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[Re] The myth of the Shi'ite crescent [Sep 30]: [An] absolutely brilliant piece of reporting by Pepe Escobar. By destroying Iran's greatest enemies - the Pashtun government of Afghanistan, the Sunni-led government of Iraq, and the Sunni-Alawite-supported government in Lebanon - and by slowly reducing the support for the Saudi regime, Iran is the undeclared winner of the first and second wars on Iraq. It can afford to flex its muscles, intimidating India on her IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] vote, and Pakistan, and meddling in the affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Only the neo-cons are to blame for the rise of the Iranian Crescent, which will become the most powerful force in the Muslim Middle East. According to General Gul Hamid, an attack on Iran today will create a backlash against the West, the likes of which the world has not seen. This attack is inevitable. As soon as it happens, the Iranians will sink tankers and ships in the Gulf of Hormuz and choke off our oil supplies, ending our way of life as we know it.
Moin Ansari (Sep 30, '05)


The article American rock, Chinese hard place [Sep 30] is an apt description. This sounds like Taiwan is complacent about her own security or she is playing a clever but self-defeating game of appeasing both sides. To China, Taiwan does not raise her own expenditure on her defenses and to the US, Taiwan acquires what she does not have, thereby demonstrating her willingness to fight for her independence. The weakness in this strategy is that Taiwan will increasingly depend on the US defense against Chinese aggression [rather than having] an effective [defense] herself. If she stands up to China and increases her expenditure on her own defenses, she and the US better be ready for a very belligerent China.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (Sep 30, '05)


I refer to the letter of [Jonnavithula (Jon)] Sreekanth of September 29 and wish to put his irritated mind to rest by describing to him to what I meant by the West's "lewd values". The word "lewdness" encompasses adultery, fornication, homosexuality, sexual perversion, nudity, pornography, promiscuity, giving free contraception injections to girls as young [as] nine to 10 years old and supplying free condoms to youngsters, incest and perverted under-age sex by adults. But why should Sreekanth object when so many Hindu temples in India house licentious statues of deities engraved on walls? ... Sreekanth's insipid reference [to] "women being allowed to drive or vote or so on" defies normality of intelligence and reflects [a] pernicious tendency of grizzling. He knows that his allegations are absurd and grubby.
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 30, '05)

Indrajit Basu [India discreet, China bold in oil hunt, Sep 29] makes a fair analysis of the ongoing competition (with the possibility of future collaboration) between India and China over acquiring overseas energy assets. In fact, this whole issue underlines the markedly different nature of the ways in which these countries do business. China can offer [US]$2 billion arbitrarily to clinch an oil deal in Angola, while India can only offer $200 million for a particular railway project. Why? This is because spending of public money in India is vigorously scrutinized by a number of committees, subcommittees and panels before being put to the final debate on the discussion floor of the parliament. Even then the funds are usually categorized, and not free-for-all. China, lacking the desired checking mechanism, can do whatever it wants. Yes, in this particular deal, China's brazen attitude triumphed over India's prudent one - but the kitty has to run out some day. Then what? This is by no means a one-off in the political economy of the China-India story. Consider, for example, the $400 billion non-performing assets stacked up in China's banks vis-a-vis an extremely low NPA ratio for India's banks. Again, this is a case of reckless and unchecked loan-giving by the state-owned banks, as directed by the cadres in Beijing. Contrast that with India, where the finance minister has to criticize the banks for not lending bravely enough.
Aruni Mukherjee (Sep 29, '05)


The article The high price of hounding Iran [Sep 29] does not in any way describe the higher price the world (Israel for example) will face with an Israeli-hating nuclear-armed theocracy. It is now reasonable to assume Iran will try to leverage her position to the globe using her oil reserves as the catalyst. Since the world cannot function at full capacity without Iranian oil, the world cannot afford to have a hardline anti-Israeli Islamic state, [which] recently threatened the world with sharing her nuclear-weapons technology with other Islamic nations, most run by despots and/or hardline theocracies, the world may just choose to live with a little less oil.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (Sep 29, '05)


Spengler writes [letter, Sep 28], in response to critic Les Sachs, "Dr Sachs ... believes that America's 2 million prisoners demonstrate its failure. I see this rather as a success ... everyone is happier, except of course for the incarcerated criminals." Typical of Bushite neo-con(artists), Spengler overlooks a "technicality" (though Dr Sachs did not): the principle of democratic justice, "presumption of innocence". The prisoners [to] whom referred, in keeping with Dr Sachs' point, and abundant other facts, have not been charged, or tried, or, therefore, found guilty of any crime. That means they are not "criminals", despite the usual, arrogant bigot's reactionary view that because a person is imprisoned, he must, ipso facto, be guilty. As for G Travan's critique [Sep 27] of Spengler's tiresome tracts: Seconded! Ignorance of the facts, "overlooking" of relevant principles - such as that above - and spewing rationalizations based upon unexamined assumptions do not constitute thinking, let alone "thinking outside the box". They constitute discredited "theories" - neither new nor interesting - beginning with authoritarianism, warmed over by a pseudo-intellectual who parrots other neo-con(artist) pseudo-intellectuals. For proof of the latter fact, one need only look at the consequences of such "ideas" when implemented in - and against - reality, such as the neo-con(artist) quagmire in Iraq, and the disregard and incompetence of the "responses" to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Joseph J Nagarya
Boston, Massachusetts (Sep 29, '05)


This is with reference to the letter [Sep 28] of Aryan Singh Rathore, who abuses [this] space to misrepresent Kashmiri history and the Indian Independence Act. The British came to the subcontinent containing 526 states and left the subcontinent with 526 states. Muslim-majority areas were to form Pakistan. Kashmir was a Muslim-majority area. India, however, took over Hyderabad, Manvanagar, Junagarh and Assam by the force of arms and also took over Kashmir. Junagarh and Manvanagar had decided to join Pakistan just [as] Hari Sing wanted to join India. However, the accession of those states to Pakistan was not allowed by the Indian military. Hari Sing of Kashmir had no right to hand over a Muslim-majority area to India without the consent of his people, and without being ratified by the Kashmiri people. The so-called article of accession is nowhere to be found and is missing. According to Alistair Lamb, Indian forces landed in Kashmir before the so-called article of accession was signed. The dates on the article of accession are very confusing, because Hari Sing was supposedly in Delhi when he was not etc etc. Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru gave a solemn oath to the people of India, Pakistan, Kashmir and the world to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir and accretion the wishes of the people ...
Moin Ansari (Sep 29, '05)


Among the numerous contradictions in Saqib Khan's letter [Sep 28], one caught my eye, about [US President George W] Bush wanting to be a "crusader to impose Western lewd values". As you probably know, the American left is up in arms against Bush because as a self-described born-again Christian, he does not recognize a natural right to view pornography, have abortions upon demand, never mention God in public, and so on. So Bush's "crusade" would probably be the opposite of lewd, and more towards conservative or conventional morality. Unless of course by "lewd values" you meant things like women being allowed to drive, or vote, or so on.
Jonnavithula (Jon) Sreekanth
Acton, Massachusetts (Sep 29, '05)


Carl Senna responds to readers
Sudip Chowdhury (letter, Sep 27) does not really challenge my argument so much as he dismisses it, largely because he disagrees with me. Oddly, even as he deplores my allegedly Cold War model of the world (which I didn't know I had), he nonetheless buttresses his criticism of my argument by citing the Cold War warriors in the US government (Paul Wolfowitz; Donald Rumsfeld) who are generally described as hawks in the American media. Mr Chowdhury doesn't cite one instance of North Korea selling nuclear-weapons technology to terrorists such as the ones associated with the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack. And Chrysantha Wijeyasingha (letter, Sep 26), who, much to my amazement, somehow managed to post his response from hurricane-flooded New Orleans - when no one else whom I know there could - during the collapse of power and telephone service, simply disagrees with me. And that's fine with me.
Carl Senna (Sep 29, '05)

Spengler responds to readers
G Travan (letter, Sep 28) wrongly charges me with "presuming that everyone in the world would love to live in a big city, and would escape from their disgusting non-Western lives at the first chance." Not so; as he points out, Japan has a "healthy countryside", but that is because Japan is wealthy enough to subsidize its farmers, as is France, among others. When 1% of the US population can grow food for the other 99%, however, the tragic fate of the countryside is ineluctable. Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist, proposed on October 29, 2003, to turn North Dakota into a giant theme park populated by bison before the state empties out entirely. Dr Les Sachs (letter, Sep 8) believes that the US is a failed state because it borrows US$2 billion a day from foreigners, mainly Asians. On the contrary: Asians send their money to America because they lack the financial institutions in which to invest it at home. If Asians decide to invest their savings in their own markets rather than in the US, the US no doubt will undergo a recession, but that hardly amounts to failure. Americans will get jobs in that event producing goods to export to Asia. Dr Sachs also believes that America's 2 million prisoners demonstrate its failure. I see this rather as a success; America's crime rate is the lowest in a generation, New York reportedly is safer than London, and everyone is happier, except of course for the incarcerated criminals.
Spengler (Sep 28, '05)


A round of applause for Jephraim Gundzik [Controlling North Korea and Iran, Sep 28]. He has put his finger on the nub of the issues concerning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Outstanding matters which pit the United States against the DPRK, [the] EU-3 and Iran cry out for a political solution. Gundzik's conclusions are sound and prudent. It is a wonder that career diplomats or area specialists in ... Foggy Bottom or Whitehall have not come to the same determination. Let's turn [Karl von] Clausewitz's aphorism on its head on the question of blowing hot and cold words of war at Pyongyang or Tehran: diplomacy is the continuation of saber-rattling.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 28, '05)


This is with reference to the highly calumnious and excessively capricious article against Bangladesh by Sudha Ramachandran, Mixing aid with terror (Sep 22). The article [is] composed of tedious ramblings [and is] an inflammatory display of the writer's callow analysis of on the ground reality in Bangladesh. It is yet another attempt by an ... Indian to [sully] the image of a nation that has always represented harmony in South Asia. Apart from a few untoward incidents like the persecution of some Hindus in retaliation to the massacre of thousands of innocent Muslims in India, Bangladesh manifested its ability to embrace peace. Our young nation besieged with innumerable problems already displayed its maturity by plunging into the ocean of peace in the year 1997 when she entered into truce with the Chakmas ... and granted them autonomy within Bangladesh, unlike mature and old India, where the problems of Kashmir, Assam, Kalistan, Dalitstan appears to have been dragged into the vortex of eternity. Bangladesh, the second-largest contributor of UN peacekeeping troops, never tried to behave arrogantly like her meretricious giant neighbor. The writer commenced in an assertive and confident voice saying, "The Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a 'banned' terror group, claimed responsibility for the blasts" then went on harping that madrassas and religious institutions provided shelters to the terrorists who worked against the interest of the nation. The government banned them; the people abhorred and disliked them, yet Bangladeshi masses are blamed for harboring terrorists. The bomb blasts in Bangladesh clearly indicated the fact that terrorists are/were people bent on destroying everyone who come in their way to gain material satisfaction. They kill Muslims the way they kill others. Therefore it would be highly appreciated if people like the writer stop mocking and blasting Islam for terrorism and leave struggling Bangladesh alone to achieve economic success, without having the worry of aggression from neighboring countries.
Mohammad Salim
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sep 28, '05)


I wish to add my comments to KEL's letter of September 27 ... People are now openly and increasingly talking about the ugly side of Bush-Blair imperialism and the desire to rule the world with the most advanced weapons of mass destruction at their command; it only takes a slight touch of a button to obliterate any country [that] dares to challenge them or stand up to them. In the case of [US President George W] Bush, his mission is manifold: motivation of greed to capture Third World resources; spread the law of the jungle and police the world with its mighty power; desire to become a conqueror and a 21st-century crusader to impose Western lewd values on conquered lands and possess all oil wells in the Middle East for the West's survival ... India is not far behind in becoming a part of this new jungle order ... The point to remember and the sad paradox is that India, though a nuclear power leaping forward in technology and trade, is one of the poorest countries of the world. Ninety percent of its people live in despicable poverty, have to walk miles to get one bucket of water and that is often dirty, cannot afford to buy even cooking salt; cannot afford to have one single meal a day; die of hunger and disease in millions every day; sleep on the pavements and under open skies in adverse weathers, but ... rich Indians are happy marching forward without giving a second glance at their miserable existence, and that is shameful.
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 28, '05)


The Pakistani duet seems to be in full swing on the Letters pages. I now want to insert some sanity and facts into the discourse. Some of the Pakistani writers here are based in England, so I recommend that they go read the Indian Independence Act of the British parliament. It will highlight some rather surprising facts. First of all, only those Muslims [in] areas under British control (not princely control) would go to Pakistan by default ... The princely states that bordered both India and Pakistan had a choice of [which] to join ... Thus while the maharajah of Kashmir might have considered joining Pakistan, the fact that Pakistan launched an invasion under the disguise of tribals probably convinced him that this new country was up to new good. So he threw his lot in with India along with the National Conference party of Kashmir. End of story, legally all of Kashmir belongs to India. The UN is an unrepresentative body that is increasingly becoming irrelevant. As for Pakistan being a state that was created as a haven for all that is moderate, well, the idea is so insane that I won't even bother to retort to it. Most Indians don't want Pakistan back, the reason that a fence has been built in Punjab and in Kashmir now is to keep the Pakistanis out! Why on earth would we want Pakistan back if we are trying to keep the whole lot of you out? Pakistanis are being deported and thrown into jails all around the world (including the lands of ummah, Pakistan's manpower exports in the form of labor fell by 20% recently) - what makes some Pakistanis think that India is obsessed with them? India wants Pakistan to merely stop interfering within India and to stop supporting terrorism. Unfortunately that is too much to ask for in today's world. India isn't perfect and we have our own problems, but the last people we would turn to for advice on democratic functioning, the rule of law and creating a modern civil society is our neighbor to the west. A lie repeated a million times might become true; alas, the truth screamed a million times is still ignored by so many.
Aryan Singh Rathore (Sep 28, '05)


The letters of Saqib [Khan] and Shafiq Khan confirm my earlier contention regarding their warped logic and allergy to truth. Consequently the architect of Pakistan and the slaughter of millions is eulogized as an "intellectual giant" and "peace-loving". If Hindus killed Muslims since the 1940s, how is it that today there are more Muslims in India and hardly any Hindus in Pakistan? The worldwide criticism and condemnation against Pakistan and Muslims in general is directed against an intolerant ideology, not the Muslims, which unfortunately they have come to symbolize ...
K Kumar
USA (Sep 28, '05)

Commenting on Spengler's pompous and ignorant rants is a frustrating endeavor. His [Sep 27] piece on China, China must wait for democracy, however, reveals such a warped vision of the world, and China in particular, that it must be rebutted. Spengler's hostility to the countryside and its inhabitants, dismissed by him as illiterate, brutish villagers, and his embracing of China's mega-cities is startling for several reasons. Spengler has probably not bothered to visit Beijing or Tianjin, and certainly not any of the countless villages in China. If he had done so, it would be obvious that life in China's big cities may be richer than in the countryside, but it is also dirtier, sadder and culturally void. China's villages retain some of the charm of traditional life while its cities are rapidly destroying all remaining traces. More importantly, Spengler reveals his arrogance by presuming that everyone in the world would love to live in a big city, and would escape from their disgusting non-Western lives at the first chance. By the way, this is where Spengler's pet theory of demographics hits a brick wall as the abandonment of traditional life for a Westernized urban life leads to lower birth rates, among other things. The movement from village to city in China is in large part due to the government's wrecking of agriculture over the past decades, and its blind support of urban development and factory construction. Other developed East Asian nations, like [South] Korea, Japan and Taiwan, retain a healthy countryside, despite significant migration to big cities. China's rulers, however, have deemed it wise to pursue development at a Stalinist pace using robber-baron tactics. Spengler's foray into Iran is quite brash. He doubles his display of ignorance by taking on two nations that he knows next to nothing about and making an empty comparison. In fact, Iran's population policy is seen worldwide as a major success. Iran has moderately lowered is population growth through education and economic incentives instead of the Chinese method of forced abortions and prison. Many nations are actively sending their officials to Iran to learn from this policy, which includes mandatory sexual education despite Iran's Islamic government. The Chinese demographic situation today is a horror. Outside of small villages and ethnic minorities, a generation of spoiled lone children is growing up in soulless cities without brothers or sisters. In a few years, brother, sister, aunt and uncle will become relics. Spengler doesn't have a clue what he is promoting so enthusiastically. Finally, Spengler's drivel about the Anglo-Saxons and their lovely ability to rule themselves is negated with one example. As the Anglo-Saxon self-ruled Americans were waiting for the central government to save them from the hurricanes and each other, in Iraq, after a recent bridge collapse, regular men were jumping into a river to save their drowning neighbors.
G Travan
California, USA (Sep 27, '05)


Spengler's blindness and illusions about the USA (China must wait for democracy, Sep 26) are so wrong that even many US citizens [will] find his portrayal laughable. Spengler joins George Bush with his claims that "no system of government is more successful than America's". But the grim reality is that the USA now has little effective political freedom, and its legal system has become the most corrupt, cruel and unjust of any developed nation. America's failures are hidden by the corporate-owned media, [which] join Spengler in this propaganda. US courts now supervise the world's biggest gulag, with over 2 million prisoners - a quarter of the entire world's prison population. Bribery and extortion, and the jailing of the innocent, are commonplace. America's lawyers are under the thumb of the judges, and will no longer fight for America's nearly dead constitution. I myself, a Harvard-educated writer, was forced to take refuge in Europe after my freedom of speech was banned in a fake US trial, with the judge's friends posing as my lawyers. The two big US political parties, both funded by the same corporations, largely ignore the citizens. For example, a majority of US people want out of Iraq, though almost no US political leader dares to discuss this. Many US citizens, denied any voice or redress, are stockpiling weapons in fear and despair for the future. Spengler talks about how the USA is a goal for immigrants. Many are fooled by the Hollywood myths of US freedom. Also, economic émigrés are by nature aggressive, and they are attracted to a place of rampant, brutal capitalism, despite its risks. But even many of these people regret the choice, if they bump into the US legal system. The only people in the USA who still believe the myth of US "freedom", are those who aren't active in politics, and who haven't yet been abused by the crooked US courts. The USA is currently kept afloat by [US]$2 billion per day borrowed from Asia, plus consumer spending that is driven partly by the home-equity bubble, and partly by the fact that US citizens have no faith in the future. US residents spend all the money they can get and borrow, because they already sense there is no tomorrow there. Spengler doesn't realize he's looking at another failing state.
Dr Les Sachs
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sep 27, '05)


The article India bends under US pressure [Sep 27] by [Ramtanu] Maitra reeks of condescending and demeaning statements of India's policy decision to hold Iran accountable concerning her nuclear program. From the headline of the article to statements such as "Manmohan government was preparing to crawl an extra mile to soften up the US lawmakers" are unwarranted and misplaced. The broad-ranging agreement with the US, which encompasses far more than the nuclear deal between the US and India and will lead to a full-fledged strategic alliance between the world's largest democracy in the history of mankind with the most powerful democracy, must be fulfilled. The US has offered India access to technology that Iran cannot deliver in her dreams ... Iran's foreign policy has consistently centered on the demise of Israel, another new-found ally of India, and Tehran's recent threat that Iran is willing to spread nuclear technology to other Islamic nations should come as a direct threat to India's own security. If India sided with Iran and sanctions failed, the ensuing military confrontation between Iran and the US coalition would lead to "starving" Iran of much-needed cash and the gas pipeline [would] be the first to be demolished, along with a giant setback of the [very] important Indo-US alliance. For a few billion cubic feet of gas India [would] lose a much larger deal with the US and her allies. India is now surrounded with nuclear-armed states ... none of which have India as their best interest ... This makes the alliance with the US that much more important. After 50 years the natural alliance between India and the US has taken form and this alliance must be nurtured in lieu of the US's unnatural alliance with [President General Pervez] Musharraf. Note that I did not mention Pakistan because this alliance survives as long as Mr Musharraf governs. If there is another coup in Pakistan and an Islamic theocracy were to take place the US will need democratic India that much more. India now is an ally of the US and Israel and not their servant. The Indian leadership, like all leaders of great powers, do not crawl or bend to other powers of the world. The Indian leadership made a decision that takes into account her future needs and is in line with global opinions of Iran regarding nuclear non-proliferation and the nuclear responsibilities Iran (as well as North Korea) must assume.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (Sep 27, '05)


With India voting for the US-backed resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] meeting to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council [India bends under US pressure, Sep 27] it marks a new beginning in the foreign policy of the fourth-largest economy of the world [purchasing power parity]. It is of considerable importance that major non-NATO allies like Pakistan, as well as major developing countries such as China, Brazil and Russia, abstained from the vote. In publicly released statements, officials from these countries have made clear their apprehensions on some of the points of the resolution. As a traditional non-aligned, pro-Iran country, India had all the reasons to follow their lead. However, in a brave departure from an erstwhile moribund policy, India has declared that by its own independent inquiry, it feels that Iran needs to do more to comply by the IAEA's regulations. The leftists in India are naturally unhappy about this, but the fact is that Manmohan Singh's India has finally accepted that it has more to gain by siding with the US [than] by being against it. It is unique among developing countries to make that shift in recent times. Long may it continue.
Aruni Mukherjee (Sep 27, '05)


Re 'No Iraqis left me on a roof to die' [Sep 27] by Tom Engelhardt: As is the case with most of the material such as this that I read on the web, there is a very misleading, omnipresent theme: "Blame Bush." This is wrong, dead wrong. [US President George W] Bush is nothing - zero. He is merely the mindless decoy for the dumb ducks. It's the few people who have put him where he is and are keeping him there who the American people should be going after - with ropes. Many haircuts ago, a reserve army officer told me how they handled malcontents in the military: Give them someone to hate - an NCO [non-commissioned officer], an officer, or even the cook - and you can exploit them four ways from center, ad infinitum. This is the method employed by the regime-makers down there ( and up here in Canada). Furthermore, when "that other party" again has its turn at the till, not a thing will change. The USA will continue to be "the most hated nation on the planet". For generations, Americans have been bamboozled into being just too wrapped up in their (bloody) flag. This isn't nationalism or patriotism - it's infantilism.
KEL
Canada (Sep 27, '05)

The American people should go after themselves with ropes? Bush is where he is because he was elected, at least once. - ATol


Just by reading this interview [Afghanistan's future perfect, Sep 24] you can see how Afghans are smartly acting towards their goal to get [the] crusaders out of Afghanistan. Also a new wave of unity [is being] sought. This leader Ahmed Shah Ahmed Zai belongs to Ahmed Shah Masoud's party, but he shows wisdom, intelligence and strong faith.
Bhaweesh Patel (Sep 27, '05)

Engineer Ahmed Shah Ahmed Zai was never part of the Northern Alliance. He never took part in the resistance against the Taliban. In fact, he was with Ittahad-i-Islami Afghanistan led by Professor Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf from where he resigned only because Sayyaf decided to side with Ahmed Shah Masoud. A sentence in my article that Ahmed Shah sided with Ahmed Shah Masoud against the Taliban was published by error [ the article has been clarified - Ed ]. In fact, engineer Ahmed Shah was prime minister in the mujahideen's government when the Taliban took over. He was in Geneva when he heard about the Taliban takeover of Kabul. He went straight to Turkey and stayed as a non-political figure until the collapse of the Taliban. He returned to Kabul in 2002 and last year formed his own party called Hizb-i-Iqtadar-i-Islami Afghanistan. - Syed Saleem Shahzad


This letter is in regards to Let North Korea have its nukes by Carl Senna (Sep 23). While I don't doubt that Mr Senna is competent in various subjects, I wonder how versed he is in the North Korea debacle. I have never read an article on this subject that so clearly misses the broad implications this situation introduces, and so casually minimizes the threat that this [North Korean] regime and its dangerous behavior present to the whole world. Mr Senna seems to be relying on the Cold War as a model to suggest that any country that possesses nuclear materiel is exclusively relying on these weapons as a deterrent to outside force. While that may indeed be somewhat the case in Pyongyang, he either consciously or absentmindedly ignores a far more dangerous alternative - proliferation to third parties. While there are numerous instances of North Korea selling its major "cash crop" to Middle East countries, I would simply like to highlight one instance and the month in which it occurred for context - October 2002. In said month, the US intercepted a shipment of Scud missiles originating in North Korea and bound for Yemen. While US hardliners immediately rattled their sabers over this discovery, there was no illegality in such a shipment, and indeed the US was counting on Yemen as an ally on its war on terror - thus the shipment was eventually sent on its way. North Korea has actively sought buyers for its legal missile market for years now - this is certainly not unique news. However, when one also brings in another noteworthy incident that occurred in October 2002, there should be some time for pause and reflection. The second incident I am referring to is release of the National Security Strategy of the United States of America (October 11, 2002). While many may deride the neo-con originators and the subsequent war on Iraq, one cannot ignore that [Paul] Wolfowitz and his colleagues were prescient in many ways with respect to global events (the document has as its predecessor the National Defense Guidance leaked in 1992). One of the underlying themes of this document is that in the absence of a multipolar world, to hold security in check it may be possible to wait too long before calamitous events occur. Certainly, [September 11, 2001] is the obvious example - subsequent events in Spain and London are also applicable. My question to Mr Senna is: How long should the world wait before a cash-starved North Korea exports its nuclear weapons to any willing buyer with the financial means? And would these "supposed buyers" necessarily have to fall into your baseline assumption of a "nation" that procures them merely for [deterrence]? The current reality is that the Cold War rule sets no longer apply universally, and that there are actors, state-supported and not, that would love to get their hands on nuclear weapons. To ignore this reality or casually dismiss it is irresponsible, and should be an action reserved for the foolish. While the potential ramifications of increasing tensions with North Korea are indeed grave, simply ignoring the possibility of North Korea exporting said cargo to anyone with cash is not acceptable. I am reminded of a quote from Donald Rumsfeld: "Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000; it's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children." Mr. Senna, it is possible to wait too long until a devastating event occurs, and your refusal to even acknowledge this in your article leads me to wonder if I will find anything credible in anything you may produce in the future.
Sudip Chowdhury (Sep 27, '05)


[Re] Moving out of the superpower orbit [May 4] by Tom Engelhardt: President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and his Bolivar revolution [are] not only transforming Venezuela but also the entire South American. Some of the programs are clearly the best seen anywhere in the Third World. Will the Monroe Doctrine be used to eliminate the growing Cuban and Chinese influence in the "old Columbia" of yesteryear (Colombia, Venezuela and Panama)? Will the Bush Doctrine of preemption be used to eliminate the growing popularity of Chavez in the Caribbean and as far as the Middle East? [Salvador] Allende, [Manuel] Noriega and other Latinos [who] challenged the US have suffered a known fate. Will Chavez be able to survive like [Fidel] Castro or be taken care of like Che Guevara? After trying coups against the populist Bolivar, the US policy towards Venezuela is in disarray. Flush with petrodollars, Chavez, displaying Latino machismo, continues to challenge the US. The Bush administration, tied in Afghanistan, stalemated in Iraq, and attempting to engage North Korea and Iran has been ... defeated by Katrina, and checkmated by Rita. For right now, it is hoping that Chavez will go away.
Moin Ansari (Sep 27, '05)


I hope Rakesh [letter, Sep 26] can be a little different than other Indian writers. Putting words in my mouth and beating those words to death is not a proper way to debate. I never said China rocks and every other nation sucks. China is a poor country with 60 million people still living under the poverty line. India has more. They are far from shining. That is why China needs to learn from America. None of [the] Chinese deny that. However, that will not change the fact that China is a great nation. So are many other nations who can treat their neighbors the same way they want to be treated. India's system was imposed on Indian people by white men for the purpose of ruling Indians. That is why the white man's system never worked well in India. India is ... in a kind of anarchy status. That is why Chinese people can never accept that type of system. Chinese would like to develop their own systems. That desire is what makes China a great nation, either rich or poor. Money or wealth is not the factor in China's case for greatness. I also suggest Rakesh perform a Google or Baidu or ATol search about the Red Flag operation system. That will help his honest ignorance. I also would like to know if India is working on something like that or not.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 27, '05)


I refer to Moin Ansari's letter (Sep 26) about Islamism, fascism and terrorism [Nov-Dec '02]. Moin, my friend, don't get upset by false accusations whether they appear on ATol or elsewhere. Ultimately the truth always reigns supreme. Have you not realized that despite nearly all channels of information publishing anti-Islam and anti-Muslim hate, day in day out, people around the world are waking up to the fact this entire crusade against Islam and Muslims is driven by neo-cons, fascists, Zionists, Zio-Christians, and very rich people whose interests [are] to grab oil and other resources from the Muslims and non-Muslims of the Third World countries? This is also the war of the rich against the poor of the world, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims. Otherwise how can one explain super-rich and powerful Muslims and Muslim leaders joining the crusades with rich and powerful Americans and British? The Allawis, Jaafaris, Musharrafs, Abdullahs and Mubaraks of this world willingly carrying out torture and imprisonment of their own citizens for the Americans and the British? People in America and Europe are beginning to see that this whole fraud of war against terror is actually being used as a cover to take away the rights of the ordinary people in their own countries. Witness the recent massive demonstrations in America and Europe - that is evidence enough that people are finding out the truth despite suppression of it in mainstream media. [US President George W] Bush's government of rich people's response to the poor and black of New Orleans should be an indicator of who is against whom. Do not underestimate the power of ordinary people to come to the truth against all odds. Look on the bright side that, against the limited number of oppressors, the masses are finally waking up and in not too distant future the nightmare will end. God and nature do not follow men's timetable, but happen it will and ultimately evil self-destructs.
Vincent Maadi
Cape Town, South Africa (Sep 27, '05)


I beg to differ with [Moin] Ansari's contention [letter, Sep 26] that the 1.3 billion adherents of a particular faith somehow signify legitimacy/divine sanction. Though it is a very few who deal in buying/selling diamonds, a diamond remains a diamond. You do not need all the stars, the night sky is rendered beautiful just by a single brilliant moon. Similarly, truth/true religion is not a function of vox populi.
Deepak Sarkar
USA (Sep 27, '05)


I refer to the letter of Shafiq Khan of September 26 ... Mohammed Ali Jinnah ... was not a meticulous Muslim. He was brought up in Western traditions and educated in the West, a brilliant barrister and a modernist; nobody seem to care about his unorthodox ways but he spoke with undisputed authority for the British Muslims [to] which the world listened, and that is all that mattered at the time. After securing Independence in 1947, Jinnah wanted to create a secular regime in Pakistan in which all basic human rights would be assured to all citizen of the state. [Mahatma] Gandhi also wished the same for India but was murdered soon after by a fanatic fundamentalist Hindu, [and Jawaharlal] Nehru was a belligerent man who soon after the death of Jinnah invaded and annexed the states whose rulers were not of the same faith as the people - Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir. Kashmir's ... Hindu rajah decided to accede to India without ... consulting its majority Muslim population of over 7 million who had lived there for centuries ... Today to be a Muslim in Kashmir and in other parts of India makes them feel like Palestinians living in occupied Palestine and mercilessly killed daily. Unfortunately, [letter writers such as] Kumar and Rakesh and many more ... with their fundamentalist intolerant ethos, confuse the political struggle of the Kashmiri freedom fighters with jihad, as many Jews do [regarding the Palestinians].
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 27, '05)

I refer to the article Southern discomfort [Sep 24] by Charles Recknagel. It is amazing how Recknagel spins and twists the facts while totally avoiding the fact that two British SAS [Special Air Service] agents wearing black wigs and dressed like local Arabs were caught red-handed with a car full of explosives, machine-guns and remote controls for detonating the explosives. While we Muslims have known for a very long time that all the bombings against civilians in Iraq were and are carried out by either the Mossad, the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] or the SAS, the media never mentioned this fact. Fortunately in this case the British were caught red-handed; pictures of the explosives and the agents themselves were published on most of the alternative media websites and are still available for all to see. As much as Recknagel would like to change the subject and shift attention to the Iranians, the cat is out of the bag. The real Zarqawis and al-Qaeda are the foreign invading armies' agents provocateurs.
Vincent Maadi
Cape Town, South Africa (Sep 26, '05)

Do you really believe that none of the mayhem in Iraq is the work of local and other Arab anti-occupation guerrillas or Sunni-Shi'ite rivals? You destroy your own main point. - ATol


Todd Crowell's piece on the ghost town that is North Korea's Kumho removes more scales from public eyes. [Kumho: North Korea's nuclear ghost town, Sep 24]. It is like Dorothy's dog Toto in L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, who exposes the wizard for what he was: a purveyor of snake oil. September has not been kind to George W Bush. Hurricane Katrina revealed to America and the world at large that his administration [was] flagrantly incompetent, [was] ill-prepared, and goes into a tailspin of confusion when confronted with reality. Mr Crowell's article simply tears away the veil of a temple of lies as to Washington's promises [of] providing Pyongyang with light-water reactors.
Jakob Cambria (Sep 26, '05)
USA


The article Let North Korea have its nukes [Sep 23] by [Carl] Senna points to the fact that nuclear bombs can only be used as a deterrent. But becoming a nuclear-power state has far more implications than nuclear [deterrence]. Almost all nations that have proved their nuclear capabilities have used that as a platform to formulate their "new status" to establish their regional if not global power status. This is seen in Pakistan and India. In the case of North Korea, her old rivals (South Korea, Japan) do not have this nuclear-weapons technology and the issue of nuclear bombs being just instruments of [deterrence] do not apply, and China, [which] holds immense sway over North Korea's nuclear-weapons program, has been lukewarm in her stand against North Korea. Why? If North Korea were to develop into a full-fledged nuclear power and [had] the missile technology to deliver her payload, should South Korea and Japan be also allowed to be nuclear states so Mr Senna's nuclear [deterrence] can be maintained? Of course if North Korea were to use the nuclear option on South Korea, Japan, or America's bases in that location, the US would retaliate, but the damage on Japan and South Korea [would] be devastating. Unlike her rivals, North Korea has demonstrated that she cares little for the welfare of her people, and I doubt if they would really care if her people [were] victims to a nuclear strike though she would create a row in the UN. The lesson to learn from this is that when nations gain nuclear status they automatically demand world recognition as a rising power commensurate to their new-found nuclear state.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (Sep 26, '05)


In reference to your story on the hurricane disaster [in the] USA, I don't think that America failed to act, just that it could not be bothered [Foreign policy ill wind, Sep 15]. If [anything], it just confirmed that the USA is a mighty state but will only selectively offer [its] expertise and assistance in times of peace or war to the needy ones. Maybe that state [Louisiana] does not count much in terms of Republican voting requirements. Everybody has been saying that Hurricane Katrina brought the USA to its knees as well as humbled the superpower. My guess is no one in the Bush administration gives two hoots about Louisiana ... I disagree that it will ever change America; in a couple of months it will be forgotten and when another hurricane or typhoon or earthquake were to hit some other more affluent part of the USA, the response would be swifter and more pronounced. Remember "colored people loot and white people locate food" is the description some use to describe the aftermath. I doubt very much if a Democratic government at Capitol Hill would have done much about it. Those who think otherwise are probably kidding themselves. Now with Rita, it looks like they are better prepared; maybe it is because this [area] is more affluent and votes [are needed there].
Katrina vs Rita
Malaysia (Sep 26, '05)


[Re] Islamism, fascism and terrorism by Marc Erikson (Nov-Dec '02): Every time I go to the atimes.com site, I cringe. Why is this bogus, biased, bigoted, inflammatory, Islamophobic, dated and discredited [series] a permanent feature on the Front Page of Asia Times Online? How long will this "open hunting season on Muslims" continue? Why is only Islamophobic rhetoric acceptable on your site? Why don't you also post Holocaust-denial nonsense, white supremacist stink, anti-Semitic garbage, German Nazi propaganda, Italian fascist absurdity, caste scrawl, David Duke writings, and other inanity on the Front Page and continue to degrade the prestige of Asia Times [Online]? Since 2002 hundreds if not thousands of Muslims have repudiated the Erikson polemic on Asia Times [Online] and other spaces on the net. [September 11, 2001] was a bonanza for the Islamophobes who came out of the woodwork to use 19 crazed killers and thugs to demonize 1.3 billion people and the second-largest religion in the world. Since then hundreds of books have been written by authors of all religions refuting this garbage. After the fiascoes of Afghanistan and Iraq, the writings of Erikson, Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington have been superseded by the writings of ... Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Michael Scheuer ... and others have written volumes. Robert Fisk has eloquently written much about the subject. Mark LeVine is the latest in Why They Don't Hate Us in decrying the inane balderdash of Erikson. The [series] is full of anomalies extracted from anti-Muslim sites. Muslim forces fought Nazis alongside Jews in the Battle of the Bulge and in the battlefields of St Petersburg. Even today the graveyards of the old Stalingrad are full of Muslim names. [Chechen] forces attacked the Nazi lines and destroyed the Nazis' ability to conquer Russia. The supposed Grand Mufti connection is tenuous at best, and he is just one person. The Grand Mufti was an appointed "nobody". He was appointed by the British colonial powers. History has shown that Palestinians resisted the Mufti. Islam is supposedly the violent religion. Then why is [it] that during the First Tribal War of Europe (World War I), Christians massacred each other with impunity and were responsible for more than 15 million deaths? During the Second Tribal War of Europe (World War II) Christians killed more than 50 million people. The Holocaust did not happen in Muslim lands. Only in the recent past, I counted 173 million deaths which did not involve Muslims ... Asia Times [Online] can be a force of paradigm shift and change. It is turning into a tabloid by parroting the American right wing demonization of an entire community. Please take this fatuous [series] off the Front Page and for the sake of fair play, justice and equal time, please post an appropriate response to it.
Moin Ansari (Sep 26, '05)


It is time Moin Ansari (letter, Sep 23) realized that the world is tired of the likes of the Taliban and their supporters and will ensure, in whichever way possible, that their return to real power is prevented. Similarly the world is quite convinced of the link between madrassas and terrorism, however much Ansari tries to be in denial. It is true [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai's power does not hold in all provinces of Afghanistan, but Taliban resurgence is likely to remain a ... dream of the likes of Ansari.
Partha
Australia (Sep 26, '05)


Frank [letter, Sep 23], you need to get out in rural Yunnan, Guangxi and Gansu provinces of your homeland a little more before you start comparing the lower classes of India and China. You are probably sitting in your comfortable home in Seattle sipping Starbucks, sniping at any and all who would dare criticize or compare China with little or no clue about what's happening back home. I guess you are currently using all of the logic that a one-party system bestows upon its citizens, so telling you to look at both sides of the issues at hand is akin to telling a toddler why he cannot walk into the street on his own. Jody Barr
Shanghai, China (Sep 26, '05)


Frank's general anti-India nastiness and the convoluted logic contained in his [Sep 23] letter [are] as expected. I am, however, fascinated by Frank's veiled arrogance - this time he claims he will need years to count various areas in which China has an upper hand. Gee, wonder whether that is because the Chinese government is now throwing all mathematicians into jails for acting against the government's whims and fancies. To be quite honest, I have never heard that China is developing something that will counter Microsoft or Google. But maybe that is big news on Beijing's communist websites that I am sure Frank is devoted to. Frank pretends to ask an innocent question: "Is there something wrong about my suggestion of more cooperation in our neighborhood of Asia?" Frank, your suggestion of cooperation will have value and respect only if it is done out of sincerity and honesty and without hypocrisy and arrogance. So far all I have read from Frank is hypocrisy, arrogance, and intolerance - something to the effect [of] China is great, China is God, China rocks, and (most disturbingly) every other nation sucks. No one dare criticize the Chinese regime, not even the Chinese. No one dare compare India with China. And heaven forbid if the Indian system were to be better than [the] Chinese in some ways. As far as [the] economy goes, first address the inequities in rural China, give freedom to your people, establish a free judiciary, foster media freedom; otherwise you just look like an undeserving bully. Also, it is advisable that those that have adopted hardcore Western-style consumerism desist from leveling allegations on middle classes of other countries. It makes them look extremely hypocritical. Saqib Khan in his letter [Sep 22] claims Pakistan is a "security-conscious" state. I guess it is this "security consciousness" that led [the] Punjabi Pakistani military to slaughter Bengalis, and foster vicious jihadis whose favorite pastime is to kill Hindus in Kashmir, destroy parliaments, and bomb Hindu temples. In a typically absurd fashion he holds India's "Hindu fundamentalist" government responsible for Pakistan's nuclear tests, when the global intelligence community already knew very well that Pakistan was developing nuclear stuff for military use, from a long time before. I thank the Indian government for bringing Pakistan's jihadi nukes out of the closet. As far as his reference to India's "iniquitous caste system" goes, well, let's see the kind of equity we see in Pakistan - the systematic discrimination against religious minorities (including Shi'as and Mohajirs), oppression of women and the general rape-raj now prevalent in rural Pakistan, and the atrocious class divisions fostered by feudalism ... How about carving another country out of Pakistan based on true equality?
Rakesh
India (Sep 26, '05)


I [refer to] K Kumar's letter (Sep 23) in response to Saqib Khan's letter. Mr Kumar should know that being "religious" and being a "Muslim" are two different things. Every Muslim or Hindu cannot be necessarily a religious person [at] the same time. "Religion" is sacred and cringe-free belief in some supernatural power who controls human destiny and the affairs of the universe. "Religious" could [refer to] any moral or materialistic thing; attitude, character, action or behavior. People from all religions could be religious but everyone cannot ... follow every religion ... I have not seen one Hindu accepting the reality that Pakistan is a separate entity and an independent state out of India. Not only [does] every Hindu oppose the creation of Pakistan but one statement is very common among them, where they blame Mohammed Ali Jinnah for the killing of 1 million people after partition. My simple question to Hindu brothers is (a) who slaughtered 1 million Muslims after partition [during] their migration towards the frontiers of the newly founded country Pakistan and (b) had those 1 million Muslims not [been] killed at that time, [would more] have been killed intermittently during the course of 58 years by the majority Hindu population in India? So what is the difference and why count those numbers? I always wonder, no matter which paper you pick, which Internet site or forum you surf, you will find Indians all over criticizing and discounting Pakistan and its leader. The media [are] flooded by articles and comments by Indians about Pakistan and its leaders. They are more concerned about Pakistan than counting their own pigeons. Could they prove that Pakistanis all over the world are also doing vise versa? Let me tell you, it does not mean that Hindus are angels and India in a paradise. But the only reason is, we believe [in] tolerance, adjustment and compassion and prefer to pull [up] our own socks instead of poking [our noses] in someone else's bread and butter.
Shafiq Khan
Canada (Sep 26, '05)


I wish to reply to K Kumar's letter of September 23 ... It is such a despicable and preposterous statement to make that Mohammed Ali Jinnah in all his wisdom "envisaged" Pakistan at the cost of 2 million lives. It defies all decent codes of ethics and morality and regrettably, it is a mendacious attempt to sully the name of a man who was an intellectual giant and a very peace-loving person and believed in non-violence ... I was one of the fortunate ones who escaped the massacres during the ugly days of partition and remember vividly the horrors of slaughter and butchery of Muslims by the Hindu and Sikh mobs. I am a witness of the holocaust. We have seen that since 1947, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been killed mercilessly in India because of communal riots instigated by the fundamentalist Hindus and financed by extremist politicians. Hindu fundamentalists and fanatics in saffron clothes relish any opportunity to start bashing and butchering Muslims in India as they did in Gujarat few years ago. The brutality that killed over 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat will always be a crushing blow to Indian's claim to be a secular state and a tolerant society ... Last, I would like to say to K Kumar that [the] majority of adherents of Islam in Pakistan are Sunnis, which reflects once again his pathetic ignorance of the facts. Mr Kumar is not only suffering from self-inflicted pathos but also self-inflicted mendacity. Finally, his silly claim that 2.5 million [in] East Pakistan were killed by Punjabi Muslims is unsubstantiated gutter journalism ...
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 26, '05)


Show me a pro-Muslim or pro-Pakistani writer on ATol and I'll show you a man who recently got fired. I've been a longtime reader but this is why I'm finally done with ATol. To my fellow Muslims I would say that it is easier to forgive than to keep the poison inside. Just stop worrying about this site and ignore the hate. I doubt ATol will publish this in the Letters section so I just want to let you guys know that a great portion of your readers are in fact Muslim. That doesn't mean that you should cater to us but it does mean that you should try [to] hire someone other than the likes of Spengler and Ramtanu Maitra.
Emad
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Sep 26, '05)

You mean someone like Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Saleem Syed Shahzad, Sami Moubayed, Safa Haeri ... ? - ATol


Asia Times [Online] needs a comprehensive article explaining how [Junichiro] Koizumi won [the Japanese election] when so many predicted a big loss. It should include analysis of how he is generally perceived, and what his victory is likely to mean for domestic reform and for Japan's relations with China ...
Dr Elson Boles (Sep 26, '05)

[Re North Korea 'deal' is only a starting point, Sep 23] ... The agreement worked out by the Clinton administration included a provision for a light-water reactor for Pyongyang. Thus what Kim Jong-il's government is calling for is a delivery on old commitments when it says that as a first step, the furnishing of a light-water reactor is the beginning of many steps to a resolution of outstanding issues. Consequently, what we have as far as [US President George W] Bush's emissaries are concerned is a return to the starting line. And so, in attempting to bell the North Korean snow leopard, the Bush team is engaging in a worn-out scenario of stalling to mark political points. As the past has shown, this posturing leads to stalemate, heated words of war, and a willful tendency to play diplomatic chicken. It is especially ingenuous on the United States' part to demand that Pyongyang unilaterally give up its nuclear arsenal, the more especially since Mr Bush has announced that soon Washington is going to resume atomic testing and to stretch its own nuclear capacity and stockpile of armaments. Washington is playing for time. For it knows that sooner or later, it is going to have to sign an agreement with Pyongyang, but that is not for tomorrow. Now, the Beijing document puts the question of North Korea on the back burner so that Mr Bush can deal with a seemingly never-ending war in Iraq and the intractable vagaries of cruel nature in the Gulf of Mexico. It is time for the United States to stop playing in the sandbox, and deal with untying the difficult knots of war and peace on a divided Korean Peninsula.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 23, '05)


M K Bhadrakumar is right in predicting the demise of [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai and his "Vichy on the Kabul" government [Karzai grabs a tiger by the tail, Sep 23]. However, there are a few more reasons for predicting the demise of Mr Karzai, who leads a non-Pashtun and minority-led government in Afghanistan. I don't think the mayor of Northwest Kabul, Hamid Karzai ... is capable of anything. He was not capable of firing his US marine bodyguards that have allowed him to survive in his compound. Mr Karzai is as capable of defying his President [George W] Bush, as much as a puppet is capable of slapping the puppet-master. He is as capable of initiating his own speech, as a ventriloquist's dummy is capable of contradicting the ventriloquist ... Hamid Mir in a recent article exposed Mr Karzai's doublespeak when he pointed out that 12 of the provinces are not under Mr Karzai's control and the former Taliban minister of intelligence is running for elections in Afghanistan. Beholden to the warlords and opium growers, Mr Karzai's constant whining will not buy him any more time. The elections are a sham, and provide the USA an exit strategy. Mr Karzai's new scheme of allying himself with Russia and India surely won't buy him more time. We don't have to worry about him much longer. The Taliban are ready to have him for lunch. The Taliban may not have defeated the USA, but the weather may have ... The hurricanes may have sapped the resolve of America to fight distant wars. I want to comment on [Ramtanu] Maitra's ... article [US-Pakistan: An elaborate pas de deux Sep 21] in which he throws in a lot of data, but no real or new information. Most of the thoughts and ideas are recycled and rehashed writings from previous Asia Times Online articles. For example Mr Maitra says, "It soon became obvious to Washington that Islamabad would not abide by all the demands the Bush administration had made. It would give up some - not all - of its human assets to the US slowly." Obvious to only Mr Maitra and his buddies. Neither President Bush, nor Colin Powell nor Condoleezza Rice seems to have the same opinion about Pakistan. All sanctions against Pakistan have been waived. The aid to Pakistan has been growing, and Pakistan has been praised to no end by the Bush administration. More than [US]$1 billion of debt to Pakistan was waived. Colin Powell [as US secretary of state] totally ignored India, and did not even inform them in advance before announcing that Pakistan was awarded the Non-NATO Ally status. He was in India the night before and apparently forgot to mention the new military relationship Delhi. India was incensed. In spite of strenuous Indian objections, Pakistan was then awarded the sale of 75 F-16s (two of them free it seems) ... Similarly Mr Maitra gives wide coverage to known Pakistanphobe [Zalmay] Khalilzad, but "forgets" to mention that he was removed from Afghanistan on Pakistan's insistence. Mr Maitra tries to follow the silly madrassa line, when he knows full well that no link exists between the madrassas and terrorism ...
Moin Ansari (Sep 23, '05)


It seems Saqib Khan [letter, Sep 22] is suffering from the all too familiar, self-inflicted malaise of selective amnesia, visual loss and interrupted flow of logical thought ... That [Mohammed Ali] Jinnah was not religious but a Muslim is clearly an oxymoron. Religious freedom has existed in the country called India since times immemorial. Yet Mr Jinnah in all his wisdom "envisaged" Pakistan, at the cost of 2 million lives. He is now revered as the "father of the nation". The creation of Pakistan was based on Islamic ideology, therefore it did not "become" an Islamic [ideological state] in the 1970s, rather, it accepted the fanatical Wahhabi cult. I agree that the caste system in India is far from perfect but you conveniently gloss over the murder of 2.5 million East Pakistanis by the "superior" Punjabi Muslims, simply because they happened to be the "inferior" Bengali Muslims. I shall be grateful if you can explain how "moral support" can lead to the murder of more that 60,000 Kashmiris and the virtual eviction of the Kashmiri Hindus from their homeland. This process continues to this day. Yet India has not retaliated. Pakistan's insecurity is quite understandable following the initiation of four conflicts that have failed miserably. Are you suggesting that in future wars the rules of conflict be changed, and Indian soldiers put their weapons down and return home, lest they hurt the sense of security of the Pakistanis?
K Kumar
USA (Sep 23, '05)


Rakesh [letter, Sep 22] is wrong again. I will need a lot of help to shout from the rooftops about every area where China has an upper hand. Actually, I will spend years to even count them. However, if you read my letters, I am against comparing India and China in any area, not only the computer-technology area. Most US media [portray] Indians as loyal high-tech servants crowded in 24-hour call centers. They whine that China is developing software to challenge Microsoft and Google instead. I am not in the computer area. I do not know that India is going the same direction China is going. That is good. Microsoft and Google need competition. Asians need lofty goals. I will cheer for India for that. Chinese inside China are not aware of the hostile racism of English-speaking Indians. China offered help in the areas where India needs [it]. China offered to train [Indian athletes]. China offered tsunami aid to India. Is there something wrong about my suggestion of more cooperation in our neighborhood of Asia? Should we compare with our neighbors in all areas, and in details? Is that good for our neighborhood? A country is not reflected by its upper class. It is revealed by its lower class. India or China cannot be regarded as a shining country when their poor cannot afford food, clean drinking water, [clothes], decent shelter or even a dignified death.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 23, '05)

I wish to comment on Ramtanu Maitra's article of September 21 [US-Pakistan: An elaborate pas de deux]. The [confusion over] Pakistan ... since 1947 [has been] to establish [whether] it is a democratic or theocratic state. Its founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was not a religious person but a proud Muslim who envisaged Pakistan to be a free country where people of different religions would be free to go to their mosques, temples and churches and other places to worship: more on the footsteps of democracy. In the 1970s, it took an about-turn when the military regime allied itself with the religious groups to help the Afghans and the Americans fight and defeat the Soviet Union in Afghanistan ... Pakistan became an "ideological" Islamic state whose parameters were ruled and determined by the military rulers, and also [distanced itself] from secular India, still practicing an iniquitous caste system, as well as giving moral support to the Muslims in Indian-occupied Kashmir fighting for their right for self-determination and freedom. The United States shares the largest part of blame along with [other] Western countries as they poured billions of dollars into Pakistan's military in 1950 and 1960s to fight the Cold War and again in the 1980s to expel the Soviets from Afghanistan to [destroy] its Central Asian empire. As a matter of fact Americans and the West were the sponsors of terrorism but called it jihad then with the help of mujahideen from many Muslim countries, including al-Qaeda. Another pivotal factor that inclined Pakistan towards Islamic ideology was its acute sense of insecurity with India with [which] it has fought three inconclusive major wars and many smaller ones ... Pakistan is a security-conscious state, which is constantly threatened by India; therefore, it [had] to become nuclear power to survive [against] Hindu fundamentalist governments who were hell-bent on wiping it out from the world map. In its struggle to secure its boundaries, Pakistan lost [out] on many modern reforms; education and welfare spending lost priority. But all has changed since September 11, 2001, because of the U-turn taken by President [General Pervez] Musharraf, since he has allied himself with the West in the war against terrorism given birth by the Americans and the West when they needed it. I believe that Musharraf had no choice but to go along to save his skin as well as to save Pakistan from the belligerent posture adopted by bellicose [George] W Bush ...
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 22, '05)


Why must extremist and neo-con writers write with pseudonyms? I'd at least like to know more about the background of the anti-Muslim Spengler [Demographics and Iran's imperial design, Sep 13]. He seems so unbalanced in his views: a neo-con, a Likudnik? or just anti-Islamic?
Leon Sherman (Sep 22, '05)


I would like to ask Ann Lau [letter, Sep 21] to stay out of Chinese people's hair if she really wants to see direct election in Hong Kong or any other Chinese city. Premier Wen [Jiabao is] a proven reformer. He could risk his career at Tiananmen Square in 1989 to support the democratic movement; he will reform China into a more democratic society. The least the Chinese leaders need now is instruction from overseas. [Such] foreign advice [has] proved to be ineffective and in many cases counter-productive. If you want to see a more democratic China, leave Chinese people alone.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 22, '05)


The [Sep 21] letter by Frank exposes the highly self-serving nature of Frank's arguments. When his aunt China has an upper hand or is perceived as having an upper hand in some area, he eagerly not only shouts from the rooftops about it, he promptly heaps ridicule and mindless scorn on not only the Indian government, but unfortunately also on Indian people, specifically on the educated and middle classes. When India has an upper hand, as the recent letter by Huang Hsing-ming correctly pointed out, Frank loudly insists that all Asians must cooperate and China's flaws should be pushed below the carpet. Double standards, and nothing else, I say.
Rakesh
India (Sep 22, '05)


Aristotle, in 322 BC, said, "At his best man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst." The recent symposium (Asia-Pacific Human Rights Conference) on human rights held in Beijing posed some uncomfortable questions to China regarding human rights and other issues that have been plaguing the Chinese society for years. The meeting heard of how children from the poor strata ... are lured/forced into prostitution, begging and soliciting, made to work as laborers on plantations and in mines, markets, factories and domestic work. More and more women are facing the risk of landing in prostitution gangs. Activists say trafficking in people is a common practice that has flourished under the shadow of government corruption and poverty in China, about which we have little information. Claims are that sale of women and children is a nationwide problem, the blame being also on the strict birth control laws that allow a couple to have only one child. All this is to see the other side of the economic progress that China is rightfully taking all credit for. Tens of thousands of people are detained in violation of human rights regulations, and are seen to be at risk of torture and ill treatment. That is the kind of allegations that China-based organizations like the Falungong sect are making off and on. China is also cited as a country that sends the maximum number of people to the gallows every year, with total disregard to international campaigns against the system of capital punishments. The worst part of such executions, if allegations are to be believed, is that the killings [follow] "unfair" trials. It is time China threw in the towel of communism and [stopped] crackdowns on dissidents, media and religious freedom. It cannot go on arguing that feeding and clothing its1.3 billion people is the first human-rights issue before the government. Such talks will only help to undermine the great leaps that China has achieved in the economic field in the past few decades. The $64,000 question is, How [will] China with its communist government and bullyboy attitude learn to respect humanity?
Mohd Salekun Noor
Dubai, UAE (Sep 22, '05)

Dubai also has failed to abolish the death penalty, and has been criticized by Amnesty International for cruel sentences against women by sharia courts, detentions without trial, and other alleged human-rights violations. Yet you live there without complaint, apparently. We'd strongly advise you to take human-rights activists' claims with a large pinch of salt. - ATol

This is in reference to your article US-Pakistan: An elaborate pas de deux [Sep 21] by Ramtanu Maitra. The article is a complete failure, a combination of recycled stories, news and analysis and unnecessarily stretched to fill pages. It's just like digging the old graves to find some living dead. Has Asia Times [Online] run out of new blood? Stop blowing water in order to get butter.
Shafiq Khan
Canada (Sep 21, '05)


The article [US-Pakistan: An elaborate pas de deux Sep 21] is well researched and follows the usual pattern. Throw in a lot of real statistics to get some credibility, and then wham, the real reason for writing the article: unadulterated venom against Pakistan. Mixing garbage with terramisou doesn't make the mixture terramisou, it makes the entire mixture garbage. Mr Maitra's writings are but one link in the propaganda wars. The article is "much ado about nothing ... full of sound and fury signifying nothing". Mr Maitra seems to have all the answers, everybody is a fool, [US President George W] Bush, [Pakistani President General Pervez] Musharraf, and everyone else. I guess the only intellectuals live east of the Sarwasti. Asia Times [Online] keeps all these Indian army and RAW [Research and Intelligence Wing] rejects busy. His article brings no new insight [other] than the usual Indian rhetoric and hope. "Dump Pakistan, and build India against China." He repeats the old and hackneyed Indian positions that did not hold water with US policymakers.
Moin Ansari (Sep 21, '05)

It is your letter that follows the "usual pattern" - if an article does not mindlessly sing the praises of Pakistan it must be RAW propaganda. Yet you fail to point out a single error or misrepresentation in the piece, and even admit it was "well researched". - ATol


This article [Kurds dream of real power, Sep 20] fell short and did not mention why the USA and UK created the no-fly zone over Iraq's Kurds. The USA, UK and France are willing to slice the Mideast countries in favor of keeping them weak against Israel. Syria will be sliced into three of four pieces, Lebanon will be sliced, and Saudi will be too. It seems that the Arab world is not aware what is coming up if the USA has the money to spend on slicing the Arab world.
Joe Hamadeh (Sep 21, '05)


Regarding your September 20 article China looks to democracy to cure its ills, I suggest that if President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are sincere about allowing direct elections in towns, they should first allow Hong Kong to have direct elections of the chief executive and all legislators. After all, Hong Kong is a town that is fully ready to have direct election.
Ann Lau
USA (Sep 21, '05)


[Re Pentagon steps closer to 'GloboCop' role Jun 14, '03] I'm curious in terms of how you decided that the US has had any success in Iraq. No WMD [weapons of mass destruction], which was predicted. Capture Saddam Hussein - well, the Kurds did that weeks before the photo op of a "special forces" team sneaking up on the location wherein Hussein was found, so the US didn't capture anyone except countless people they can't find anything to charge with. Regime change? Hardly, It is yet another in a long string of failed US puppet governments which oddly enough is being "constructed" in the middle of a shooting war. US protection? From [whom]? Hussein? Well, Hussein's own neighbors weren't afraid of him, but the US was? Now Iraq is, like Afghanistan, a failed state. All of the predictions by the few US sophisticates, and the world's as well, predicted the current civil war because of the variety of sects in Islam alone, not to mention tribal loyalties and other such. So, in fact, the invasion and occupation of Iraq [have] failed miserably in addition to being a crime against US law, international law, and humanity. Apparently Hussein's nephew has been jailed for life for initiating the Iraqi insurgency. I wonder from what well of information this canard arose? So far the Bush regime, a rogue regime, illegitimate in that it was not elected to any seats of power, has yet to tell the truth about anything ... So, perhaps you can tell me how, in any way, the US has been successful at anything since 2000 - it would be welcome news.
Ted Bohne (Sep 21, '05)

The article you cite was written more than two years ago, before the occupation of Iraq had had time to encounter many of the problems you mention. For a more recent Jim Lobe piece on Iraq, click here. - ATol


Having been accused previously by some ATol readers of being on the Chinese Communist Party's payroll, it is refreshing that I am now accused by Robert Passman [letter, Sep 20] of being on the payroll of the US president. The word "epiphany" comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which describes a manifestation of divine power, or a moment of divine revelation that leads to a sudden change of previously erroneous attitudes or ways. The president did accept responsibility for the inadequate response by the government and characterized it as unacceptable. Mr Passman asserts that President Bush lacks "the wisdom to recognize a failed policy" and accuses me of not recognizing the facts. The fact is that President Bush seems to have recognized a more fundamental failure when he said: "That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America ... We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action." As to how the Bush reconstruction program will be paid for, it is a basic truism in economics that money spent on social reconstruction and investment on a better society always more than pays for itself.
Henry C K Liu (Sep 21, '05)


Robert Passman writes [letter, Sep 20]: "Mr Brown [of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency] is gone and someone who has actual experience has replaced him." Mr Passman doesn't provide the name of the replacement, or his or her credentials as to "experience" relevant to FEMA; but Michael Brown was relatively irrelevant to the Bush failure to respond to the [Hurricane] Katrina disaster: he could not act without the authority of the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff. And Chertoff didn't act because he was trying to figure out who was in charge. Not-so-by-the-way: Chertoff remains "in charge," over FEMA, though he has as little relevant experience - zero - as Michael Brown. So before declaring Brown's replacement qualified - whoever it is cannot act without Chertoff's authorization - look at [President George W] Bush's nominees for health and human services, beginning with the veterinarian to be in charge of women's health issues, replaced as result of controversy by the daughter of Joint Chiefs of Staff [chairman] General [Richard] Myers. She isn't qualified for the position either - except as to [whom] she knows.
Joseph J Nagarya
Boston, Massachusetts (Sep 21, '05)


I appreciate Huang Hsing-ming's insider information [letter, Sep 20]. I did not realize India is that ahead in the IT [information technology] area. I do not have a problem with that. I hope Indian companies are on course to take on Google or Microsoft. Asians should not settle for just servicing white people's companies. And I am proud that a person with a Chinese name will cheer for India. I hope I can see Indians cheer for China too. That is the way it should be. We do not want to read articles boasting about ourselves or claiming that we will beat our neighbors. It is more encouraging to read articles or letters to cheer for our neighbors, not ourselves. That is the Olympic spirit. That is sportsmanship. Go India. Go Huang Hsing-ming.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 21, '05)

Banner headlines the world over hail the news that Pyongyang says it will abandon its nuclear arsenal [North Korea agrees to give up nukes, Sep 20]. North Korea promises, thereby easing mounting tensions on a divided Korean Peninsula and threats from Washington: inspection by outside inspectors of its nuclear sites [and] adhesion once again to the nuclear non-proliferation pact. On the other hand the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia promise more aid and, more important, expertise and infusion of capital for the peaceful development of North Korea's energy sector. Which allow for muted back-slapping and handshakes and satisfaction of a job well done. Let's step back a minute: we have promises, promises, and nothing else but promises. This raises a pivotal question: Why could not the present results have happened three years ago? The answer is plain to see: the Bush White House played hardball, which went beyond the foul line. It huffed and puffed but could not blow down Kim Jong-il's brick house. President [George W] Bush is fighting gulf wars on two fronts, in the Middle East and in America's Gulf [of Mexico] states. He is greatly weakened, and so, to ease continuing cold warfare, he has made promises, and [to] recoup lost political ground, he has distributed his IOUs in Beijing. Thanks to the Chinese this round of the six-power talks was snatched from the maw of defeat. Which augurs not well for the United States. It signals its decline in Northeast Asia, and the rise of China as the putative powerbroker in that part of the world. In a longer view, North Korea is getting what it wants, and through future and tough negotiations will hammer out an agreement to meet its conditions. The United States will put a good spin on that document. Yet in the back of its mind, and in spite of Bush and Co bravado in foreign policy and its boosterism and tinhorn sheriff play-acting, it has to feel like the mighty Casey at bat!
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 20, '05)


Regarding [Henry C K] Liu's article [Epiphany for a president, Sep 17], I wonder if he is on the [US] president's payroll. He speaks of resolve and forcefulness. He ignores the fact that this activity on the part of the White House is in response to falling polls. The federal government is riddled with political appointees, a practice used by both parties. You may wink and nod but if you happen to be caught the way this president has been, something has to give. [Former Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael] Brown was congratulated by the president on his first visit to New Orleans. Now Mr Brown is gone and someone who has actual experience has replaced him. The president, as usual, does not seem to know how his effort will be paid for. People speak of resolve. Resolve is good but resolve [without] the wisdom to recognize a failed policy or misdirected course can only lead to another disaster. Shame on Mr Liu for not acknowledging the facts.
Robert Passman (Sep 20, '05)


Your frequent [letter] writer Frank of Seattle wrote [Sep 16], "If India is ahead of China in the IT [information technology] industry, why can't India develop a Baidu.com to beat Google?" To be honest, India is already way ahead of China in that field, but rather than using the technologies for developing pirating software, tools that allow users to grab or download files for free without the permission of the dedicated authors, India uses its technology for developing some other practical uses, such as research and development. If anyone has a bit of knowledge about illegal downloads, you'll not be surprised to find that the majority of these downloads come from cities across mainland China, and the majority of them are grabbed through Chinese sites, Baidu included. As a matter of fact, the pirating issue is so serious that Japanese developers have to put an "inerasable watermark" behind their image products to prevent Chinese hackers from illegally downloading them and put their title on the images. Therefore, your frequent writer Frank's claim that China's ahead of India because India isn't capable of establishing a Baidu site is totally groundless, and is beyond silly. I'm sure in a few years India will take over China as its economy gets growing faster and more stable. Go India.
Huang Hsing-ming
Taoyuan, Taiwan (Sep 20, '05)


I wish to add my comments to the letter of Joseph J Nagarya of September 16. There are four reasons the Bush administration invaded Iraq: first, to get rid of Saddam Hussein and his regime to replace it with a US client regime; second, to find WMD [weapons of mass destruction], which probably never existed and if they did, the UN weapons inspectors would have said so, but President [George W] Bush wanted to believe they existed and the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] helped him with convenient intelligence, also provided by Iraqi defectors including the present president [of Iraq] and the past prime minister; third, to control oilfields and reduce crude-oil prices to boost [the US] economy, the real motive behind this fiasco but because of the ... CIA's failure to predict massive resistance to the occupation, this never materialized. President [Bush] assured the Americans that intelligence cock-ups will never happen but it is easier said than done, and at a price of over 25,000 innocent Iraqi men, women and children killed by the coalition forces, their homes and country bombed to ruins. Is this price of poor intelligence worth paying? Iraq's timid armed forces were never a threat to Great Britain or the USA but were made up to look like giants by the intelligence agencies in order to justify the unjustified invasion. Fourth, a large number of opponents of the Iraq war have always believed that confrontation with Saddam Hussein was an exercise in cowboys' traditions of score-settling and accusations of WMD ... were conveniently cooked up to punish someone he [Bush] hated ... There was no legal or moral case for invasion except his personal vendetta. I personally believe that there is another reason that motivates him: it is his burning desire to be known in history and to become [a] 21st-century crusader to subdue [the] rising call to Islam in the world and save the white-skin Christianity and Western lewd civilization.
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 20, '05)

Note from ATol Henry C K Liu is entirely innocent in the case of Paul and the burning bush. The ATol editorial desk is to blame; it has seen the light and corrected the blunder.


[Re Afghanistan sees new elections, old faces, Sep 17]: Darn, I was so looking forward to Afghans enjoying burgers and ball games.
John G Scherb (Sep 19, '05)


Re Greenspan, the Wizard of Bubbleland [Sep 14]: [Henry C K] Liu, since this is Asia Times Online, I hope that the editor is in the process of persuading you to write of the consequences facing Asia as a result of the scenario you've painted.
Jody Barr
Shanghai, China (Sep 19, '05)


Juchechosunmanse (aka "Long live Korean self-reliance", the motto of North Korea) lashes out at US imperialism without explaining why China would behave any differently, given the same military resources [letter, Sep 16]. It is well known that the US administration has a thuggish and arrogant attitude towards other nations. China is following much the same path as the US, although it is at a much earlier phase, and there may yet be an opportunity to change course. The current "communist" government's record in Tibet, Xinjiang, and other non-Han regions has been nothing short of atrocious. Uighur is not taught in any university in Xinjiang, and China recently got into a diplomatic tussle with South Korea by claiming an ancient Korean kingdom was actually Chinese. Further, China's monstrous environmental destruction has the potential to poison all of Asia. Clearly, the Chinese government is not much more enlightened or moral than the American government. Also troubling is the constant propaganda extolling the glorious communist victory over Japan (with no mention of the US annihilation of Japan through air-bombing, or the fact that Japan was still in total control of China when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked). It is clear that China is fostering a rabid hypernationalism and crushing all ethnic minorities within its borders. It is only a matter of time before this attitude spills across its own borders. By the way, the US did the same thing in the 19th century, fostering massive nationalism while decimating all native peoples within its borders. The next step was meddling in Latin America, and today we see the culmination, with wars, military bases and "interests" in every corner of the world.
G Travan
California, USA (Sep 19, '05)


To answer ATol editor's question [under Frank's letter of Sep 16], I still object to comparing one country with another. Because each significant country is unique and special, none of the comparisons would be fair. I agree my comparison is silly. However, I think ATol editor should also grow up a little. Lawsuits [are] everyday business in America. The stock market also moves up and down [on a daily basis] - a 28% move happened to many IPOs [initial public offerings] before. Get over it.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 19, '05)

The lawsuit against Baidu was launched in Beijing, not America. - ATol

Ehsan Ahrari writes [in the summary for In Syria, regime change by other means, Sep 16]: "The US has made it clear that it will not tolerate Syria's tacit support of the Iraqi resistance." There are several problems with the unfounded presumption underlying that True Believer assertion. For one, it leaves out the word "alleged", and thus acknowledgement that Bush the Bellicose has a consistent history of making allegations for which he provides absolutely no evidence - because he has none. And as consistent a history of lying, and then lying, and then following those with yet another series of lies. Perhaps Mr Ahrari learned from Fox's fake "News" that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, and that Saddam Hussein, allied with Osama bin Laden, was behind the attacks on the US of [September 11, 2001]? For another, according to US intelligence - and [President George W] Bush's smearing of US intelligence is of a piece with his constant unfounded name-calling, and being AWOL [absent without leave] from responsibility - most of the resistance fighters in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. Alas, removing Saddam Hussein from power eliminated one of the foremost exterminators of Middle East "terrorists". Last but not least, as one who regularly engages in the violation of international law termed "extreme rendition" - sending alleged "terrorists" to other countries to be tortured in his behalf (without trial, or finding of guilt - which is not democracy or "justice", though it is his practice) - Bush is not likely to attack one of his favorite partners in that scabrous practice. He will, of course, threaten Syria in behalf of his bosom buddy, Ariel Sharon, and as cover for his torturer's alliance with Syria. Perhaps, though, lacking the military forces to actually invade Syria, Iran, and North Korea (and Cuba), he'll remember that things - bombs, water, food, cluster bombs - can be dropped from airplanes, with no risk to his precious, comfortable hide.
Joseph J Nagarya
Boston, Massachusetts (Sep 16, '05)

The writers of articles do not write the summaries that appear on ATol's index pages: this is done by the ATol editors. Ehsan Ahrari is not guilty: his actual words in the article read, "Syria has been increasingly accused by the US of aiding and abetting the Iraqi insurgents ... as the security situation worsens in Iraq, the Bush administration intensifies its rhetoric of the condemnation of Syria." Anyway, ATol's editors stand by the assertion that Syria tacitly supports the Iraqi resistance, and we are anything but "True Believers". - ATol


The resumption of the six-party talks in Beijing finds the United States in a weaker and weakened position. As Bruce Klingner pointedly observes [North Korea: When the talking ends ..., Sep 16], President [George W] Bush's leadership skills are more and more questioned. The combination of man-made circumstance and the forces of nature have brought bad news to the current resident in the White House. This ... president is floundering to find a way to finesse his game of foreign-policy chicken in the quagmire which is Iraq, the determined opposition of the mullahs in Iran, and Kim Jong-il in North Korea. After years of saber-rattling and blustering on the question of a nuclear arsenal in North Korea, it is obvious the window of opportunity of finding a solution has narrowed to a crack in the wall of obstruction which Washington has thrown up. Pyongyang is playing a restrained hand. It is not willing [at present] to make Mr Bush lose face. More to the point, what is becoming obvious to one and all, but not to Christopher Hill, America's chief negotiator at the six-power talks, is that the best the 43rd president can do is go through motions which will approximate results the Clinton administration obtained a good 10 years ago. Thus, in this sense, Klingner's analysis holds. Yet there is a solution which would resolve outstanding issues on a bi-, quadri- and hexilateral basis: the reconvening of a conference in Geneva to put an end to the 1954 Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty [to end the Korean War].
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 16, '05)


Google losing ground to Baidu [Sep 16] is an article which will make India ashamed of itself. If India is ahead of China in the IT [information technology] area, why does India have [fewer] Internet users than China? Why cannot India develop a Baidu.com to beat Google? Why cannot India think about developing an [operating] system to beat Microsoft? ...
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 16, '05)

Hey, Frank, we thought you objected to one country being compared to another. Or is it OK to say that China does better than India in certain areas, but not OK to say that India does better than China in certain areas? Meanwhile, those who want a broader view of IT progress with Chinese characteristics could read Beijing ahead in the Internet game [Aug 31]. As for Baidu, the MP3 search facility that largely drives its popularity among young Chinese is now the subject of a major lawsuit, and share values plummeted 28% in New York trading on September 14. - ATol


In response to the observation by Oleg Beliakovich [letter, Sep 15] regarding outsourcing US diplomacy to India: Analysts do very well in situations where they don't have an ax to grind. Diplomats from the US, India, Pakistan (where I'm from) or anywhere can all be accused of not noticing the elephant in the room when they are following instructions.
Usman Qazi
Palo Alto, California (Sep 16, '05)


Jakob Cambria [letter, Sep 15] talked about China's alleged "expansionist plans", I can't help asking: Mr Cambria, being a citizen of the biggest and most powerful expansionist state ever ([which] is waging two wars right now while working on plans to wage another war, possibly), are you kidding me? The US Navy is cruising around the globe, far beyond America's territorial and extraterritorial waters. American dominance throughout the world is a good thing. The Chinese are seeking dominance in their home turf? Oh those evil Chinese, how dare they? This is not even a pot calling the kettle black, this is like a pot calling a piece of tooth black. "Southeast and East Asian nations welcome the presence of American troops and naval vessels in the region to act as China's foil and a counterbalance"? Oh really? The Filipinos kicked you out of the Subic naval base in 1991; more Japanese and South Koreans in particular are increasingly demanding the American troops leave their countries. After all, nobody wants a bunch of privileged rapists and molesters to "guard" his/her country.
Juchechosunmanse
Beijing, China (Sep 16, '05)

Another brilliant piece by M K Bhadrakumar [Russia regains lost ground, Sep 15]. To any interested observer of the ever-changing global chessboard, the amateurism that pervades US foreign policy these days seems nothing short of stunning. As a result, Washington may want to seriously consider outsourcing its international dealings to India as well. At this point retired Indian diplomats whose writings periodically appear at ATol seem to [have a] far better grasp of world mechanics than whole sections of the [US] State Department, still stricken by [the] disabling affliction of misplaced "triumphalism". With every "color revolution" - each of which was loudly proclaimed to be a great defeat for Russia - displaying unsightly signs of decomposition, it does appear that whatever America touches today keeps promptly turning into ashes. With another major miscalculation - this time with Iran - already in the pipeline (no [pun] intended), radical reassessment of US strategy as well as tactics should be in the offing. And urgently too, before inconveniences of mild humiliations start yielding to crushing blows and subsequent disintegration of the world's last superpower.
Oleg Beliakovich
Seattle, Washington (Sep 15, '05)


After reading Giuseppe Anzera's China beefs up its navy [Sep 14], one wonders where is China's National Administration of State Secrets, the government watchdog that oversees information deemed not privy for public eyes. China has a sorry arrest record. It will lock up without a by-your-leave anyone who it thinks has revealed a state secret. It is a sorry record whereby businessmen and reporters on the slightest pretext have gone to jail. There, they [have] languished until strong foreign pressure has gained their release. The information Anzera documents is most instructive; given the NASS's record, it boggles the mind that such data are in the public domain. It is an open secret that Beijing is wanting to patrol territorial and extraterritorial sea lanes in East and Southeast Asia. It may be of propaganda value, and a not-so-subtle warning to friends and foes alike that China is claiming ancient rights it believes [are] its due. Construction of a modern and powerful navy will serve China's expansionist plans, be it forced reunification of Taiwan with the motherland; challenging the dominance of Japan for offshore oil and gas fields; [and] claiming islands in the South China Sea which are claimed by Vietnam [and] the Philippines, and which are atop promising gas fields. Such plans also include dominance of shipping along old ocean trade routes, thereby dominating the very states that during imperial times were China's clients and vassals. Little wonder that Southeast and East Asian nations welcome the presence of American troops and naval vessels in the region to act as China's foil and a counterbalance.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 15, '05)


Spengler is immodest enought to predict both Iran's demographic and oil situation in 2050 [Demographics and Iran's imperial design, Sep 13]. This simplistic game of predicting the future, near and far, is all the rage in the US, but it's really just an excuse for avoiding a deep understanding of the present. Looking critically at the situation in Iran, Spengler would have to cast aside his assertion that [President Mahmud] Ahmadinejad represents traditional Iran against the modern influence of reformers. Ahmadinejad's wild plans to reshape Iran do reflect Iran's tradition of all-powerful rulers cooking up crazy plots to ruin the country. But he is himself a completely modern creature. A revolutionary with no training in Arabic or religion, but rather a doctorate in urban planning, he has won the support of the devout poor much as George Bush has done in America, by shameless propaganda. The more moderate candidates, [Mehdi] Karroubi and [Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani, were the real traditional figures. A cleric and cleric-merchant respectively, their kind has had a strong position in Iranian society for centuries. It is the fervent revolutionary and the honest, poor-man's candidate [who] are the Western imports. Spengler's ignorance of the Middle East is quite dangerous in this context. [The late ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini and the rest of his followers do not represent tradition. In fact, the most revered Shi'ite cleric today is [Ali al-]Sistani, who is totally opposed to the usurpation of state power by clerics. Khomeini and his successor, [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, were not respected in Shi'a traditional circles because they were not well qualified by traditional standards. In fact, the most respected traditional figures in Iranian Islam were very wary of Khomeini. Older clerics like [Hussein Ali] Montazeri were silenced, while unqualified yes-men were given the title of "Ayatollah" so they could command an aura of religious respectability. To turn these extremists and fanatics who crushed the traditional voices of reason into a model of the traditional Middle East is an insult to Iran's true heritage.
G Travan
California, USA (Sep 15, '05)


Ali [letter, Sep 3] responds to Syed Saleem Shahzad, "The US stock markets are fueled by drugs and oil money. The stop of flowing drug money was one of the causes of the [Afghanistan] invasion" by the US. Not only are those two sentences a contradiction, and absurdity - [US President George W] Bush did not (as example) invade Afghanistan in order to undermine the stock market - it is suspended in the vacuum of non-existent fact. In fact, since the US invasion of Afghanistan, the production of heroin in Afghanistan has been at a record high. Though questionable that the stock market is fueled by drugs, it is certain that Bush has so far done nothing against the heroin boom in Afghanistan, and will do nothing otherwise to undermine the stock market: he and his cronies live for cash, and are not especially moral, or otherwise particular, about the sources from whence they get it.
Joseph J Nagarya
Boston, Massachusetts (Sep 15, '05)

Re Demographics and Iran's imperial design [Sep 13] by Spengler: I admire Spengler and read his essays as soon as they come out, but this time I wonder whether he has based himself on a flawed premise. If we in the West are faced with severe demographic imbalances by 2050, and if the Muslim world is in fact faced with an even worse situation, why can't the Islamists still prevail? The sheer masses of unemployed young Muslim men may be absent in the next generation, but the sources of resentment may yet remain. Couldn't lesser numbers of Islamists still see lesser numbers of Westerners as the basis for all evil, to be fought to the bitter end? Economies now moribund will be even worse, but that shouldn't be problem for true revolutionaries. They don't mind breaking eggs for the proverbial omelet. Will mass misery and untold needless deaths trouble the minds of true believers? Somehow violent Islamists will see the coming misery as more evidence that we in the West are to blame for all problems (not that don't think we have some amends to make in those regions). I would like to believe that we need only hold out for a generation, before Islamism is swept into the dustbin of history, but suspect we need solutions in the here and now. I suggest making amends for our actual wrongs in those areas, helping to isolate the crazies from their own people, and assisting those wishing to fight to the death to achieve their goals. The most important part of this plan involves making amends for our thieving imperialism, and then making common cause with the ordinary people of Muslim countries. They will still feel superior to us in matters of religion, but that is in the nature of things. The last part is fighting the loonies. Loonies will not be assuaged: good revolutionaries will change the cause to stay in business; however, they can be run to ground and given one last chance to eschew martyrdom, after which they may have their way. If we get the first parts right, people now sympathetic to violent Islamism may be relieved to see the end of the loonies. I know I could be wrong. Those who have demonized us in their own minds may see conciliation as a trap or, worse, as cowardice. Some of our own elites may see conciliation as cowardice, especially where they have been profiting by current arrangements, or where they lack faith in our civilization's capacity for spiritual recovery. However, it is worth a try, because otherwise I doubt that either good policy, or the workings of demography, will save us from real wars.
Steve McCaffery (Sep 13, '05)


Spengler [Demographics and Iran's imperial design, Sep 13] is wrong about Shi'ites being a minority in Iraq. In fact most estimates put the Shi'a population at 55-65%. And Spengler quotes the notorious Daniel Pipes as follows: "In tranquil times, organizations like the Muslim Council of Britain and the Council on American-Islamic Relations effectively go about their business, promoting their agenda to make Islam dominant and imposing dhimmitude (whereby non-Muslims accept Islamic superiority and Muslim privilege)." Are we to accept this as fact without evidence? Perhaps Spengler would be kind enough to share with ATol readers some concrete examples of how MCB and CAIR are trying to impose Islamic superiority and Muslim privilege on UK and US societies. And if Spengler really believes that the Iranian economy is set on a downward spiral, how come he doesn't address factors which might work against his theory? For example: rapidly rising oil and gas prices (Iran has about 10% of proven oil reserves, and the second-largest gas reserves in the world); a huge potential for increased trade with Iraq, China and India; substantial uranium reserves; or considerable potential for economic reform (eg by increasing investment in petrochemicals and refining, or by reforming agricultural production). And Spengler is wrong again: rather than being blind to Iran's alleged plans for "a regional Shi'ite empire backed by nuclear weaponry", politicians in Washington actually share Spengler's Iran paranoia. While the Bush administration welcomed Egypt's sham election (predetermined winner and 23% turnout), it labeled Iran's election (surprise winner and 60% turnout) as "deeply flawed", and it continues to try [to] punish Iran for (quite legally) trying to develop nuclear energy. What a shame the facts rarely quite fit Spengler's grandiose visions and sweeping statements, because he remains an entertaining writer.
Jim Sadler (Sep 13, '05)

We slipped up. Shi'ites are indeed the majority in Iraq, and the article has been corrected. - ATol


I am rather disturbed by certain fundamental errors - both in content [and] in methodology - in Ramtanu Maitra's article China's shadow over India's US lobby [Sep 13]. First, he conveniently mentions that China is the world's second-largest economy - even larger than Japan - but fails to point out that those calculations are based on purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. In real terms, China is the world's seventh-largest economy, with Japan nearly three times as large. This tends to confuse the non-economic-minded reader, just as the statement "India is a larger economy than Germany" would (true in PPP terms). Second, while correctly mentioning that India receives very little foreign direct investment, it is curious how the author forgets to point out the role of foreign institutional investors in the Indian economy. By some estimates, the Bombay Stock Exchange holds around [US]$50 billion of FII. Third, he has made a plain judgmental error when he argues that foreign perception of Indian development is marred by the visible poverty in Indian towns and villages. Pick up any reputable international newspaper - The Economist, Wall Street Journal or anything else - it is positive press all the way. Sometimes it is even possible to argue that India is getting more good press than it deserves.
Aruni Mukherjee (Sep 13, '05)


It is refreshing to read Andrei Lankov's North Korea hungry for control [Sep 10], and not for the least reason for his refraining from using ad hominem arguments. Professor Lankov takes a longer view on feeding North Koreans. He suggests that after a tumultuous period of severe and almost fatal economic disruption, the leadership in Pyongyang [is] managing to bring a measure of stability to its citizenry who have much suffered. Economic disarray provoked a flight of the poorest and neediest. Out of complete and utter desperation they fled to the precarious life of refugees among China's Korean minority. They live in fear and futility lest the Chinese authorities return them to North Korea and to certain imprisonment and death. Now, North Korea is benefiting, for example, from infusion of capital from South Korea, fraternal loans in kind from China, the largess of NGOs [non-governmental organizations], as well as the economic growth and muscle of Northeast Asia, and thus the country's leadership has a wider margin for piecemeal reform and stabilizing a foundering ship of state. Dr Lankov is right in pointing out that change in North Korea will not mimic doi moi in Vietnam, nor the four modernizations in China. But according to Dr Rudiger Frank's careful and cautious scholarship, Kim Jong-il's inner circle does have economists who are delineating in detail an evolution in the levers of economic change and development. And Pyongyang will remain as sui generis in economics as it is in its interpretation of [Karl] Marx and Lenin. Finally, Dr Lankov deserves much praise for recognizing that Kim Jong-il and his lieutenants are rational, intelligent human beings. [Would] that this commonsensical appreciation be observed in Washington! A reasoned approached diplomatically would hasten the pace of negotiations among the six powers, thereby retreating from unwise and [unhealthy] brinksmanship.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 12, '05)


Spengler's [Sep 7] piece Deep in denial (or in de Mississippi) is interesting, but does, as often, miss the point. If America was the new Roman Empire then the downfall of New Orleans is like the downfall of Pompeii. It's a horrible human catastrophe, but definitely not the end of the (presumed) American empire. Like Pompeii, New Orleans is a faulty construction (the Mississippi Delta [has been] on the move for 50,000 years now). But now for Spengler's opinion: we know not much about the great migration period (AD 300-600). What we surely know is that the number of Roman peasants fell drastically. Some historians blame the state of Roman culture [on] religion (the good old "moral values" - like Spengler and others do). Interestingly, much more points to other evidence, that is, the state of the Roman agricultural system itself. The Roman Empire was a sort of ancient Soviet Union, with Rome as center of gravity. In the latest period the Roman noble families owned an astonishing 70-90% of the farmland in Italica. They had accumulated the land [for] centuries through buying it from local peasants who had to join military service. These mega-farms (latifundii) were machined by masses of slaves who themselves were not peasants, ie agricultural laymen. At a certain point this system - [which] always had produced a surplus - went catastrophically wrong. Rome began to import food prior to its downfall, [as] the late Soviet Union had to. We do not really understand why and how this happened. What we know is that there was not a real competition in the Roman agricultural market and that the downfall of Rome [was] connected to agriculture. But whether or not we understand it, we [had] better look toward the Soviets rather then toward the US for historical comparisons. I am myself a European and I am worried about the future of modern Europe. But unlike Spengler I do not bemoan the lost moral values and religiosity. No. I stand petrified in view of Europe's farming subsidies.
Ianuarius Iustinus
Germania Inferior (Sep 12, '05)


Syed Saleem Shahzad: I am a regular reader of Atimes.com and just read and highly enjoyed your article Opium gold unites US friends and foes [Sep 3]. I just today finished reading Steve Coll's voluminous book Ghost Wars, and, had I never opened it, my grasp and understanding over Pakistani, Taliban, Afghan, and Northern Alliance roles in the region would be lost. I am studying international relations and economics, and being that I was in New York City on [September 11, 2001] I have been overcome by a fascination of south-central Asia, its history, and US involvement - or lack thereof ... I have always yearned to visit the region, and since September 11 I feel that I have gained a better understanding of America's blundering imperialist ways in the Mideast, the oppression felt by Muslim populations under nefarious governments, and the deep role that Islam plays in many of the conflicts in Indonesia, former Soviet republics, North Africa [and the] Mideast. I love my country but I just wish its foreign policy in regards to the Mideast was not working against its own aims at national security and defense of the nation. It is unfortunate the US and the current administration in particular have little understanding of cause and effect. It essentially was US money (along with the Saudis) that funded the border training camps for the [anti-]Soviet jihad and went into building up a wall of fundamentalism to counter Soviet aggression. It saddens me to see that the US truly makes little effective effort in fighting the war against Islamist terrorists (or as [Ronald] Reagan preferred, freedom fighters), but rather seems to only add fuel to the fire. Now the media [are] calling Iraq the new training ground. Is it not an Afghan/Soviet war and Vietnam all over again? How long can the US last? What is even scarier is that the US is led by a man who cares very little about the future consequences of his unjustly fought war.
Sierra Highcloud (Sep 12, '05)


I have noticed [letter writer] Frank's constant referral to the "white man's laws" and India. I tried explaining to him earlier that the tradition of pluralism and solution through argument and deliberation is as ancient as Indian civilization itself, ie, over 5,000 years, and Amartya Sen has recently penned an entire book on this issue (The Argumentative Indian). He should definitely read it to clarify and update his thought process. Moreover, if India is indeed an exemplification of Western norms and institutions, I question which developing country isn't. Today's world and its modernity [have their] roots in the Industrial Revolution of Western Europe. Whether one likes it or not, or whether one can change this in the future, is a different matter altogether -but this is indeed the fact. If Frank is arguing that China is somehow unique, then I disagree. If modern democracy has its roots in Britain, then Maoism a la "Chinese socialism" is also a variant of Marxism or Leninism of the West. Even Deng Xiaoping's gaige kafang is primarily a pragmatic move which heavily relies on borrowed economic ideas of the West. Both China and India have their own unique traits, and that is natural among such ancient societies. But both their modernities are borrowed.
Aruni Mukherjee (Sep 12, '05)


[After reading letter writer] Frank's comments I reflected on my experience in US schools and what an abysmal job they did when it came to world history, current events etc, and Frank's opinion of India reminded me of the product. India's democracy is so dynamic that she could handle two states ruled by communist parties [and] govern a land whose diversity can only be compared if all Western Europe were one nation. [On] many occasions [one encounters] another language by crossing from one state to another. [It is] a democracy that has to deal with major religious issues. Five faiths [were] born in India, while India also encompasses large portions of her population [with] faiths from foreign origin. Furthermore, India's democracy deals with a variety of races and ethnic groups - there are few nations with such diversity, which is also represented in her body politic, where India is not just a two-party system but has well-represented parties. Frank [lacks] any pertinent knowledge of the Indian film industry, [in] which non-Hindi movies outnumber Hindi movies. India's film industry is not just "Bollywood" but includes film centers across the nation that are old rivals to Bollywood. Finally, Frank talks about India comparing her growth to other nations. The USA did just that during the '50s and '60s against the US's "Cold War" enemy, Russia. Anyway, I survived Katrina.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
New Orleans, Louisiana (Sep 12, '05)

The recent report that Yahoo was involved in providing some confidential information to the Chinese authorities about a dissident journalist, Shi Tao ... that sent him to 10 years in prison is disgusting and unacceptable. This is a new, alarming dimension in the use of e-mail espionage and threatening confidentiality as well as privacy promised by these giant [Internet services]. The odious smell that is coming out from this episode leaves a foul taste in the mouth. Yahoo would have taken into consideration financial interests of its shareholders first as it has recently invested some 550 million pounds [US$1 billion] in the Chinese Internet sector. Or was there any complicity involved in the trade agreement between the parties to supply personal details of its users when needed? The Chinese government is one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth, clinging to power by ruthless suppression of its people and any sort of dissent; occupying Tibet with barbaric force and crushing aspirations of its minorities with ruthless demonstration and use of its power beyond repulsion. Western companies and Yahoo [are] not alone in this dirty game but their governments have shown [themselves] too ready to ingratiate themselves with this regime and stoop with odious conscious hoping to capture the vast Chinese market and [to] hell with human rights, democracy and freedom of expression. Western politicians are busy polishing Chinese official boots and sucking their toes, and at the same time ... Mr Shi and so many other brave men like him are thrown to hungry lions for trying to expose the truth about their country. Yahoo, are you going nuts for money?
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 12, '05)

I just read your article about the war with Japan and I must tell you that I was shocked and sick to my stomach reading about the cruelty of Japanese [Yasukuni's Class A war criminals, Sep 8]. I had no idea. I always thought that the Japanese people are so very polite and like beautiful things, like ikebana. As I am a poet, writer and painter this made me like the Japanese. I thought they were like me. I could not hurt a fly. Therefore I was doubly horrified what the Japanese soldiers did in China. Come to think of it, my aunt Ekatarina Podnosova, who was a young medical student in Khabarovsk during World War II, had to take care of Russian soldiers who were wounded by the Japanese. She got infected from them and died. So actually she was a casualty too because of the Japanese ... I wonder when people [will] finally stop killing each other and live in harmony. Will that ever be possible?
Lilly Eremeef (Sep 9, '05)

To be fair, it must be noted that the Japanese military has not been involved in any foreign wars - other than in a peacekeeping role, and that only recently - for six decades, a claim not many other modern nations can make. - ATol


Jakob Cambria's letter (Sep 8) is partly right, at least to those who never have had personal experience of Japanese atrocities during the last world war. To me, personally, the fault solely lies on the Japanese government's approval of distorted history textbooks which whitewash or skip their crimes such as experiments of germ warfare on thousands of Chinese people. One can spend a lot of time on the "significance" and "rationale" of Japanese economic aid to China, just as the massive economic aid to Japan by the US after dropping two atomic bombs on an enemy. Empty words of apology mean nothing. One can kill your family member and apologize many times over while endorsing a publication that you did not really commit the crime.
S P Li (Sep 9, '05)


Rakesh is wrong [letter, Sep 8]. I will cheer for India's achievement. Our neighborhood called Asia cannot be a better place to live without a prospering and peaceful India. However, I think most of India's neighbors are annoyed about Indian writers' constant comparisons. Think about it. If you have a neighbor always boasting about his lawns, house, trees, flowers etc and constantly comparing those to yours, will you be irritated? I disproved the theory [that] India can become the largest mobile-phone market in the world without a single mobile-phone factory. However, ATol editor did not publish it. A poor country like India does not have enough export volume to support importing all these phones manufactured in other countries. Use simple logic, you can tell those obvious lies. Speaking about movies, I suggest Rakesh check out Jackie Chan's movie Shanghai Moon II. There is an interesting dialogue about India and China. I think that concluded all. India's political and judicial systems were established by white people. That is why it never worked the way it [was] supposed to be.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 9, '05)

[Praful] Bidwai's article's headline India left scrambling [Sep 8] is more dramatic than the real facts. It's a known fact to the Indian establishment that Pakistan and Israel have been talking covertly for many years. Nations do so in their self-interest. Making it public hardly upsets India's relationship with Israel. Further, Mr Bidwai's assertion of a zero-sum game in relationship with Israel does not make sense. If Israel had not informed India of its intention to make the relationship public, then Mr Bidwai could have something to crow about. Unfortunately he is barking up the wrong tree on this one. In any case, Mr Bidwai is one of those leftist leftovers of the Soviet era who will see the glass half-empty and not half-full when it comes to India. Great addition to the motley crowd of jihadi sympathizers, US-baiters [and] Islamic preachers you already feature on your site.
Dirtydog
USA (Sep 8, '05)


Is ATol fueling China's anti-Japanese flames by listing the crimes for which Class A war criminals were judged and sentenced either to death or to life imprisonment [Yasukuni's Class A war criminals, Sep 8]? The three categories of war criminals may be instructive but ATol has not put matters into a historical context. Nor has it explained the significance of the Yasukuni Shrine, which houses the "spirits" of those soldiers and sailors who have fallen in the service of imperial Japan since the restoration of the Meiji emperor. Equally absent on this year of the centenary of Japan's defeat of imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese war is that this very shrine honors those who fought in that war. Do the ashes of the 13 Class A war criminals pollute the tens of thousands of other who repose symbolically in the equivalent of cemeteries around the world which display public respect for those who fought for their country? Ronald Regan in an act of reconciliation on the 40th anniversary of V-E Day, in 1985, paid a visit to the cemetery in Bitburg in whose earth are the remains of 32 SS [members]. His visit caused much protest, but the Great Communicator disregarded it. For, to him, his homage to the German war dead was an act of reconciliation between two once-mortal enemies. [O that] the Chinese leadership [were] capable of such forgiveness and reconciliation on this the 60th anniversary of V-J Day! Instead, and despite the repeated apologies from the emperor and prime ministers, they stir the pot of enmity. Chairman Mao [Zedong] and his lieutenant Zhou Enlai had no qualms when it came to accepting Japan's technical assistance and much-needed hard currency. Nor did Deng Xiaoping for that matter. Now that China is industrializing and gaining in stature as an emerging Asian tiger, suddenly through deftly but hardly sophisticatedly orchestrated demonstrations against Japan [it] raises to new heights of tension the issue of visits to Yasukuni which prime ministers make during the seventh lunar month to honor dead souls. Beijing's motives are transparent, and given the growing unrest and the widening maw of social inequality and the suppression of minority rights within its own territory, it finds awakening the sleeping serpent of unhealthy nationalism, to challenge an economic rival. ATol's recitation of a rosary of war crimes simply enflames passions; it offers no understanding of issues and the current manipulations of past wrongs for political jockeying and economic advantage.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 8, '05)

We are not fanning flames. The context of the article was clear: it was packaged with another article about the flames that have already been fanned and will be fanned again by Japanese and Chinese political leaders. The article intended to show readers in more detail what those flames are, ie, who and what are the "Class A war criminals" constantly referred to, without further explanation, in articles about the Yasukuni Shrine. - ATol


Ave! I'm glad that Spengler is reading some new books [Deep in denial (or in de Mississippi), Sep 7]. However, he seems to have twisted the evidence to fit his preconceptions. Infanticide and slavery were just as characteristic of the High Empire as of Late Antiquity. Late Antiquity, moreover, was when the Roman Empire adopted one of those revealed religions which he otherwise claims promote high birth rates. In truth, there are no reliable demographic statistics for any period of the Roman Empire. One archeologist may think he can show that population was declining in Latium. Others will say that population density in the Levant boomed during the same centuries. Certainly commerce, arts and intellectual life flourished. Actually, the decline of the Western Empire had a lot to do with bad finances and pointless wars with Iran - a word to the wise is sufficient. Keep reading Ammianus Marcellinus, though, Spengler. His accounts of religious-fanatic emperors, futile invasions of Mesopotamia, eunuch advisers, and torturers like Paul the Chain are quite relevant to our time. Vale!
Lester Ness
Kunming, China (Sep 8, '05)


Re The perfect storm and the feral city [Sep 7]: No other writer has been able to put into words my exact feelings. Bravo!
Jody Barr
Shanghai, China (Sep 8, '05)


I agree with Frank [letter, Sep 7] when he says that India needs to learn from China and not make hollow comparisons. If India really wants to beat China, it should begin at the Olympics and in its factories. Other than that I think Frank suffers from a severe complex of self-denial ...
Tarun
Dallas, Texas (Sep 8, '05)


It is pitiful that Frank [letter, Sep 2] cannot digest a single [piece of] positive news about India, nor can face any criticism of his favorite Chinese regime, however mild and constructive, in a rational manner. As expected (based on his prior irrational objections to various writers), he rather enthusiastically snickers at the prospect of [an] increasing cell-phone base in India, but fails to disprove the theory. Further, Frank tells us if India wants to compete with China then it should [do so] at the Olympics. I don't have any problem with that, because I think if one loses it provides a motivation to improve. I do doubt, however, that Frank would be equally enthusiastic about competing with India in private enterprise, banking reforms, democracy, judicial freedom or even Bollywood for that matter.
Rakesh (Sep 8, '05)


In reply to John Steppling's letter of September 1, I would like to state the following ... Given the fact that the politics of Ba'athist Iraq involved near-constant civil war at some substantial level somewhere in the country, it is reasonable to conclude that the violent assertion of sectarian interests following the ouster of Saddam Hussein arose primarily out of the tensions inherent in the previous status quo. John Steppling would argue that the main cause of the violence was foreign occupation, but in his rebuttal he did not address the largely sectarian nature of the nationalist/Islamist insurgency (it is very likely that the current political cooperation between Sunni Arab nationalists and Sadrists is one of pure realpolitik) which strongly suggests otherwise. John Steppling also states that if Iraqis want Americans gone (which most do, however vague their views on the post-occupation might be), the Americans should be gone, but he also admits that the Iranians would come even though it is also clear that many if not most Iraqis would not want them to come (recent news coverage of Iraq tends to forget about the Arab-Iranian racial animosity). Precisely how then is the situation to be improved with Anglo-American withdrawal? The point in my previous letter was that the Anglo-American invasion has irrevocably altered the politics of Iraq, and that any power vacuum from an Anglo-American withdrawal will be filled, very possibly to the detriment of the inhabitants of Iraq ... Finally about Afghanistan, my argument was not to presume to legislate for the Afghans but to point out that Afghanistan because of its circumstances over the last half-century, if not more, could not and cannot avoid considerable foreign meddling. On a more general note it was also to suggest that a centralized Afghan regime could not succeed, and that the best chance for civilized governance in that country would be regionalism with clearly drawn political boundaries between the rightly powerful regional leaders and a weak federal government. Hardly colonial fare, I would think.
Jonathan X
Canada (Sep 8, '05)

In the aftermath of one of the biggest failures of our [US] administrative branch of government, President [George W] Bush wants us to trust him to investigate himself [The perfect storm and the feral city, Sep 7]. Just like [September 11, 2001]. The problem is [that as he is not] a man of his word, we can't trust him to do that. Did he fire the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] identity leaker as promised? No, he lied, he only meant it if it was a member of the [pro] labor party. If [White House adviser] Karl Rove is still free to jeopardize our national security, what are our American laws for? What does it say of the entire [Republican] Party? ... Bush failed badly not coming back from vacation, overextending troops overseas, and fails to be a man of his word.
Steve Lott
Holiday, Florida (Sep 7, '05)


It is quite interesting how a tragedy like Hurricane Katrina and the chaos which has ensued due to this catastrophic event can spark so many diverse responses from different kinds of people [The perfect storm and the feral city, Sep 7]. Global terrorists will probably see an opportunity to proclaim that their deity's wrath has finally come upon America (a name which they use interchangeably with the Great Satan); liberal activists will surely try to find a way to blame it on President George Bush; greedy moguls will seize any opportunities to profit from it; and environmentalists will more than likely contrive a link to global warming. But most people, thankfully, will be moved by compassion and try to find a way to help the victims of this great tragedy. Diversity is indeed a good thing after all.
Miguel A Guanipa
Whitinsville, Massachusetts (Sep 7, '05)


The sight of the richest superpower humbled is in itself humbling, and amazingly, for more than a week it failed to provide the basic necessities - food, water and medicine - to mostly, the black victims of [Hurricane] Katrina who were living in appalling conditions [The perfect storm and the feral city Sep 7]. It took forces of nature and a [Category 4] hurricane to smash the fabric and myth around [US] society. What is the common sense of pledging millions of dollars to the Third World to alleviate poverty when you have so many poor in America? Charity begins at home. President [George] W Bush during the campaign of 2000, while debating with Al Gore, said that "natural catastrophes were a time to test your mettle". His first belated response [to Hurricane Katrina] was to fly over the inundation area in Air Force One ... and his moody pictures looking out from at the window reflected a lot about his initial concern. I am certain that if the catastrophe had occurred in his first term he would have felt very uncomfortable in Crawford and left his vacation on the first bell; rode on his bicycle to the disaster zones and swam the muddy and filthy waters to help and rescue some of the victims. The pictures coming out and televised around world were so agonizing and painful to watch that [they] should have shamed and embarrassed not only the rich Americans but even the Third World countries. The gloss paint of American civilization and President G W Bush's daft pronouncements on democracy, freedom and fairness to all seemed as thin, false and insubstantial as the levees that broke in New Orleans and plunged it into a photocopy of a Bangladesh catastrophe. I hesitate to say this but it is widely said that the delayed response by the Bush administration could [be] because the vast majority of the victims were blacks and left to rot at the bottom of the pile: let them loot and kill each other or die of hunger, thirst or sickness. President G W Bush could shed as many tears now and try to repair his sincerity, but one thing is clear, that he has proved once again as unsteady as on September 11 and ... it has sent waves of revulsion throughout America. The Americans should not like to see what they see in their devil's mirrors. What really astonished and astounded me the most was the sheer vast numbers of black Americans living in a pitiful state in the streets and left to rot: it reminded me of the atrocious days of slavery born again.
Saqib Khan
London, England (Sep 7, '05)


Spengler uses the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a hook to review two books on the fall of Rome and its empire [Deep in denial (or in de Mississippi), Sep 7]. Like the wailing and gnashing of teeth after, say, [September 11, 2001], many see it as God's punishment on an arrogant and proud race, a herald of the Second Coming and, of course, the humbling, if not the decline and fall, of the new Rome which is America. The metaphors are facile. They are readily at hand at such moments of natural disaster and government benign neglect. However, saying this, it is a quantum leap of faith to adumbrate the winter years of the United States. The fall of Rome and its empire, according to [Edward] Gibbons, is witness to the disintegration of a state. Whatever virtues the books by Bryan Ward-Perkins or Peter Heather may have, Spengler has reduced them to dry-as-dust bullet points of history by the numbers. Granted these two books are perhaps academic in nature, but surely they deserve more attention than the straitjacket form of a middle-school book report.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 7, '05)


A survey of the neo-conservative sites (comprehensively listed by the Christian Science Monitor) reveals that their organized response to Katrina has been threefold:
1. Nothing at all, not even a casual mention.
2. Reminding the public that Katrina is a distraction from [September 11, 2001] and their agenda for empire. This is summarized by this comment of the Project for the New American Century's sister "patriotic" organization, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA, Report 514) when it says, "Hurricane Katrina is an unmitigated disaster for the people of the Gulf Coast. It shouldn't turn out to be a look into the future for the rest of us." The "look into the future", according to their report, should always be September 11.
3. Celebrating the death and destruction caused by Katrina (Michael A Ledeen review on the American Enterprise Institute site). Ledeen writes: "As we mourn New Orleans, let us also celebrate it, as New Orleanians famously celebrate their own dead. The city has long been admired for its literary creativity, its exceptional food, and its wonderful music ..." With dead bodies floating in sewer-like conditions, Ledeen wants to remind the people of New Orleans about their "exceptional food and wonderful music".
Why are we seeing such responses and impersonality about the loss of life coming from a group that has always pulled out the flag and waved patriotism fingers at its opponents? C Wright Mills explained it half a century ago: "In part at least this has resulted from one simple historical fact, pivotal for the years since 1939: the focus of elite attention has been shifted from domestic problems centered in the '30s around [slums] to international problems, centered in the '40s and '50s around war (the permanent war economy and its link to resource theft and the defense industries) ... These hierarchies of state and corporation and army constitute the means of power; and as such they are now of a consequence not before equaled in human history - and at their summits there are now those command posts of modern society which offer us the sociological key to an understanding of the role of the higher circles in America" (The Power Elite, 1956). We can verify the truth of these statements when we notice the common theme in these various neo-conservative think-tanks, a theme that emphasizes defense spending, encouraging preemptive strikes internationally, and ignores all domestic problems that detract from this agenda.
M Asadi (Sep 7, '05)


Thank you for your unbiased article on Iran's nuclear activities (Iran knocks Europe out, [Sep 7]. An Iran with nuclear power would be a great asset for [all] Asia and the Middle East in particular.
Zachary (Sep 7, '05)


I fully agree with [Kenneth] Tennyson's observations of ATol [letter, Sep 6]. I think if India wants to catch up with China, the No 1 thing Indian people need to learn is to make friends with neighbors. Indian writers' constant comparisons with their neighbors about religions, economic achievements, and political systems are not ways to make friends. In many cases, such biased articles are filled with obvious lies and shameless boasts. Those articles are not only offensive to other Asians but also are insults to the intelligent of your non-Asian readers.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 7, '05)

Russians learned the hard way that a superpower can also be a failed state. Now, perhaps too slowly, at least some Americans are coming to understand the same bitter lesson. The American occupation of Baghdad showed (and has continued to show) conclusively that the Washington administration is both unwilling and incapable of managing any turbulent social and political environment. Like terrorists, they can destroy, but they cannot build. They can bribe but they cannot engage. Now the New Orleans debacle in heartland America has [shown] exactly the same characteristics. At its core appears to be a political culture dedicated to image rather than substance, deception rather than honesty, exploitation rather than service, manipulation rather than cooperation. Somewhere in the long history of this degradation, American civil society has been lost.
Thor May


Did I miss it or [have] there been no articles concerning the hurricane that brought such death and destruction to New Orleans and its far-reaching effect on world markets? It is a monumental tragedy that could have been prevented had the clueless Bush administration moved quickly to secure and evacuate the city. It is the same administration that sent our [US] troops to Iraq on a false premise, without proper equipment, and without a plan to secure the peace. Today in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama we have deja vu. Only this time it is American citizens on American soil who have become victims of this administration. The world watches in horror as the greatest nation in the world cannot take care of its own people because it is run by an incompetent administration.
Fariborz S Fatemi
McLean, Virginia

While you are correct that the hurricane will have some international economic effects that we are monitoring (see in particular the Daily Forex Report), the storm itself (meteorological and political) is primarily a US, not an Asian, story. Nevertheless, please see "Dispatches from America" on today's Front Page. - ATol


AL: I really agree with your letter [Sep 2]. But I just wanted to tell you not to abuse the word "fanatic". You said, "As long as there are about 2 million fanatic sovereigntists (out of 7 million Quebecers) ..." You make it sound like it's a bad thing. But are all people following a political view fanatics? Are Canadians [at present] fanatic liberals? At this point we can easily call [Mahatma] Gandhi or Mother Teresa extreme radicals and fanatical activists. But while being true, it would not render their status justice ...
Vic
Canada


After reading your articles for the last year, it amazes me that you have not reined in some of your supposed "reporters". The articles in many of these sections are extremely biased depending on the location of the writer, especially the South Asian articles. The writers express biases in their columns and in their reporting that are obvious to any simple reader. One such writer, for example, is Siddharth Srivastava, who consistently takes a pro-Indian and anti-China stance in his articles. However, he is not alone. The vast majority of your other authors, especially in the South Asian section of your articles, are extremely biased. The Pakistani authors are anti-Indian, pro-Pakistani; the Indian authors are anti-Sri Lankan or anti-China, and so forth. If you wish to elevate your journal to a higher level, some editing would be in order.
Kenneth Tennyson, PhD


Deepak Sarkar ([letter] Sep 1) appears to have been befuddled with my response. I responded to him assuming him to be an atheist just like [letter writer] Jose [R Pardinas], who dragged me into this debate. In doing so I didn't attempt to stamp on the beliefs of any religious people in "fear" of God. Everyone has the right to follow what his heart says is truth. I believe it is in the hand of God to decide who is right and who is wrong (not any of us). I mentioned a little about the contribution of Islam towards science and civilization, which does not mean the people of other religions did nothing for the betterment of humanity ...
Mohd Salekun Noor
UAE


Syed Saleem Shahzad [Opium gold unites US friends and foes, Sep 3]: The US stock markets are fueled by drugs and oil money. The stop of flowing drug money was one of the causes of the [Afghanistan] invasion.
Ali


One can always learn from Spengler's contributions [Spengler responds to readers, Letters, Aug 31] and one can always look for flyspecks in the pepper. His take on Quebec was interesting, but I would like to add that during the Quiet Revolution and continuing today, the stunningly beautiful Quebecoises attended and attend post-secondary education in droves. They filled the engineering faculties, the law faculties and the medical "schools" and they demonstrated that the natural intelligence of women, dormant for millennia thanks to patriarchal Judeo-Christian traditions, germinated and bloomed instantly, causing a decline in birth rates. Quebecoises are now in control of "fertility". Educated women choose to limit the number of their children the world over. Educated parents value education, and education is costly. Traditionally, Quebec women keep their maiden names after marriage, and untraditionally, they cohabit without the benefit of the blessings of the Lord. Who cares? Fifty percent of the marriages blessed by the Lord go straight to hell as it is. Another point. As long as there are about 2 million fanatic sovereigntists (out of 7 million Quebecers), you will find men and women in successive generations who will make nice, cushy careers in the politics of separatism. Biologically speaking, one might call them opportunistic feeders.
AL
Canada (Sep 2, '05)


Indrajit Basu (Walking the talk in India [Sep 2]) told us India could witness enough mobile-phone growth in the next four years to beat China by 2009. That is definitely another shameless Indian boast. India does not have any mobile-phone factory yet. It will take more than four years to build a mobile-phone manufacturing base to beat China, which is the No 1 mobile-phone producer in the world. India should learn to understand the real meanings of walking the talk. And please do Chinese people a favor; stop comparing your country with China. If you want to beat China, come to the Olympics.
Frank
Seattle, Washington (Sep 2, '05)

Basu made no claim himself, he quoted an industry analyst who was talking about handset sales, not manufacture: "According to Gartner, in terms of handset sales, India could witness enough growth in the next four years to beat China by 2009." Frank, if flogging dead horses were an Olympic event, you'd win the gold. - ATol


I refer to Pepe Escobar's excellent [series] Waiting for the Mahdi [Sistani.Qom: In the wired heart of Shi'ism, (Aug 31) and A vision or a waking dream? (Sep 1). Undoubtedly there will be a defeat of the evil empire the Americans have created and it will be defeated by people all over the world who will find the real peace in themselves and arrive at the inherent truth given to them by the Creator. Whether you call this awakening "Islam" (Peace) or "Christ", they all lead to the One and the only Reality ... There will be balance again in this world, as the Creator had meant it to be, and it will come through the collective awakening of mankind propelled by the coming of the "Mahdi" or the "Christ" or a man of Peace who will show the way to love and to material and spiritual prosperity.
Vincent Maadi
Cape Town, South Africa (Sep 2, '05)


While I find Priyanka Bhardwaj's India addresses its madrassa problem [Sep 2] to be fairly informative and certainly timely regarding need for reform within, I do have to take issue with the line she has taken. For one, she merrily points to the case of cricketer Irfan Pathan, and alludes to Gujarat, the state in which more than 2,000 Muslims were massacred. Perhaps lots of Indian journalists close to the ruling Congress ... forget that a group of Muslims, some of them with ties to the Congress party, had burned a trainload of Hindu pilgrims. Perhaps, if people in that mob had some non- madarassa education, they might have thought for a moment what the consequences of their actions might be. Not only that, the author might have dwelt on the reasons Irfan Pathan's family elected to send him to a madrassa when secular education is available in government-run schools. Secondly, there have been a tremendous number of terrorist attacks in India broadly related to Islamic [terrorism]. So really, what does she mean when she says, "Another aspect of this issue has been the near-total absence of Indian Muslims involved in international terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda"? Does the involvement of Indian Muslims in terrorist attacks in India not count as acts of terrorism? The fact that India's Congress government (and now some of the caste-based parties mainly in UP [Uttar Pradesh] and Bihar) for the sake of political expediency has allowed the Muslim clergy to function outside India's secular laws is the root of the problem. In allowing that, the Indian government is not only failing Muslim children, especially the girls, but also causing a security risk.
Rocky (Sep 2, '05)


I have been looking for an article about US President George Bush's snub of Chinese President Hu Jintao with regard to Hu's upcoming visit to Washington. Instead of a full state visit and state dinner, Hu gets an informal reception and a lunch, but no dinner. Also, although Hu's staff requested a visit to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, that request was denied. Could it be that Washington is sending a message to Hu about China's trade practices, currency practices, failure to show sincerity in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue and belligerence toward Taiwan?
Daniel McCarthy (Sep 2, '05)

According to reports it was the Chinese, not the Americans, who shot down the idea of a Crawford visit, apparently preferring the pomp of Washington to the quiet informality of Texas or Camp David, where some real diplomacy might have been able to occur away from the spotlight. - ATol

Once again Spengler is talking about something he knows nothing about [Lessons for Islam from Quebec, Aug 30]. He decided to deform a political and historical context, which very few ATol readers know about, to justify his fixation on demography and the supposed threat of Islam. Quebecois nationalism has nothing to do with demography, but [as] Palmer has pointed out [letter, Aug 30], [is] all to do with past injustices. For a lot of Quebecois today, the Catholic Church is synonymous with repression and regressive thought. One of the greatest achievements of the "Quiet Revolution" was the nationalization of Quebec's natural resources, especially hydro-electricity, that allowed the fair distribution of wealth among the people and the creation of the most complete welfare state in North America. But for Spengler, this kind of distribution of wealth from natural resources equates to evil. In past articles, he compared oil wealth in Muslim countries to the slave economy in the pre-civil war US south, because apparently both created an idle population willing to die for their right to an idle life. I really don't think people in Iraq or Iran were or are idle. Then why isn't capitalism evil, since it creates an idle class that lives off the exploitation of the masses? The reason ... "the Quebec independence movement peaked just after Quebec's population growth rate fell from among the highest to among the lowest in the industrial world" is that the education level of Quebec's population went up after the Catholic Church lost its grip on the people. Quebecers suddenly understood their condition and, inspired by other popular movements in the world ([such as] in Latin America), knew how to express it in a political way, beyond the simplistic Catholic world view: "heaven is blue (conservative), hell is red (liberal)". By the way, Quebecers have not "accustomed themselves to the mediocrity of their circumstances and reconciled themselves to the inevitability of decline", and the independence movement is still strong. A new referendum is inevitable in the near future, and again the reason is past injustices and their apparent continuation today (symbolized by the recent "sponsorship scandal"). Also, more and more immigrants are attracted by Quebecois nationalism, seeing in it an alternative to Anglo-Saxon cultural hegemony in North America (and the world). French-speaking people in North America are an act of resistance in themselves. Until that resistance isn't necessary anymore, they are there to stay.
MaTo
Quebec, Canada (Sep 1, '05)


Spengler [Lessons for Islam from Quebec, Aug 30] is fast dropping to the levels of B Raman in his quest for his truth (as apposed to the truth). He is becoming more and more illogical by the day and is clearly driven by his hatred for Islam alone. He seems to have many preconceived ideas in his mind and always manages to twist or stretch the facts to meet his own ends. Just like his prophet George W Bush, he does not seem to realize that Islam is more than a "nation", and its fate cannot be compared to nations of the past - Canadian or whatever. While demography has a huge impact on society, it is not the only driving force, especially when you are dealing with a system as complex as Islam. Islam is bigger than nations and bigger [than] political ideas. A growing/declining population will no doubt have an affect on Muslim societies, but these affects are more of an indirect nature. I do not think, and correct me if I'm wrong, that there is any evidence to suggest that the "Islamizers" ... spend much time studying demography or the amount of time it gives them to [impose] sharia. Wishful thinking can be bliss, and if he so chooses, Spengler can indeed take refuge in that for a long time, as the chances are that 60 years from now, neither Spengler nor [I] will be here to see how the Muslim population pans out. The reality is that today's average Muslim is much more educated (in modern sciences) and confident than he was 30 or so years ago. This modernity has not brought with it secularism in Islamic societies - actually, the effects have been to the contrary. Educated, urban Muslims of today have a more religious attitude towards life and death than their parents did. More and more Muslim pop singers, sports personalities, doctors, engineers, scientists [and] architects are turning towards religion rather than away from it. In the non-Muslim countries of the West, Islam is the fastest-spreading religion ... Europe and America ... will be the new breeding grounds for the pure and true message of Islam. The Blair government in the UK, for example, has already moved to hasten this process without even being aware of it, by deciding to expel foreign imams [and send] them back to their own countries. This will put the mosques of Europe in the hands of Western-educated, English [Muslims]. But Spengler is not the first and will definitely not be the last to predict the decline of Islam. People have made similar predictions when Islam faced the pagan armies, the [Byzantine] Empire, the Sassanid empire, the Mongolian herds, the Catholics crusaders, the Russian czars or the Maoist communists. For a Muslim, life is a continuous test and an ongoing struggle, and just as the Moors of Spain reminded us, "no one conquers but Allah".
T Kiani
London, England (Sep 1, '05)


Kiani01@hotmail.com Spengler [Lessons for Islam from Quebec, Aug 30] does not know the Arab world, let alone the wider and larger Muslim ethos. That is as plain as the nose on one's face ... Had he grown up in a colonial environment, he would be more agnostic in his suggestions. The example of Quebec is very narrow, and reminds me of polite church socials where a missionary appeals for funds for the benighted children who have not seen the light of Western example and knowledge ... I suggest if he insists on the validity of his analysis, he should step down from his pulpit and see what it is truly like to live in an Arab or Muslim country.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Sep 1, '05)


Spengler's drawing comparisons between French-Canadians and Muslims [Lessons for Islam from Quebec, Aug 30] and his insistence that the comparisons are valid betray both the prototypical ethnic-European response to all things non-European (not recognizing the latter's self-definition) and the ancient European practice of mixing racist and nationalist motifs with Christian theology. Spengler, replying to Jakob Cambria [Spengler responds to readers, Letters, Aug 31], writes of Muslims sensing "a last chance to avoid cultural domination by the West and the extinction of Islamic identity". Really, such declarations seem too casual when the exact opposite can also be argued with complete rationality. It is not Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt that have an influx of Western immigrants but England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands that now strain to tolerate vast, resilient expressions of thought radically different from their own. It is not the Middle Eastern countries that face population declines and existential dilemmas but the countries of Western Europe that know not how to hold on to Enlightenment liberation when their instincts call for Medievalist war amidst an onslaught of Islamic culture. Muslims do not understand globalism to mean cultural death - hence the allowance, even encouragement, of cultural peculiarities among the community - and give only superficial, if any, credence to "demographics" as the very subject problematically avoids the larger issue of predestination. As for the Muslim dislike of liberal decadence, I am puzzled why this should surprise anyone as the American evangelical war machine pounds upon everything liberal in broad daylight, with President [George W] Bush's latest Supreme Court appointee set to tip the judiciary's balance in favor of Christian conservatism for years, if not decades. Deride Muslim loathing of "liberal freedoms" all you want, but please also tell us why [David] Hume's philosophy has disappeared from Western conservative discourse. Muslims have shown adjustment capacities in the face of catastrophes like the Mongol Invasion, the Spanish Inquisition, and colonialism; we will continue adjusting. With Wahhabi literalism, never a popular option, now forcefully rejected and with traditional Sunni morality in prevalence, Muslims face no significant theological obstacles translating their faith into a modern context. Temporary economic disadvantages aside, for Muslims the current state of affairs has not provoked existential crises. Of course, who are we to define how we feel?
Hayder Moin
USA (Sep 1, '05)


Spengler [Spengler responds to readers, Letters, Aug 31] seems to think "demographics" is interchangeable with fertility rates. "Demographics" is a 75-cent word meaning "population characteristics", which includes age, location, education, income, etc and is used to identify consumer markets. Perhaps he is trying just to say "population". The Spenglerism "demographics represent the intrusion of reality into political discourse" is of course just gobbledygook. "When general staffs planned wars on the basis of the demographic tables, no one doubted that population trends were fundamental to politics." More gobbledygook, but with reference to the above definition, this is hilarious. The Japanese military, then, in 1941 held numerous learned discussions with reference to American age, location, education and income to see if [the attack on] Pearl Harbor was "doable". I think it was more like, "Holy hell, if we don't sink some American weapons of mass destruction by Christmas, we're out of oil by spring." "The delusion of Quebec independence did not take long to dissipate ..." I don't think Spengler has ever been to Quebec. Quebec independence has never dissipated, but rather has been attained in an altered form within Canadian confederation - for now. The moment it looks to French-Canadian federal politicians (who now really run Canada) that Quebecers might actually vote for separation, absolute tons of money is dumped into the province, because upon separation those same politicians would instantly be without prestige, jobs or pensions. So now we have in Quebec jobs, jobs, jobs, prosperity and a degree of self-determination. After all, it's their turn. "Now they [French-Canadians] are reconciled to their fate." Wrong again, because the moment French-Canadians think they are being short-changed again we will have an instantly resurgent separatist movement. "The Muslim world perceives a last chance to avoid cultural domination by the West and the extinction of Islamic identity ..." Referring once again to T E Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom Chapter 2, Paragraph 2, "... the homeland of our Semites, in which no foreign race had kept a permanent footing, though Egyptians, Hittites, Philistines, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks and Franks had variously tried. All had in the end been broken, and their scattered elements drowned in the strong characteristics of the Semitic race." Uninformed fanatical thinking characteristic of Spengler is what dropped [Adolf] Hitler, [Benito] Mussolini, [Hideki] Tojo and Dubya into the glue. That's politics. The coincidence of a declining birth rate in Quebec? That's education.
Palmer
British Columbia, Canada (Sep 1, '05)


Probably [Mohd Salekun] Noor's fear of God forces him to go off at a tangent [letter, Aug 29]. Let's consider this fear factor. If in this mortal world love and affection define the relationship between father and son, how much more true would it be between the Supreme Father and his son? Since millennia people have worshipped the sun, moon, wind, ocean and mountains after witnessing the awesome power of a tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption and tornadoes. It is natural. Similarly, as long as God remains as an amorphous and unknowable force in our consciousness He is bound to invoke fear. But consider this. If he has a throne then he must be sitting on the throne, and if he sits on the throne he must have a form, and if he has a form what is he like? Without knowing the form, a loving relationship cannot be established. I feel we must come to this basic understanding before any further meaningful discussion.
Deepak Sarkar
USA (Sep 1, '05)


I'm confused, I admit, by Jonathan X's letter [Aug 29]. He begins by saying the cause of violence in Iraq is the former power structure and not the US invasion ... Beyond the fact that the US helped to create and support that power structure, this seems wildly incorrect. He then says my outrage is limited to pro-US Iraqis. I don't know what this means or why he suggests this. The colonial history of Iraq is clearly important in any discussion of this war. The various factions are indeed going to keep jockeying for power if and when the US occupiers leave. Such is the consequence of invasion. The British invented the borders of Iraq, so colonialism factors everything here. Yes, Iran wants to tinker with the new government, helping the Shi'a majority. I see little to suggest this can be changed. It would be nice if the exit plan, whatever it is, tried to keep the radical jihadists from power, but beyond that, if the Iraqis want the US gone, then the US should be gone. My point was, I hoped, that Western colonial thinking, Western paternalism, call it what you like, had infected even so-called progressives and liberals when discussing "exit strategies". The resistance to occupation comes from many places, but it's fueled by occupation. Period. Jonathan also seems to be saying Afghans aren't equipped to run their own country. Why is this, Jonathan? Do you actually mean, run it by standards you find acceptable? More paternalism, I would suggest.
John Steppling
Krakow, Poland (Sep 1, '05)

August Letters