism. Note the difference in our chess moves in Central Asia and the Middle East. We limited the spread of Maoist and Soviet communism in Asia, but at great cost and with stagnant democracies, such as Cambodia and Laos. Look at the terror that happened when we left. We are not innocent or naive as concerns the Muslim world - but we are realistic The spread of Nazi ideas in the Arab world; the stranglehold of the world banking system by OPEC [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] cartel tyrants who manipulate religion and media, who hire mercenary corps rather than build economies, who buy influence in the UN rather than build opportunity at home; and multiple Muslim nations working together to spread the Arab bomb with al-Qaeda mafiosi as the delivery device - the Arab world is now too dangerous to ignore. We have learned, at terrible cost to others. Our guilt is very great, and we hope to change the monsters that we (and many willing others) sustained. We left them alone, and what did their wealth build? Our only redemption is to create a secure climate of customers, rather than enemies in ruins. Osama [bin Laden] failed in provoking our attack on Mecca, as Nasrullah and Iran will fail in provoking Israel. We have learned from our failure in Vietnam. We've dealt with Viet Cong suicide bombers and foreign agents sponsoring anti-war protest before. (Our losing presidential candidate John Kerry got the blueprint for anti-war demonstration from Hanoi officers in Paris, while still in uniform. [Bill] Clinton gave China nuclear and missile technology in return for 20 years of quiet sponsorship. China's Zhang Yemin sold it, with his North Korean subsidiary, for oil - the North Korean facilities were built and supplied by companies in Clinton's home state [Arkansas]. Many in our State Department and Congress are "doing business" with foreign interests.) This is a large, ugly, and necessary Great Game. I want shareholders in the connected world distributing resources, rather than ideologues manipulating them to protect their grip on the dangerous territories that unfreedom always builds. The economics of the past must be dragged kicking and screaming into the economics of the now. Kudos to the fabulous Asia Times for giving us such a full picture of what the other players are doing and thinking. The only thing comparable in the US are the bloggers and one radio show, New York WABC's John Batchelor. I know what Americans think, I want to know what the Oriental world thinks! Thanks so much for the fabulous letter section and Asia-centric articles.
Ken McPherson
Fresno, California (May 3, '05)

The observations in Bennett Richardson's article, Anti Japan protests point to Beijing power struggle, [May 2] are so very typical of armchair experts looking at China from the outside. I have the following questions. Since when the Chinese leaders should not and could not have different opinions and also debate among themselves? Was it a power struggle when [former secretary of state] Colin Powell and [Vice President] Dick Cheney disagreed and debated? Why is [director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Keio University, Ryosei] Kokubun so sure that the Chinese people do not possess the "level" of capability in using the Internet to disseminate information? Mr Richardson, you rely too much on this particular "expert". True, the protests, if prolonged and carried too far, would be harmful to both Chinese and Japanese economy, and must be contained. This is obvious to any nitwit. That explains the statements from both countries [China and Japan] after the Jakarta [Asia-Africa] meeting. It should not require an expert to proclaim that "there must be a lot of debate going on inside the Chinese government".
S P Li (May 3, '05)

I was stunned and disgusted when anti-Japanese protests took place in several cities in China [Anti-Japan protests may signal power struggle , May 3]. Not only the embassy was attacked, [and] restaurants were smashed, but several Japanese students or nationals were harassed. I simply can't believe how police in a country could tolerate such events to happen without aggressive intervention; and that Chinese teenagers who've been exposed to a never-ending anti-Japanese education fail to find out that the so-called "only party capable of governing China", or the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], has actually done something much worse than what Japanese imperialists have done during WWII.
Stanley Chien (May 3, '05)

With all respect to Cha-am Jamal of Thailand [letter Apr 29], his theory of monotheism having its roots in Akhenaten's Cult of Aten is wrong. There is no evidence for the remnants of his cult being expelled to Syro-Palestine. Some quasi-scholars and novelists would like to link it to Judaism because Akhenaten's experiment is arguably the oldest known exclusively monotheistic cult, but their claims are about as rooted in evidence as the Mormons' assertion that the earliest Americans were caucasians. There is a very visible evolution in the Hebrew bible of Judaism changing from henotheism (belief in many gods but primacy of one) to straight monotheism (disbelief of any other god). There is no evidence Akhenaten's cult survived his successor's generation. But if you can build a reasonable case for it, please consider writing it up for the [University of] Chicago's ANE [Ancient Near East] mailing list.
Paul M
Canada (May 3, '05)

Regarding the letter [May 2] from Chrysantha Wijeyasingha of New Orleans, Louisiana: I have advice for him to open his horizon for a better understanding of the Muslim world. By living in USA or the West, it seems you are one great example how Western media traps and brainwashes its people's mind regarding Muslims. It also reflects that you only think negative about Muslims. Please try to get other perspectives of the Muslim world and its people - not through US TV news.
Afaq Sher
Toronto, Canada (May 3, '05)

I am reading ATol the for last couple of months, and I have noticed that there is an increase in letters to the editor describing "my religion is better than yours". I am surprised by the number of such letters and their hate contents, but rather more surprised how ATol lets such letters appear on it's website. I want to tell ATol team that me and a number of people surf your website for unbiased and balanced opinion and articles about different matters not to see these hate-filled, disturbing letters or forums.
Cecil (May 3, '05)

John Daniel [letter Apr 29] raises some interesting points which are not totally incorrect. Yes, the untouchability issue still exists [in India], but since Mr Daniel is living in Mumbai he must be aware that many untouchables live side-by-side Brahmins in the many apartment buildings in the very same city. I maybe in London right now but I am very much a Mumbaikar, and if you want to see people of different castes living peacefully next to one another, please go to the suburbs of Bandra or Juhu or Khar. I don't know about Thane, it must have changed a lot since I was last there four months ago, but the other suburbs I mentioned don't have the massive problems you talk about. And if the problem exists (which I am not saying it doesn't), then there are more cases of people living peacefully rather than in a state of conflict. As for the issue of fair skin and caste in the matrimonial section in the newspaper, well what do you expect? For example, if I am a Rajput and I put a ad in a paper looking for a prospective bride then I hope she too is from the same background or caste. Why you ask? Well, because people from the same caste tend to have the same sort of home environments, upbringing and thinking pattern, thus making it a lot more likely that the marriage will work out. They find it easier to relate to one another. Most people don't look at caste from a elitist position in the middle classes, they look at it more from a position of whether the two people will be able to live together happily. Caste isn't the only issue, a kshatriya (warrior-king) boy from Kashmir will probably not have that much in common with a kshatriya girl from Kerala since, though their caste is the same, their culture and even diets can be quite different. The Kashmiri boy might, in fact, have more in common with a Kashmiri vaisya (trader) girl. Don't look at all those ads and view them as elitist, as not all of them are what you think of them. As Indians get more educated and wealthier the cases of discrimination will come down, one only has to see a restaurant in Mumbai for this. What fool of a restaurant owner will ask his customer his caste and risk losing business because he doesn't want "their kind" in the restaurant. If morons like that exist then they deserve to go bankrupt and should be boycotted. Lastly, you bring up the issue of yourself being more Indian because you live in India. Maybe a lot of us are merely overseas for education, training, or a medium-term job and will be coming back to India. And if one looks at history, then it really doesn't seem like the OIC [Organization of Islamic Conference] countries or China has really been that friendly to us since independence. Of course we want good relations with them, but not at a cost of us giving up our own interests. You need to remember that it isn't the Islamic world, or China, or even the West that should matter to you. It is India and what is in her interests. Right now India should just try to play off each side against one another while gaining as many benefits as possible and within the next decade, as the geo-political situation will become clearer, then India can choose who to side with. Do not feel sorry for the Islamic world because they are the "underdog", remember we still are an underdog ourselves and there is much work that India still needs to do. There is a ridiculous section of the public in India who loves to go around and say, "Oh those poor in (insert any country here), they are suffering", well what about those poor Indians who are suffering as well? Do whatever it takes to save the poor in India first, and if that means going against what is the best for the Middle East or China then so be it. As Indians, what is best for India should be our primary goal. If we stand to gain something from cooperation with China and the Middle East then we will pursue that line of action - and we are cooperating with them in many fields - but we can't just support someone blindly.
Aryan Singh Rathore
London, UK (May 3, '05)

[Mohd Salek] Noor's statement [letter, Apr 28] that people of other faiths blame all Muslims for the crimes committed by some is hypocritical, but Noor fails to understand why people of other faiths may feel this way. When the [Word Trade Center] twin towers were blown up by passenger planes by Islamic terrorists, the US TV news showed scenes of Muslims in the Middle East cheering with joy; and as for the rest of the billion Muslims, the outcry against this horrific act was close to dead silence - a silence that was deafening enough for people across the globe of any faith to notice. This is not the first incidence of the "silent majority" of Muslims when Islamic terrorists strike at Israel, Kashmir, Thailand or elsewhere. If Christian terrorists were to do what the 9/11 [September 11, 2001] terrorists did on a nation with another faith, I am sure there would be an outcry from the Christian people, including their leaders. In addition, when Muslims terrorists are killed by Israelis, for example, or Americans in Iraq, there are huge street marches about the "imperialism" and "brutality" of these people. When almost every Muslim nation in the Middle East had a policy to see the Israelis "driven into the sea", there were no condemnations by Islamic papers within or outside of the Middle East. The Islamic media just goes along with it. Currently ,al-Jazeera has become the "Islamic Rose" (verses the "Tokyo Rose") in spewing out any mishap that the US Army may do and never reports on the endless day-to-day killings by the Islamic terrorists in Iraq. This is why the world that is not Islamic believes the way we do. It is there right in front of our eyes and ears what exactly the Muslim clerics and the average man protests about and is silent about. As for me, it reflects exactly what the average Muslim truly believes, what is morally right to protest, and what is morally right to be silent - and it is sickening.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (May 2, '05)

This refers to Frank's fanciful claim [letter Apr 29] that Manchuria and Mongolia along with Tibet "voluntarily joined China" in 1600 and 1300, respectively. I am grateful that ATol corrected him by providing historical facts. Apparently, this is what he and 1.3 billion Chinese are being taught in Chinese textbooks on Asian history. Given China's ravenous historical appetite for Lebensraum, territory, irredentism, resources, and hegemony, it is more important to demand changes in Chinese textbooks than the Japanese ones. Otherwise, I'm sure in another 200 to 400 years time, say in 2500, Frank's great-great grandson would perhaps be claiming that "Pakistan voluntarily joined China in the 1960s" and "Nepal, northern Burma and Laos voluntarily joined China in 2020". To prevent this tragedy, a grand alliance of Mongolia, Russia, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, and Australia is needed to ensure that China's rise is peaceful and does not lead to further annexation, demographic penetration, and Sinification of neighboring countries.
K S Mali
Seattle, Washington (May 2, '05)

While Delhi contemplates "the mother of all free-trade agreements" with China, a far better option for an FTA is Japan". This quote, from [Aruni] Mukherjee's piece [India beckons Land of the Rising Sun, Apr 27], about India beckoning the land of the Rising Sun is a sign of the misreading of the facts and the writer's amnesia regarding what India's own finance minister said: that China's development was due to the overseas Chinese investment in China, which far outweighed Japan's investment in China. Mukherjee is blind to the fact that Japan is visiting India not for India, but because of China.
Frank Yeo (May 2, '05)

In response to Ken Moreau [letter Apr 29]: To the best of my knowledge, Joel Campagna and Rhonda Roumani, authors of the Committee to Protect Journalists' report that concluded that the US military probably did not intentionally target journalists in Baghdad's Palestine Hotel on April 8, 2003, were not embedded reporters. Nor were the majority of the journalists whom the authors interviewed as part of their investigation into the incident. Moreau wrote: "It just doesn't ring true that a tank commander would, under no threat and on his own initiative, target a well-known hotel." All the accounts I've read contradict your depiction. Non-embedded journalists staying at the Palestine Hotel described heavy fighting that morning involving the unit to which the tank that shot at the hotel belonged. The soldiers in the tank were apparently trying to locate an enemy "spotter" whom they believed was directing fire toward their position. How could the hotel have been "well-known" to the soldier who gave the order to fire on the hotel if he had never set foot in Baghdad (the invasion of Baghdad had only just begun), and if his senior commanding officers never informed him that the hotel was to be considered a "no-fire" zone? The report by the Committee to Protect Journalists acknowledges that it appears that such information was never communicated to the tank commander. It must strike those soldiers as very odd that journalists would knowingly place themselves in the middle of an urban battleground and then scream "Murder!" and call for international investigations when a couple of their own are killed, while vastly greater numbers of Iraqi civilians, who couldn't afford a room at the hotel, were dying all around them. If soldiers in a tank think they see a spotter, whether on a hotel balcony, in the window of an apartment building, or on the roof of an office building, they are going to shoot at him, knowing full well that civilians may get hurt or killed. That, like it or not, is the nature of a battlefield.
Geoffrey Sherwood
New Jersey, USA (May 2, '05)

I would like to say something about Why Japan's 'so sorry' doesn't wash in China [Apr 30] by Francesco Sisci. So it finally came, the oh-so-dear Western moral high ground. Cultural discrimination much? So in your mind, the West has always been the model for the human race, hasn't it? I'm not saying the way East Asia is dealing with the past is right, but perhaps Sisci forgot that during hundreds of years of ebony trade, did the West bear in mind of a confession? And now you're pointing a finger at East Asia? Has that American soldier who killed that Italian secret agent in Iraq ever confessed? Oh and about this sentence "Beijing also does not want to see future visits of senior politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine, where there are buried together veterans of Japanese wars and some convicted Class-A war criminals." Way to go to minimize the problem and secretly manipulate your readers. What Koreans and Chinese want is for Japanese officials to stop worshipping the Hitlers, not their war dead. If the war criminals were moved out of the shrine, we wouldn't give a damn if [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro] Koizumi visited it every hour of the day. Oh and mutual animosity? When has China ever done anything to Japan that's worth an everlasting hatred? Did Chinese troops slaughtered Osaka or force thousands of Japanese women into slavery or commit biological experiments on Tokyo residents? During its peak in the past, when no other superpowers could intervene, did Chinese soldiers ever set their feet on Japan's soil? Why now, with the "human-race model" West watching this region closely every step of the way? Japan has been the leading force in East Asia for over a century after thousands of years of being overshadowed, and now with China re-rising rapidly, of course it's gonna feel extremely uncomfortable. But the fears and animosity are all unfounded. One Chinese nuclear submarine infringed upon Japanese waters and they're acting like the sky's gonna fall. Well Japanese troops left millions of Koreans and Chinese dead. Try to imagine how Korea and China feel about Japan's increasing nationalism and military strength, Mr Sisci.
Lloyd Lan
Beijing (May 2, '05)

The Dalai Lama said that it is better for Tibet to stay inside China. I am wondering if Dalai Lama's words are good enough for ATol editors. On a similar subject concerning another part of China, Daniel McCarthy's recent letters reflect a certain honesty of what many white people think about Taiwan. They do not really care about the peace there. Actually, they would rather see a war in Taiwan. They want to sacrifice the pawns in Taiwan to gain upper hands in their gambit against China. The so-called "support for Asian people's self-determination" does not include the self-determination rights of Chinese. In their eyes, Chinese are not human. Chinese people are not entitled to their own opinions, prides, dignity or the rights of self-determination. If Chinese people are not willing to mimic white men, they must be "unprepared and unwilling to behave in a civilized and responsible fashion". This kind of remark seems to be applicable to all the Chinese, from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, or overseas.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (May 2, '05)

Daniel McCarthy [letter Apr 29] must be [Taiwanese President] Chen Shui-bian's private pollster in asserting that "the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese" do not support the "one China" principle. Knowing the policies of [opposition politician] Lien Chan and the purpose of his visit to China, the Taiwanese support the latter's visit by a majority of 66%. Chen did not dare stop the visit, at first demanded reporting and consulting, and finally was satisfied with just a phone call from Lien Chan prior to departure.
S Li (May 2, '05)

John [Daniel, letter Apr 29] you can't get away with the "ignorant American" thing, I could have signed my letter from Hyderabad, which is where I grew up, and you wouldn't have had that easy cop-out. Notice what I'm not saying: I'm not saying that India should join the expansive global war on terrorism. I'm not saying that India should not have good relations with Pakistan or China or others. India's destiny lies in South Asia, as trading partners, or some greater economic sphere, like the European Union. This is all desirable and to be hoped for. But to not recognize ground realities is to live in dreamland. All religions recognize the existence of evil, so I don't know why you have a hard time with that, because countries are just macro level vehicles for human impulses, both good and bad. Historically, China has no enmity with India, they have enough scores to settle with their near neighbors like Japan, but strategically, China is a rival to India for markets and scarce resources. Historically, Pakistan and India have been enemies, and pretty much continue to be enemies. Having a strong defensive military is just as prudent as locking your house door when you step out, at least until that utopia when there is no evil, and no need for police or armies.
Jon Sreekanth (May 2, '05)

To John Daniel [letter Apr 29]: I agree in saying, unfortunately, social mobility is not a reality in Hindu-majority India. The caste system is as much alive today as it was at the time of independence. But as far as I know, dowry (varakatnam) and female infanticide are not part of or indoctrinated by Hinduism. Dowry is a social practice, just as is the practice of female circumcision in Islamic societies. Female infanticide has greatly increased in independent India because of societal prejudices against women, not religious prejudices. In fact, doesn't Hinduism say the gods dwell where women are worshipped? And, you probably heard this too many times, females are the embodiment of power and good fortune. Goddesses Parvati and Lakshmi are worshipped for these reasons. It is hard to say what exactly Hinduism dictates and what it does not because it is neither a revealed religion nor does it have a head to direct. Whenever caste system is said to be part and parcel of Hinduism, I am reminded of this story. Maybe you heard this too many times, but read along: Sage Shankaracharya, on his way to a well for some water, encounters an untouchable. When ordered to move along (for the untouchable may not even cast his shadow on the great Brahmin), the man replies, "What do you want to move aside? The mortal body or the immortal soul? The body which is like yours, or the soul that is God?" And the Brahmin sees that the untouchable was indeed the god Shiva, and prostrates before the one whom a moment ago he asked to move aside. I most emphatically agree with Gandhi when he says if the caste system were an intricate part of Hinduism, he would have converted out of it. Reading stories such as above, I can't believe the caste system can be justified to be so.
akellasm (May 2, '05)

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