Asia Times

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month=d.getMonth() var day=d.getDate() var year=d.getYear() // document.write("Today is " + days[d.getDay()] + " ") document.write(monthArray[month]) document.write(" ") document.write(day) document.write(", ") if(d.getYear()<2000){document.write(year+1900)} if(d.getYear()>2000){document.write(year)} } </script> <script language="javascript">showDate()</script> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="left" border="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="65%"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="406" border="0"> <tr> <td width="406"> Please write to us at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/mailto:letters@atimes.com">letters@atimes.com</a> Lengthy letters run the risk of being cut. <hr> I read [Syed Saleem] Shahzad's last article with interest [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE30Df01.html" target="_blank">The third force in the Kashmir equation</a>, May 30]. The notion of the US using India against China and to sabotage the Chinese-Pakistan alliance may in fact be the reason behind US backing of the Chenab formula. However, I doubt that Indians would agree to this solution. Effectively, the partition of Kashmir has already occurred through Pakistan's occupation of approximately one-third of the territory. Thus, just like in Punjab and elsewhere, Muslims who do not wish to live in India should move to the other side. This was the basis on which Pakistan was formed. Let us not forget that Pundits were the original inhabitants of the land. Does one really think they would be safe in a Pakistan-controlled Kashmir - in a country where all but a minority of Hindus have been ethnically cleansed? Legally, Pakistan has no claim to the land, and is not in material possession either. Secession of princely states to India or Pakistan was based on the decision of the ruler. Citing Junagadh and Hyderabad as examples of India reneging on this deal is incorrect, as the rules stipulated that the kingdoms must be contiguous to either country, therefore they were not free to join Pakistan. Pakistan is a party to this dispute because it is a party to violence and terror in the state. As Kashmiris achieve more autonomy and better governance, militancy will drop off - especially so given the Indian army's recent success in thwarting infiltration, the successful last round of elections, a Kashmiri people tired of violence, and international pressure on Pakistan to abandon terrorism. The most likely solution would be to maintain the status quo, with both Kashmirs having autonomy and freedom of movement along the LoC [Line of Control], and gradual military disengagement as violence decreases. Mark I read a headline online "Iran is next on the list", that got my attention, and by the time I got done reading it I had to find out the source of all the blatant lies. What I found was your Asia Times Online. After looking at the list of senior writers I was able to understand why you could be so anti-American. it appears that you have a backstabbing Frenchman, and quite a few Arabs as the writers. Why don't you be a real information agency and try telling the truth to your readers? Rob With all the prevarication spewed out by the British and Americans in Iraq I'm relieved that they don't have wooden noses. Anon I would like to thank Sultan Shahin for his article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html" target="_blank">India rediscovers kama</a> [May 24], which explored sexuality in ancient and modern India and also invoked Indian deities Krishna and Radha. It is this sort of openness that will allow us to understand each other's religions. I would like to ask Shahin to comment on sexuality in the ancient and modern Islamic world and also explore the religious angle using Islam's prophet. Unless, of course, Shahin and Asia Times Online fear a fatwa, ie death threat, that would deem such an article as sacrilege, and choose not to write [it]. But then would that not be blatant hypocrisy? Also, I agree with your reader, Frank of Seattle, who mentions "there also should be some articles covering the Indian minorities" [letter below]. The world needs to know that India's minorities are given freedom and opportunities that are not even available in the Western world. A Muslim is India's president and a Christian is its defense minister. Its prime ministers have been women as well as the people from the lowest strata of Indian society. Has the USA ever had an African-American or woman president? And what is the record of the Islamic states when it comes to treatment of minorities? In fact, does the Islamic world have any minorities left? Dharmayudh Singh Miami, Florida (May 30, '03) Sorry, Parag Vohra [letter below], you're inserting another non sequitur in your comment on my letter regarding K P S Gill's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE28Df02.html" target="_blank">Reassessing the 'war on terror'</a> [May 28]. "The basic premise of MacMullan's theory is that the American invasion of Afghanistan created 'angry young men throughout the Muslim world'." Wrong. My premise is that US "shock and awe" tactics will not eliminate terrorism, let alone al-Qaeda or its successors. "She does not explain the existence of these angry young men on or before September 11, 2001." For the purpose of my original comments, there was no reason to burden my argument with a disquisition on the economic, political, demographic, and religious history of the Middle East in the 20th century. Suffice it that obviously well-informed readers of Asia Times Online understand the wellsprings of Muslim fanaticism. Clearly the US invasion of Afghanistan did not cause this fanaticism, nor did it cure the problem. Doubtless we could argue indefinitely about understanding dangers confronting the "liberal West", but I can assure you that I am vividly aware of dangers that are, perhaps, undreamed of in your philosophy. Marcia MacMullan (May 30, '03) So now Frank [letter below] is extolling an article on India and wants others to read it saying that there is not enough coverage of a vast country like India on Asia Times Online. Is the leopard changing its spots? Before he claimed that there were too many articles on India and especially by women. I was awaiting a fit from him when I saw another class article by Shehla [Raza Hasan] on Indian IT [information technology] some time ago, presumably another Indian woman and perhaps Muslim. I wonder why he did not mention Parsis, Jews, Jains and Christians in his list of Indian minorities. Or not expand his list to mention Shi'as, Sunnis, Qadianis, Bohras, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and so on. Or the leopard can't hide its spots? Anon (May 30, '03) One of the benefits of Francesco Sisci's latest article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EE27Aa01.html " target="_blank">US: The obvious emperor</a>, May 27, is clear collaboration from a neo-con, habitual China-basher on what others around the globe have long suspected: Americans' unabashed drive to dominate the world. Go, Francesco, tell us more why the rest of the world should walk gingerly in front of the mighty American or risk the unbearable wrath of the emperor. I couldn't think of a better persuasion for Russia, China, and Europe to set aside their differences and work together with the single purpose: to stop the One Ring. No to Uncle Sam in Toronto (May 29, '03) Marcia MacMullan's views criticizing the invasion and destruction of the Taliban are typical of the "progressives" who seek to blame the United States even when it reacts against a wrong [letter below]. Her views would hold some water if she had restricted her criticism to the war on Iraq. However, when she criticizes the war to dislodge the Taliban, provider of sanctuary to al-Qaeda and Islamic militants from the world over, she reveals her colors as a pacifist who would rather bow to Islamic terror than to support those liberal democracies that choose to fight back. The basic premise of MacMullan's theory is that the American invasion of Afghanistan created "angry young men throughout the Muslim world". She does not explain the existence of these angry young men on or before September 11, 2001, and neither does she understand the civilizational nature of Islamic fundamentalism's war against the West. These "angry young men" are not just angry at the United States. They are angry at any system which provides an alternative to Islamic rule. The United States simply provides a large and attention grabbing target. It is indeed tragic to see the beneficiaries of the liberal West not understand the greatest danger to itself. Parag Vohra Washington, DC (May 29, '03) Your company should stop playing fast and loose with facts in your reporting. [On May 29] you published an article about SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] and mentioned Toronto is back on WHO's [World Health Organization] black list [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE29Ad01.html " target="_blank">SARS haze obscures China's economic future</a>]. That is factually wrong! WHO has two lists: "SARS affected areas" list (the gray list) and "SARS travel warning" list (the blacklist against all but essential travel). Toronto is back on the "SARS affected area" list, as Hong Kong still is and will be for quite a while. Hong Kong still has far more active and daily new cases than Toronto. You people should be better informed by now about the disease. If your company does not stop publishing this kind of misinformation and publish a correction, we will also spread the words your Hong Kong is still on WHO's blacklist. J Min Ontario, Canada (May 29, '03) The wording in the summary was indeed misleading. The one-word term "blacklist" was a reference to Toronto having once again been named a SARS-affected area. While this is technically the WHO's "gray list", it is still a list upon which no city or area would like to see its name. The "gray list" does fulfill the notion of a blacklist in this sense. It was unfortunate, however, that the reference to the travel warnings for Guangdong and Hong Kong at the beginning of the summary created the appearance that Toronto was back on the travel warning list. The summary has been clarified. - ATol In reference to the article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE29Ak01.html " target="_blank"> WMD: Will the real culprit stand up</a> [May 29] by Jim Lobe, I have never made a personal attack on a person who gives their opinion before, but now I must. I especially do not want to hurt the feelings of someone like Jim Lobe who I believe never experienced anything more difficult than making tea and cucumber sandwiches. Jim Lobe is writing without considering history. How can anyone have the right to comment about anything without considering history? Or does Jim Lobe know history? In that case Jim lobe is supporting Iraq's history of murder, oppression by murder, and the use of weapons of mass destruction against its own people. Jim Lobe needs to feel lucky he has not lived under the Iraqi oppressive murderous government and go back to his sofa and popcorn and let people who know and care do their job. I don't appreciate the reckless use of media. James Retta (May 29, '03) Over the weeks it has become clear that the [George W] Bush administration had gone to war not to find deadly chemicals [weapons], but with a greater motive of becoming masters of huge oil wells [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE29Ak01.html " target="_blank">WMD: Will the real culprit stand up</a>, May 29]. Their desperate search to find traces of chemical or biological weapons is a farce. Had that been the case America, with [the] best surveillance system, would have presented the facts before the world. As regards to reconstruction, there is infighting to share the booty - the oil deals, of course! Now their veiled motives are clear to all. It reminds one of the gold rush in the early days of the last century. Peuli Majumdar (May 29, '03) This is in reference to Sultan Shahin's article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html " target="_blank">India rediscovers kama</a>, May 24. This is the article which your readers want to read. India is a big country. Asia Times Online does not allow enough coverage of India. There also should be some articles covering the Indian minorities, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Harijans or Untouchables. Frank Seattle, Washington (May 29, '03) If a biodiesel industry is established in Indonesia that pays local producers of all "surplus" foodstuffs a fair price for their crops and uses them to make biodiesel that it then sells to Pertamina, Indonesia's state oil company, for a reasonable profit, Pertamina could then take this tiny fraction of its total crude-oil requirements and blend it harmlessly into its refineries as evenly as possible while spreading the equally tiny added cost evenly among all of its customers, regardless of their specific requirements with very little negative economic impact [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE29Ae02.html " target="_blank">Indonesia's double-whammy food crisis</a>, May 29]. There would suddenly be no more surpluses, but an endless requirement for more. Then during the 10 years or so that it would take under ideal conditions for local biodiesel production to reach, say, 10 percent of Pertamina's needs, their refineries could be modified so that some of the biodiesel could be converted directly into gasoline-like and jet-fuel-like products instead of simply replacing regular diesel, and offsetting economies of scale would start to trim biodiesel's price (disregarding inflation) so that its growing blending ratios would never again impact end users. By thus preserving all of Indonesia's vehicles and fuel distribution infrastructures, and without the need for subsidies of any kind, I suggest that they could replace petroleum fuels with biofuels via market forces within 25 years while saving their finite petroleum resource for more valuable applications and creating millions of high-quality jobs. Tom Sullivan Prineville, Hawaii (May 29, '03) K P S Gill's commentary <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE28Df02.html " target="_blank">Reassessing the 'war on terror'</a> [May 28] seriously suffers from a case of non sequitur. He assumes that the only possible response the US could have made to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack was to invade Afghanistan, killing still uncounted hundreds of civilians and destroying much of its already battered infrastructure, and then repeat this savage operation against Iraq - notwithstanding the fact that no Iraqis hijacked the planes that smashed into the [World Trade Center] towers. The Saudis did that. (And no proof exists that connects [Saddam] Hussein to September 11.) He further assumes that Hussein was (is) the chief target for anti-terrorism (why not [Osama] bin Laden?) and that US preemptive wars have effected welcome changes in Middle Eastern regimes. The problem is the method, and unintended consequences: US belligerent unilateralism has certainly generated fear, and a wide range of actions that are creating regional power blocs not in the least dedicated to US vital interests. All those angry young men throughout the Muslim world are not in the least intimidated by the US war machine. They have no stake in pacifism. Surely as water runs downhill, they will find new pathways for retaliation. So, after a brief pause, yet another war against terror will be seen as necessary to preserve democracy. Iran next? For a different, expert perspective on the why of the Iraq war, read the essay by A McKillop, Oil Prices, Economic Growth and World Oil Demand. http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=7628 Marcia MacMullan USA (May 28, '03) Dear [Ehsan] Ahrari, In your article titled <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED24Ak03.html " target="_blank">The making of America's Iraqi quagmire</a> [Apr 24], you state: "Secularism has been a much-maligned and least-comprehended phenomenon in the Muslim world. To assume that it should be good for Iraq because it works in the US might turn out to be a recipe for a disaster." I'm wondering if it is true to say that the [George W] Bush administration thinks that secularism works for America. He seems to be selling his institutionalized version of Christianity very hard. It seems to me that he is working to turn America into a wacky Christian theocracy. Just a thought ... John (May 28, '03) Funny thing. That is just the question I wanted to ask about this piece by Pepe Escobar: reporting, or "wishful thinking" [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE28Ak02.html " target="_blank">The Saddam intifada,</a> May 28]. There is a lot of speculation and rumor associated with the news on Iraq. One thing I feel fairly sure about, however, is this: dead or alive, Saddam Hussein and his sons are has-beens. If there is one thing an Arab is good at, it is spotting a loser. I doubt there are many in Iraq now who want to bothered with him. Tyler P Harwell New London, New Hampshire (May 28, '03) This is in reference to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html " target="_blank">India rediscovers kama </a>[May 24]. [Sultan] Shahin writes on some of the important subjects on India but time and again he puts in his own inept interpretations pertaining to Hinduism and Indian culture. I respect his right to freedom of speech and expression but he needs to work [a] little harder to get his writings to a worthy level. Even for his "cut and paste" style he selects the stanzas that fancy his superficial knowledge. In all Hindu scriptures, Kama, Krodh, Lobh and Ahankar namely Sex (of the kind he tried to describe in his article), anger, lust and pride (false and not self-pride) are said to be paths leading to hell. I know him to have misquoted a couplet from Ramayana in one of his articles and had exhorted Vatysayna on his article on the SMS [short messaging service] revolution in India [LINK HERE India's love affair with hi-tech flirting, Nov 8]. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK08Df02.html His justification of what [is] happening in India on Lord Krishna is ludicrous. Ignorant people can find excuses for their own ill-doings in the lives of the prophets and gods in Hindu, Roman and all other religions and find justifications in one or few lines from many scriptures. D Bhardwaj (May 28, '03) Before having read Francesco Sisci's latest article, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EE27Aa01.html" target="_blank">America: The obvious emperor</a> [May 27], I thought him to be nothing more than a misguided right-wing China basher. His past articles on Asia Times Online have been at least amusing with his professed earnestness in wishing to see China change her evil ways. Now having read his latest treatise on the new world order, I truly fear Francesco has lost all grips on reality. Either Francesco has masterfully embedded apt political satire in his latest work scorning the rise of a new Rome, of which I can discern, or that Francesco has descended to the deepest depths of lunacy from which I fear he might never return. I suggest that ATol should give Francesco an all-expense-paid leave, in order for him to seek some quality psychiatric care. A concerned reader from New York (May 27, '03) Once again the conjugal affairs between the Supreme Personality Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani have been blamed for justifying illicit sexual relationships [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html">India rediscovers </a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html">kama</a>, May 24]. Their relationship is not the same as that between a mundane boy and girl, it is transcendental, devoid of any material sense gratification. Krishna explains, "Janma karma ca me divyam ..." (Bhagwat Gita 4.9): "One who understands the transcendental nature of my birth and activities does not upon leaving the body take birth again in this material world." Saintly personalities like Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhwacharya, Nimbarka Swami, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and countless others have worshipped the conjugal affairs of the Divine Couple. Yet the writer chose not to mention the opinion of even one of these saintly personalities. Regarding the writer, Lord Krishna states, "Abhijanati mam mudha ..." (Bhagwat Gita 9.11): "Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be." Anon (May 27, '03) Respectfully I would like to tell you that you are wrong about [the George W Bush] administration. This administration is not the [Bill] Clinton administration and was not in charge since 1990. You [Christopher Fitz and Macabe Keliher] might try being a little fair with your writing. Personally I thought your article [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE24Ak01.html" target="_blank">US: New master of Iraqi oil ceremonies</a>, May 24] was very one-sided and you have no care for the Iraqi people whatsoever. Maybe you are for the education of peace; however, for some reason it totally showed me that you are just like some of the peace activists in our country that now say, "Oh it's wonderful that we have freedom for the Iraqis but we could have accomplished that with more time." That is totally unacceptable, as you know what Saddam [Hussein] has done and would not give in. I have friends in Jordan who were against this war too but now have said that they were wrong. Why don't you try a little bit of humble pie and recognize that these people are free now? You have evidently lived in freedom ... don't you think that everyone should have this right? I am ashamed of both of you. Ms Barnes (May 27, '03) Paul Belden did a great service when he reported about the situation for Palestinians in Lebanon (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE24Ak04.html" target="_blank">Shadows of the past</a>, May 24). He noted [that for] a Palestinian neighborhood, telephone lines were actually forbidden by the Lebanese government. That there actually are 125 professions which Palestinians are prohibited by Lebanese law from practicing - "a number that includes the best ones, engineer, doctor, that sort of thing". If one wonders why there are still Palestinian "refugee camps" 55 years after Israel was created, when for other conflicts ... refugees camps were not needed for more than, say, five years - for example after the Holocaust when European Jews were in refugee camps - this article sheds much light. Ben USA (May 27, '03) Today I linked into you site and read some articles about the Middle East and South Korea such as John Parker's story about Roh Moo-hyun and his admiration of Abraham Lincoln [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EE20Dg01.html " target="_blank">The one Lincoln lesson that Roh should learn</a>, May 20] and Christopher Fitz' and Macabe Keliher's commentary <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE24Ak01.html " target="_blank">US: New master of Iraqi oil ceremonies</a> [May 24]. I have to say that this is some of the best writing I have seen since my 11th-grade creative-writing class. I don't think I have laughed so hard since I started reading the Korea Web Weekly. The conspiracy theories, innuendos, humorous paralleling of current events without touching on anything reality-based was a scream, even if a little long-winded. That it was seriously retro of an old Hollywood B movie where the Chinese and Russians periodically refer to each other as "comrade" and keep saying phrases such as "imperialist dogs" and "capitalist swine" was a real kicker, I'm telling you. What was particularly entertaining was the insinuation that the US was behind every evil action in the world, like Uncle Sam is just standing over the World Theater with strings hanging from his fingers and everyone is a marionette. I'm glad to hear that the denial of personal responsibility is not just an American trait, and the woes of all nations are the fault of others. It really takes the heavy reality of the world off all our shoulders. You just tell these guys to keep up the good work and they will take the fantasy genre by storm when they grow up. Look out, Stephen King! Anon (May 26, '03) Just read the article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE24Ak01.html " target="_blank"> US: New master of Iraqi oil ceremonies</a> [May 24]. I thought journalism implied the practitioner would have some degree of open-mindedness and would offer his readers a full view of the factual matters of the case. I guess though when one is so insanely jealous of the ability of the United States to influence international matters the way it does, that person is reduced to carping. I trust the average reader of your paper is smarter and more well read than [Christopher] Fitz and [Macabe] Keliher apparently think. D Mcgarity North Little Rock, Arkansas (May 26, '03) I was intrigued with [Christopher] Fitz' and [Macabe] Keliher's carefully documented commentary <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE24Ak01.html " target="_blank"> US: New master of Iraqi oil ceremonies</a> [May 24]. It appeared to be quite factual and balanced, until I realized that the most important player in their long list of hypocrites was missing. Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime were the real reason for the war. His plans to use oil money to build an invincible army were quite well known from the '80s forward. His plans to use oil money to destroy Israel and unite all Arabs under his iron fist were announced proudly on Iraqi state media. His plans to take over all oilfields in the Middle East were clear when he attacked Iran and invaded Kuwait for their oil as a precursor for further domination. Why are all the pain and suffering of those poor souls in Iraq blamed on outsiders, when it was the Ba'ath Party that tortured and killed political prisoners? It was Iraqis who buried their own men, women and children alive in mass graves alongside Iranian and Kuwaiti prisoners. Saddam and his family, along with the Tikrit tribal leaders' cynical use of French and Russian greed, [hatched a plan that was] carried out by Iraqis, with Western money siphoned away from hospitals and children to build Saddam's palaces (one palace could have built a dozen hospitals and saved the children). They killed 500,000 Iraqi children through starvation and neglect, not the US. Why was there no mention of the multibillions stolen from Iraq's treasury by Saddam and his family? Why no mention of the overt support for terrorists to kill Americans around the world? I'm guessing because all these facts would give legitimacy to the war, and those facts must be ignored so that the US can be blamed for the actions of Saddam. A brief reference to the Ba'ath regime's complicity at the end of the article is a lame effort to appear balanced. The aim of the article is to redirect all cause of suffering in the Middle East away from Arab leaders. It's an old rant, and it's not working anymore. I saw the truth when the statues came down in Baghdad. M Holt Virginia (May 26, '03) I would like to congratulate you for having a journalist like Pepe Escobar. The people who argue that his writings are not news but commentary are the ones who are addicted to garbage of the US media. Two of your colleagues - Henry C K Liu and Pepe Escobar - are the greatest assets of your journal. Mazdak Farhat (May 26, '03) Thanks for a well-researched and detailed article on sex in the subcontinent [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html " target="_blank">India rediscovers kama,</a> May 24]. However, Sultan [Shahin] gives the impression that Hindu India is turning sex-indulgent. What does his research says about Muslim India? Are they happy to be living it up with the rest of the country? Or are they complaining of being left behind in this titillating arena of life? I certainly hope that at least Sultan is enjoying his indiscretions in this newfound freedom of the land! AJ (May 26, '03) The article is a height of stupidity [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE24Df09.html " target="_blank">India rediscovers kama,</a> May 24]. I read Asia Times Online weekly and have respect for its articles. ATol should have some criteria in accepting such stupid and idiotic anti-religious, anti-Indian articles. Krishna Kumar (May 26, '03) The fact that all the interest cuts in the past years still haven't produced the threat of inflation, but rather have produced the threat of deflation, tells me that there is something radically wrong with the economy in the world ... [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EE23Dj01.html " target="_blank">Sliding greenback highlights trade deficit</a>, May 23] The fact that the European Central Bank is taking no action in regards to the stronger euro tells me that the [US] Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have a covert agreement. Anon (May 26, '03) I was intrigued by Andrew's recognition (Letters, Apr 25) that America and Europe are reliant upon "institutionalized and structural exploitation of other economies" whilst his assertion that America is "a leader of democracy" undermines the same point. It is the notion of America being "a leader of democracy" that has caused the yawning gap between America's understanding of itself and how it is viewed by others. Americans say that they have the most democratic civil system in the world. If this is so, why does America frequently side-step the basic principles of democracy outside (or inside) America in order to gain what it requires? As with the acquisition of [native] Indian tribal lands, slavery and racial segregation, modern edicts and laws supporting American or Western economic interests are regularly passed at the cost of others' basic human rights. The truth is swept under the carpet and similar acts continue under the guise of "fair trade" or "democratic" needs. Thus the Americans perpetuate their hubris of American democracy whilst the rest of the world views their actions with disdain. Now this is all rather negative, so I would like to introduce a positive point. In order to change America's, or any future superpower's, grip on the democratic rights of the world, we must look closely at business practices. If Western business and economics can value ethical and humanistic principles, then the face of world politics may change. Until this happens, we will never encounter true democracy. Richard Yorke UK (May 26, '03) Regarding the suspicion that Guangdong is hiding its SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] numbers, there's one hint [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE24Ad02.html " target="_blank">SARS: What happened to April 20?</a>, May 24]. On May 23, Shanghai had one confirmed case of SARS. The patient was a railway worker from Guangdong. The train where the patient was on duty, K48, departed from Guangzhou on May 20. Upon arrival in Shanghai on May 21, the patient fell ill. The case was confirmed on May 22 and became official Shanghai statistics on May 23. Anon (May 26, '03) I normally enjoy Pepe Escobar's columns as highly instructive, even when I do not agree with them. His latest article on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE22Ak03.html " target="_blank">The masters of the universe</a> [May 22], however, strikes me as "shot from the hip". Certainly in content, style, and presentation, it does not meet the standards of fellow Asia Times Online journalist Phar Kim Bang's<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE22Ae02.html " target="_blank">The overblown pan-Islamic threat </a> of the same issue. To begin with, Escobar builds the case for a highly secretive cabal of plotteurs who, one assumes, Escobar tracked down in their lair. Indeed, one is reminded of his mujahideen-like photo on the Afghan border, and envisions a nattily attired "Dom Pepe" rubbing elbows with this secretive group, hastily taking notes between canapes and champagne as secrets tumble from their lips. To my disappointment, I found a counter-culture website at www.bilderberg.org which contained many of the insinuations presented in his article, to include Prince Bernhard's SS connections. Likewise, when he mentions "General Peter Sutherland" in the same sentence with [US Secretary of Defense] Donald Rumsfeld, one pictures some high-ranking military officer plotting away with the bankers. Imagine my disappointment to find instead that Professor Peter Sutherland is not only not a military man, but a well known Irish attorney. True, he is a former Irish attorney general, and former director general of the GATT [General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade], but these hardly merit the puttees, jodhpurs, and Sam Browne belt that the "General" Sutherland reference [implies]. Finally, as to the assertion that "American imperial adventures are usually rehearsed at Bilderberg meetings", I take deep offense. As a retired member of the "American imperial" forces who participated in the majority of our "imperial adventures" from Panama (just cause) back through Grenada, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, I can assure you that never once did I, nor anyone above me, ever brief or rehearse any of our "adventures" at Bilderberg. Still, I take my hat off to Escobar's facility with the English language, which is far better than my Tacuarembo style Portagnol. He is an accomplished writer and his pieces on [Osama] Bin Laden still have my utmost respect. When he sheds his tercermundismo-style thinking, he will become a truly world-class journalist. I look forward to that day. LTC (Ret) Shaun M Darragh Seoul, South Korea (May 23, '03) In a recent article, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE22Ak03.html " target="_blank">The masters of the universe </a> [May 22], Pepe Escobar states that Prince Bernhard of the the Netherlands was a member of Hitler's SS. Absolutely false! Tell Escobar that he better get his facts straight, or he risks throwing everything he writes into serious question. I will not waste any of my time reading his articles. J H de Raat Amsterdam, Netherlands (May 23, '03) In the recent article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE23Ak01.html " target="_blank">French rise above US barbs </a> [May 23] by Julio Godoy, surprise is expressed at the thought of the once-defiant French acquiescing to US goals and agendas. I, for one, am not surprised at this behavior of "cheese-eating surrender monkeys". This is just a dramatic re-enactment of the time-tested Chinese proverb of "Kill a chicken to scare the monkey" by both our Iraqi opponent and our treacherous Gallic "ally". E Chao (May 23, '03) I wanted to congratulate you and Phar Kim Beng on the excellent article on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE22Ae02.html " target="_blank">The overblown pan-Islamic threat </a> [May 22]. I have felt that this was the case ever since the tragedy of September 11, 2001 - that all of our dearly respected politicians have been using fear of the Islamic threat for their own nefarious agendas, [US President] George [W] Bush, [UK Prime Minister] Tony Blair and [Australian Prime Minister] John Howard being the most obvious of them. The worst part is that all this Islamaphobia stuff is self-fulfilling - the more that the West attacks Muslim countries and Muslims, and at the same time does nothing to pressure Israel into accepting a roadmap for peace, the worse the blowback from "Islamic radicals" will be. The more we become afraid that a civilizational clash will take place, the more it becomes an unnecessary reality. The incredible hypocrisy of the American and Australian governments' criticism of Indonesia's heavy-handed response in Aceh this week is astounding. "It is OK for us Westerners to use B-52s and Tomahawks to deal with a bit of a problem we imagined we had in Iraq but not for you Muslims to use military force against rebels in your own country." It seems that most newspaper journalists and TV commentators have a dreadful lack of any sophisticated understanding about Islam, the broad diversity within the Muslim ummah and the causes of Muslim discontent around the world. Keep up the good work of providing a useful, unbiased and independent source of information about Asia that is not available in the mainstream press. I enjoy reading many of your commentators, especially Pepe Escobar and Syed Saleem Shahzad. Andrew Price Singapore (May 23, '03) In <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE23Df02.html " target="_blank">Delhi: Fighting militancy with militancy?</a> [May 23], [Syed Saleem] Shahzad points to the arrest of a Pakistani for a bombing 13 years ago and says, "... whether there would be any difference between Indian-sponsored terror attacks in Pakistan, and Pakistani-sponsored attacks in Kashmir." This is astounding. India has every right to fight "militancy" but somehow the ones that are Pakistani-sponsored are "attacks" while a 13-year-old bombing attributed to the son of murdered prime minister Z A Bhutto is "terror". Wow! How long will you wear blinders? Is there an editor on board at Asia Times Online? Rudranath Talukdar (May 23, '03) Syed Saleem Shahzad's article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE23Df02.html " target="_blank">Delhi: Fighting militancy with militancy?</a> [May 23] gives a very graphic description of the AZO [al-Zulfiqar Organization] but cites no evidence linking Indian intelligence to these groups except fears and allegations of Pakistan's intelligence. Syed's own reasoning is based on the premise that an Indian reaction to a stimulus will be similar [to] a Pakistani reaction to the same stimulus. It is very difficult for well-established democracies to indulge in militancy, unlike dictatorships or totalitarian regimes. The article, though, does bring to light the fact that Pakistan is ubiquitous with groups espousing militancy, with their own agendas, and even the Pakistani intelligence does not have a complete picture. Dharmayudh Singh Miami, Florida (May 23, '03) Just a quick response to E G Deune, MD's letter [below] (May 9). Putting articles about Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in the China section is probably for easy reference. We do not need to read everything in a politicized manner. The name "Taiwan" is widely used and known but the official name for the country is the ROC, the Republic of China. So it does in fact belong to the "China" section of articles. Phil Tong Canada (May 23, '03) While Pepe Escobar does in fact present alternative news reporting on world events, he peppers his stories with such unprofessional banter and immature anti-US ravings that you should promote his work under an opinion column because it drags your professional reporting down. Those of us who use your magazine for research on economic issues, for example, wonder about the validity of stories on GDP sectors when posted next to Escobar's diatribe. I'm sure his rants stir controversy, attract "hits", and therefore might help raise advertising revenue, but you are compromising your magazine in the process. Escobar regularly contradicts himself and asserts his own fantasies as fact. For example, before the war in Iraq, he asserted that the US would intentionally target civilians - that this was a war against innocent noncombatants. To suggest that Pentagon officials sat around weeks before the war and tried to figure out how many women and children they could kill is absurd. What was their ultimate goal, according to Escobar? He never said. That is because this was not true. After the war ended, he wrote nothing of the sort, focusing instead on how the US targeted Iraqi military formations and deceptively bought off senior leaders in an underhanded, capitalist rouse. In doing so, he contradicted his own, warped prewar theory. Additionally, defeating an enemy without killing - or in this case, less killing - did not cause him to alter his twisted perception of what he portrays is an evil, racist, and imperialist power. In <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE21Ak02.html" target="_blank">Iraq showdown: Winners and losers</a>, May 21, he claims that al-Qaeda's mission is to fight US imperialism. More sick fantasy. Those who cover al-Qaeda as professional journalists know that al-Qaeda's main mission is to assert a pan-Islamic republic across the Middle East via Salafi Islam, a staunch form of Wahhabi Islam established in Saudi Arabia hundreds of years ago. We know this because the second in command of al-Qaeda, Dr [Ayman] al-Zawahiri, said so, and has preached such goals for decades. He has even written books and pamphlets about it. Fighting the United States is but a means to an end to topple the leadership of Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and the "prize", Saudi Arabia. In a day when there is so much corrupt journalism flinging about from outlets such as al-Jazeera and the New York Times (Jayson Blair, the admitted serial lying "journalist"), be different. Be bold. Report facts and the truth. Escobar does not. Do your readers a favor and place him in an opinion column for the small-minded. J Moore Virginia, USA (May 22, '03) Dear John Parker: Have you read and studied the steps which the two Koreas can take to resolve the division? [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EE20Dg01.html" target="_blank">The one Lincoln lesson that Roh should learn</a>, May 20] How could you compare the division of the US in [Abraham] Lincoln's time with that of Korea in 2003? In the Korean partition and continuity of that status quo, the US has been a crucial part of it. Is there any way for the US to let Koreans on both sides resolve the matter with mutual understanding and respect? Have you read and understood the 1992 South and North Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, Exchange and Cooperation and the June 13-16 Pyongyang Declaration of two leaders? How long do you think that the US has to "protect" South Korea from North Korea? Isn't it long overdue for the US to stop the Korean War by changing the 50-year-long armistice agreement into a non-aggression agreement, and make peace with North Korea so that two parts of Korea could work out little by little towards healing and reconciliation? Even for the long-term interests of the US in Northeast Asia, wouldn't it be better for the US to end the hostility and improve her relations with North Korea? Blood begets blood. Violence begets violence. I do not think that the leadership of North Korea is so stupid to overrun the South for another war of "national liberation". If North Korea has built up military strength in spite of feeding themselves, what has been the rationale for such path? Who has been the threat for the autonomy and sovereignty of that impoverished little nation? If the US would change her present hostile Korea policy to the level of the previous administration, that small nation would not be so vigilant to build up militarily at the expense of their people with hunger and starvation. If the real external threat of the US with economic sanctions, a policy of strangulation, would be turned to a relationship of mutual understanding and respect, North Korea would not be a threat to South Korea and even to the US. Please do not even mention the last president of Vietnam simply because he mentioned such words as "reconciliation". When you compare the Korean issue with the Vietnamese unification, I am afraid that you are grossly oversimplify the historical factors of the two nations, Vietnam and Korea. Grace and peace, Kil Sang Yoon (May 22, '03) The [Iraq] war is over and the cleanup begins, at a bloody cost. [George W] Bush has given the word to send most of the troops home. In their places are fresh faces off the boat from the States. It was a costly venture for the United States. Prior to the first shots fired the General Accounting Office informed Bush and Congress next year would have a budget surplus. Eager to spend money not yet in the checkbook, Bush surged ahead in preparation for war. At risk are domestic concerns, education and health care void of the funds spent on munitions and military expenses. To the average person it makes sense to spend the money if you have it in your hands. Contrary to reason, Bush believes writing a blank check lacking the money to process it is the way the Iraq and other wars should be financed by a nation. The United States has always had a deficit since the Articles of Confederation. Fiscal year 2003 will end well into the red. Congress will debate to approve funding for projects with yet another blank check paid by the taxpayer for the next 10 years. This the financial picture for the United States in 2003 and 2004. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/mailto:brwayne513@aol.com">brwayne513@aol.com</a> (May 22, '03) Just a word to let you and Asia Times' entire organization know that your truth-seeking journalism, exemplified by work such as Pepe Escobar's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE21Ak02.html " target="_blank">Iraq showdown: Winners and losers </a> [May 21], is valued and does not go unnoticed. Shortly after November 22, 1963, I decided to reduce drastically my reliance on the major American news media for news/news analysis information, and have relied ever since on other sources for such purposes. Tassilo von Koch San Clemente, California (May 21, '03) Please note a major error in the article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE20Ae01.html " target="_blank">Cambodia's legal system on trial</a> by Alan Boyd that just appeared online [May 20]. Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia did not quit the Khmer Rouge before they took Phnom Penh in 1975. He remained with the KR until the middle [of] or late 1977, some two or more years after the "liberation". It was then that the Eastern Zone leadership saw the writing on the wall and started to flee to Vietnam. Raymund Johansen San Francisco, California (May 21, '03) Thank you. The article has been corrected. - Editor I just wanted to congratulate you and your collaborators for the quality and kind of articles presented in your site. So far [it] is the best, well-documented and complete analysis on each of the subjects chosen that I [have] had the opportunity to read. I do enjoy coming to your site and learning better, through the commentaries and viewpoints presented, away from the mainstream. Thank you. Hugo Palacios Walnut Creek, California (May 21, '03) The issue of NTR [normal trade relations] for Laos is not solely a "human rights" issue but, equally as important, is a great concern from a foreign-investment point of view [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE21Ae05.html " target="_blank">The new battle over Laos: Trade normalization</a>, May 21]. Having recently read the Bilateral Trade Agreement between the US and Laos, there are no obvious provisions for foreign-investor protection as suggested in public comment by US Ambassador [to Laos Douglas] Hartwick. According to my humble opinion and past experiences as an administration manager for the only foreign security company (Jardine Securicor) in Laos (now dissolved as a result of corruption and breech of agreement by the Laotian government), responsible for the protection of foreign investors, I think that the US government has the potential to create a dangerous environment for potential foreign investors to Laos. There is no protection for foreign investors to Laos. Bilateral relations between countries do not offer protection for foreign investors or foreigners visiting Laos. This is not singularly a "Hmong issue" despite the CIA-backed movement reported as being subjected to continual slaughter by the Laotian government for backing the US during the war. This is not singularly a human-rights issue, where there are mass reports of human-rights violations or religious persecution or torture of foreigners in prisons or lack of transparency in judicial process. All are a combination of issues that support the need for greater debate on whether or not Laos should be granted NTR. Kay Danes Australia (May 21, '03) As India and Pakistan are once again trying to engage themselves with the diplomatic means of negotiations to concord harmony and peace in the whole South Asian region, they must not forget to do their homework, ie the analysis of the previous dialogues that failed even after employing extra care. However, both the governments were quite sincere in their moves but this is not enough to judge one's potentials to solve the trivial matters like Kashmir and the so-called militia. Unless the citizens of both the sides do not pay much heed on these issues and [press] their politicians to come up with the logical solution to resolve these annoying matters whose ghosts are haunting on our economy, politics and the regional prosperity. In this regard if both the nations are expected to make this issue resolved then the topic of Kashmir should not be omitted. Otherwise, it will again open the never-ending era of suffering for the peoples of both the sides waiting anxiously for their plenipotentiaries to be relevant on this specific issue. Plus the waiting game will widened the vacuum of economic, cultural and educational trade between both the countries. Mahjabeen Agha Karachi, Pakistan (May 21, '03) I am really surprised that the entire learned and so-called civilized world and its inhabitants don't try to distinguish between terrorism and freedom fighters. If a freedom fighter goes against an occupier trying to claim his land, which is his human right, [he] is classed as a terrorist; at the same time when a powerful might [invades] a country and occupies land which is not theirs, [that invader] is called civilized and a liberator. Before going further into the conflict of words perhaps some of your readers who are historians and highly educated will shed some light for me. Mohammad Akram London, England (May 21, '03) Henry C K Liu (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE13Ak02.html " target="_blank">From Cold War to Holy War </a>, May 13) is, as I read him, a most perceptive author. I guess that most intelligent people who read his articles would tend to agree with him. But what he evoked thereby may not have been palatable to some, certainly not to warmongers in the Pentagon and/or the White House. I have to say to D Sullivan (letter posted May 16) his observations are nothing new. We - those who are not in the American mold - have already analyzed the motives of the US, particularly of this administration, which is determined to use its military muscle primarily to install and/or maintain its hegemony over weaker states, wherever the US financial interests are to be determined. Today, much like in the past, the US language is doublespeak, the US word is never its bond, the US justice drips and is slippery with slime. Instead of blaming al-Qaeda and its organizer [Osama] bin Laden, or other Islamic organizations which are visibly lending their political, military and financial might to achieve justice for the poor, downtrodden Palestinians, the US should have the courage to self-examine critically its own foreign policy vis-a-vis the Arabs in the Middle East. Take the reasons the US gave for its armed global intrusions: (1) Terrorism - the US was, has been and is even now guilty of the grossest acts of terrorism stretching back (in my memory) for over 50 years. (2) WMD [weapons of mass destruction] - the US has experimented with, employed and compiled vast quantities of conventional, nuclear and biological weapons, keeping them in storage ready for immediate use. (3) Aiding and abetting rogue countries - the US has, besides being the greatest rogue country itself, provided military aid, directly or indirectly, to fascist governments, eg the Shah's Iran, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Taliban's Afghanistan, Ngo Dinh Diem's Vietnam, [General Augusto] Pinochet's Chile, the Contras of Nicaragua - the list is almost endless. The ostensible purpose, the rationale - it said - for invading Iraq ... was to remove the threat she posed by possessing WMD. Well, none has been found so far and my guess is never will be! To England's eternal shame she went along with the US as its lackey. The US has become and is currently regarded, rightly, a pariah nation. It is in the interests of the peace-loving nations of the world for her to be circumscribed - effectively - by whatever means. That suggests that nations like an awakening China and India and a highly industrialized Russia finding common cause to challenge US expansion. It can be done. Indeed, it must be done. K A England (May 21, '03) Jim Lobe wrote a great article about the plight of Burmese villagers to sue an American company under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE17Ae03.html " target="_blank">Villagers vs oil giant: Ashcroft to the rescue</a>, May 17]. He points out that [US Attorney General John] Ashcroft wants the law "reinterpreted", and essentially off the books, for the reason that it may hinder execution of their foreign policy. I also wanted to point out that in a Financial Times article "Companies accused of backing apartheid" dated May 18, it goes on to say that 34 international companies, one being Citibank, are being sued for US$100 billion under the Alien Tort Claims Act for supporting the apartheid regime [of South Africa]. The point being that perhaps a part of Ashcroft's desire to repeal this law is to protect the interests of businesses. I did not see that in the report, so I just wanted to point that out. Oscar G (May 20, '03) I want to thank [Asia Times Online] for [publishing] the May 17 article  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE17Ae01.html" target="_blank">Laos: Hotbed of unrest</a> . For close to 30 years now, the Hmong people, within Laos and abroad, have been voicing their concerns over the treatment and killing of those that are hiding and fighting the communist regime in the jungles of Laos. Their concerns went unanswered. Over and over again, the Laotian government flat-out denied that there are any activities within the jungles. The cover-up of any engagement with the former US ally (Hmong) was so swift, timely, and clever that no organization, except the Laotian and Vietnamese military, knew what was going on. The jungles of Laos serve as the hiding place for the Hmong who want peace and freedom, but it also serves as a killing field for the many who encounter the Lao and Vietnamese military. For the Laotian and Vietnamese military, it's a perfect place to hide any incriminating evidence that may be used against the government if the outside world knows that such activities existed. For nearly 30 years now, the Hmong abroad have brought up concerns and evidence of the killing to the many levels of the US government and/or any government that would listen. Since the evidence they presented could not be verified by an independent source, what was or is happening in Laos went unnoticed. Today, your organization may have turned that around. Please keep monitoring the events in Laos, especially the events that unfold in the jungles. The world needs to know what was or is happening there. Xoua Pha (May 20, '03) Having read your article in full, it is with my best reasoning that we as Americans should pull out of every little country that screams for protection, then when it is given and an evil regime has been defeated, scream "abuse" because we (Americans) are not giving them what they want quickly enough [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak01.html " target="_blank">America's military 'imperial perimeter'</a>, May 17]. Yet I don't see any one of them standing up to offer help, as they are so busy looting their own people, they could care less. I for one am sick of this type of underhanded nonsense and would refuse my son going into such an environment to be shot at and possibly killed so the local warlords may be more entrenched in their devious proceedings, due to the ignorant outcries of people such as you. God bless America, for ours has been an uphill battle for all generations; still, we succeeded because we believe in freedom and a democratic society. Proudly American, L Gary Heller USA (May 20, '03) I was reading the article titled <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak01.html " target="_blank">America's military 'imperial perimeter'</a>, in your May 17 issue on the web. For the most part I found it informative and interesting; however, when it got to the part of dragging lurid details of crimes committed by US soldiers in Okinawa, it seemed to become a story in search of lurid details. As an American I, along with most of my countrymen, are well aware of problems generated by the emergence of the US as the sole remaining superpower. However, I believe that stories such as these serve only to foster distrust and resentment of America, which has been a friend and benefactor of much of the world. On one hand the article talks about the good that comes from America's presence in certain countries, and then it resorts to picking isolated, and perhaps inevitable, incidents whenever a large military presence is fielded by any country in the world. If people think that the US has a two-faced policy in the world of foreign policy, then so does the world present a two-faced response to it. I agree that the US has a neo-conservative administration in Washington at this time, but administrations come and go, the United States has proved itself as a friend to those in need, and a bulwark against forces that seek terror and destruction. Take your pick, but you can't have it both ways. Larry W Gray (May 20, '03) I read with interest some of your articles: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak03.html " target="_blank">Saudi Arabia feels the squeeze</a> [May 17], <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak04.html " target="_blank">But we were focused on fighting terrorism ...</a> [May 17]. I was under the impression that Asia Times Online was a quality newspaper offering balanced perspectives. However, these articles seem to be be nothing more than apologists for jihad and terrorism. Baghdad Bob would have/would be proud of your spin-doctoring! Bineet (May 20, '03) The May 17 commentary by Ehsan Ahrari is fascinating [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak04.html " target="_blank">But we were focused on fighting terrorism ...</a>, May 17]. On the one hand, Ahrari argues that we need to have patience and more dedication in fighting the war on terror, yet on the other he condemns the US for not stopping all terror acts immediately and gloating that we've won the war. It is clear Ahrari pays little attention to the statements of the US government, including the president, for never was the war on terror declared won, nor did victories in Afghanistan and Iraq dull the realistic view of the administration: time and again the president and the administration have said that we should not get our hopes up after these major victories, that al-Qaeda is still out there, still plotting. In short, the US has been making the case all along that patience and dedication are what is necessary. Perhaps Ahrari is a little to eager to declare an American failure - perhaps he's looking too hard to criticize. The US warned Saudi Arabia repeatedly about terrorist activity. Saudi Arabia ignored it and we had a major bombing last week. The US warned embassies all over the Arab states in Africa and in Asia to be on alert. Short of the kind of intrusive military action that would bring rabid protest from the same critics wanting instant gratification, there is little the US can do but provide intelligence. If a country chooses to ignore the information, there is little the US can do to stop an action. As it is, the message from the US has been clear: the war on terror will take time. The current bombings have taken place on "soft" targets, targets that are known to have lax security, and have taken place in Arab (read: sympathetic) states. None of this is surprising to the US. The only thing surprising is the readiness to blame America for not being the world hegemon it is so often accused of being. The bombings are not a failure of the US to win the war on terror, it's a failure of the governments of these states where the attacks happened to listen to US warnings. James Yerian Athens, Ohio (May 20, '03) [Ehsan] Ahrari is nothing more than "an armchair analyst", one of the many who spout opinions as if they were fact [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak04.html " target="_blank">But we were focused on fighting terrorism ...</a>, May 17]. Throughout his diatribe, he writes as though all that he is saying is fact and truth, when in reality it is only his opinion, no facts involved. Does he know what the [George W] Bush administration is doing? No. Does he know what al-Qaeda is doing? I doubt it. Does he know US military plans? I doubt it. Yet he speaks as though he is an authority on all of the above. He even goes so far as to quote Maureen Dowd of the New York Times. Maureen Dowd is the ultra-left's version of Andy Rooney. To quote Maureen Dowd as a source for serious political discussion is a joke, and not even worthy of publication. With anti-American writers such as Ahrari being given the top billing, it is no wonder that so much of the world hates Americans. Isn't it time that your newspaper presented another position to contrast with your so obvious anti-Americanism? E Herod USA (May 20, '03) Thank you for your publication of May 17 on the Hmong Resistance and the Vietnamese military reinforcement in Laos ( <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE17Ae01.html">Laos: Hotbed of unrest</a> , May 17). First, Laos will do everything it can to cover up its internal problems, such as the bus attacks. [The government of] Laos knows very well that the people of Laos are so sick and tired of the communist regime. It also fails to pay its military units and teachers for months, and the attacks could come from the angry people of their own. Second, Laos is the only country in Asia that maintains its loyalty to Vietnam and maintains Marxism along with Vietnam. Therefore, those two countries will do everything they can to stay alive as long as possible. The Hmong movement is about to be exterminated, and there is no reason for Vietnam to send troops to Laos, but it does because Laos is asking the United States to grant Normal Trade Relations. If granted the status, Laos may become more and more independent unless Vietnam manipulates Laos with military support. Please continue to follow movements in Laos and inform the world about the 30-year slaughter of its own citizens. Thank you very much. Victor N Xiong (May 19, '03) You should go to the classifieds seeking a writer with a little perspective. Consider the juxtaposed idiocies of [Ehsan] Ahrari's article: Al-Qaeda is "sophisticated" because they can get a car bomb in front of an apartment building in a Swiss-cheese security environment like Saudi Arabia's (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE17Ak04.html">But we were focused on fighting terrorism</a>, May 17). The US leadership is "bungling" because it took 3 whole weeks to destroy Saddam [Hussein] 8,000 miles from our homeland with the most awesome display of air and ground attack ever seen, thereby discrediting your very writers' "Stalingrad-esque" prophecies. By knocking down straw assumptions that were never valid to begin with (US leadership thought defeating Saddam would scare Al Qaeda (?)) your writer poses as a legitimate judge of American capabilities. Well, there are many debatable aspects of American policies, but one must have the intellectual honesty to admit the amazing successes, and the real intentions, in order to engage the audience in a meaningful evaluation. This writer fails to rise to that level, and is disappointingly below your usual standard. Mark Denzer Honolulu, Hawaii (May 19, '03) Alan Boyd (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE15Ad01.html " target="_blank">US politicking in Asia to rein in China</a>, May 14) undoubtedly looks at the rest of the world as unintelligent. India should especially know that the United States expects only one thing from its allies: Do as I say and not as I do. While the US can hunt for terrorists around the world, India is not allowed to do so, even if they can be found right next door. As an ally, all your interest becomes what is in the best interest of the US. What does containment actually mean? Is it enacting an unprovoked economic and political isolation of China based on paranoia? Or is it an alliance based on the notion if China attacks its neighbor(s), these "containing" countries will act together to stop China? Only a fool would actually believe that the first would not lead to a nuclear war. And the latter, China would only have to do absolutely nothing and watch its "containers" spend billions and billions on Western weapons and have their economies collapse, like the Soviet Union during the Cold War, while Western arms dealers get rich. Perry (May 16, '03) I am sending this e-mail in response to the article recently published in your website, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EE13Ag02.html " target="_blank">Afghanistan's newest victimization </a> [May 13] by Stephen Blank. I cannot understand how the author came to the conclusion that Afghanistan is a victim of India's policies. India is rejecting the idea of an oil pipeline from Afghanistan through Pakistan, based on its relations with Pakistan. Everybody understands that this proposed dream pipeline would benefit all the parties. But with India's and Pakistan's relations so bad, India sees a security concern not only to the pipeline but also to the country. So it is India who has to decide what is best for her, not somebody with "Blank" suggestions. It is funny that Pakistan is reluctant to improve trade and other bilateral relations with India, but is very much interested in this oil pipeline. Please do not blame India for the current situation in Afghanistan. The author should blame the USA, Russia, the UK and Pakistan for their actions during and after Cold War period. I love reading Asia Times Online. Skodavat USA (May 16, '03) Henry C K Liu has written a fine bit of history here (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE13Ak02.html " target="_blank">From Cold War to Holy War</a>, May 13). I question certain statements as I understood them. Is there an "American value"? US history is the story of diversified peoples and social groups. Their values and means of assertion conflict in normal human ways. [Are] US militarism and expansion really new? In a Clausewitzian view, how could the US have achieved such global power without actively promoting such, throughout its existence? What is new is the language. Humans require their enemies to be dehumanized, in order to rationalize destruction and murder. Hence, the native Americans were "savages" throughout continental expansion. In the industrial age, "communist" becomes a sinister, inhuman conspiracy, rather than an economic model. "Terrorist" is the new buzzword. As Joseph Goebbels taught, repetition of striking words over the media of the day is more valuable politically than definition. What is terrorism? I see two separate definitions. In a military sense, terrorism is a war methodology. Terrorism is a cause to effect the demoralization of an enemy, and to disrupt its cohesion. Terrorism can be used by a state army, on a massive scale (Hiroshima), or by a small partisan group. In this sense, the "war on terror" does not make sense. "Shock and awe" is a terror method. The second definition resides in the body of civil and international law. Terrorism, in law, is defined as those methods associated with smaller bands of partisans, and the links therein to their support, financial and geographic. Resistance to foreign occupying armies may be cited as criminal. Let me subtract the common denominator of religious positioning. The KKK [Klu Klux Klan] is not referred to as a "Christian terrorist" group in the US. Islam has not escaped the association with terrorism in the US media. Dehumanization persists. Do Arabs have the right to self-determinism? Irony it is, that the stated goal of both the current US administration and Arab terror groups are the same: self-determinism. D Sullivan California, USA (May 16, '03) Your article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE13Ak02.html " target="_blank">From Cold War to Holy War </a> [May 13] by Henry C K Liu is well made and analyzed thoroughly the American polity. But all this is not going to change the warmongering [George W] Bush and people will pay a very heavy price for his hot-headed decisions. Anon (May 16, '03) I appreciate the critical look at the key colonial developments in Hong Kong [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE14Ad01.html " target="_blank">From colonialism to confusion</a>, May 14]. Plagued by Western face values and century-long anti-communist propaganda, few people, especially the younger generations, would be able to obtain an unbiased understanding of the revolutionary movements for national independence in China. Henry Liu's article appears to be one of the pieces that shed light on the other side of the coin. While continued reforms are desperately needed more than ever in the mainland China, using the return of Hong Kong to China as the scapegoat for many of the former colony's current problems is simply ignorant and irresponsible. Don't let the shame repeat itself. Thank you for an informative write-up. Andy Chen Hong Kong (May 14, '03) The Front Page summary of my essay on Leo Strauss states that Strauss himself was "silly" [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EE13Aa01.html " target="_blank">The secret that Leo Strauss never revealed</a>, May 13]. That never was my intent, and contradicts the spirit of my comments. I do not believe that Strauss was silly, by any means, but rather that he was "confused" in the specific sense that he could not reconcile the modernist critique of tradition with his judgment that society cannot dispense with tradition. No 20th-century thinker has provided an altogether satisfactory solution to this problem. If Strauss is "silly", so are we all. Some of the Straussians well might be silly to search through his works for hidden pearls of wisdom. It is not the case, however, that all (or most) of Strauss' students make a cult out of the late philosopher. As I observed, the subjects which Strauss addressed run skew to the geocultural problems at the top of the American strategic agenda, so it is perhaps "silly" to put Strauss at the center of the present debate. Nonetheless, I did not wish to disparage the work of a serious and diligent scholar. Spengler (May 14, '03) A little while ago your fine publication allowed me to ask the rhetorical questions that surround the various wars that plague our planet and leave us confused. Why, why, why? I now have some understanding of the issues thanks to Jim Lobe [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE09Ak01.html " target="_blank">Neocons dance a Strauss waltz</a>, May 9]. I have read Plato and Aristotle to the point of nausea. I live in a country and a continent that have ugly scars of colonialism. We even invented the word "apartheid", nothing to be proud of and not to be revisited. "Hope on, hope ever", an inscription on an old Irish mug that I have, written in the time of the British colonization of that small isle, reminds me of the reality of the world today - the world that will have to deal with the full-on colonial ambitions of [President George W] Bush, [UK Prime Minister Tony] Blair, [US Vice President Dick] Cheney and the unbridled arrogance of [Secretary of Defense] Donald Rumsfeld. We can only hope that there is some generosity to the affected people in the exercise of the concept of "might is right". The latter philosophy drove Adolf Hitler to insanity and death. Timely warning? Another warning to the warmongers might be appropriate. Africa has been there, done that and is throwing out the McDonald's, fish and chips and the values of the First World. Just let us be. Britain and the USA have been "friends" of Iraqis. Please leave us alone. Please don't help us like you have helped them. Leave our land intact. Do not send the bombs to help us. Do not steal our oil or our women or our children or sell us into slavery again. We are happy that Saddam [Hussein] has been deposed, but the experience of Africa may show that for ordinary Iraqis he was cheap at the price given the present artificial regime that is imposed on them. Robert Mugabe's people of Zimbabwe need help. Where are you, Mr Bush, Mr Blair? The so-called First World long since lost interest in Zimbabwe for one reason only. Apart from Victoria Falls, the First World has no need for its resources. We don't need friends like you. Africa may be the new Gulliver that pees over these little fires of insurrection against morality. We have a greater and more dignified destiny. [Jonathan] Swift would have seen this. Jim Lobe clearly does. Jeremy Ridl South Africa (May 14, '03) An impressive article and a good read, as well [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE13Ak02.html " target="_blank">From Cold War to Holy Wa</a>r, May 13]. It is very sad that this article could not be widely published in the United States, for it might bring some people to hear a wake-up call. I shudder to think of the new "values" of my country and what damage the belief in those values may do to the entire world. My thanks to you for publishing the article, and to [Henry C K] Liu for writing it. Sally Baughn Somerville, Ohio (May 14, '03) Unfortunately, [Henry C K] Liu knows far more about American history and politics than most in America [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE13Ak02.html " target="_blank">From Cold War to Holy War</a>, May 13]. In surveys, most Americans when asked cannot name the man who wrote their constitution, give the number of seats in the US House of Representatives, correctly identify the form of government under which they live, say how many countries their government has military forces stationed in, supply a coherent and accurate definition of the term "due process", or enumerate the freedoms enshrined in and protected by their Bill of Rights. Most recently naturalized Americans, having had the advantage of studying American history, politics, and culture in order to pass a citizenship exam, know more about the ideals upon which the USA was founded and more about how their government actually functions than do lifelong citizens who take their freedoms for granted. How can a people who are so largely ignorant of the workings of their government hope to remain free? Please continue to publish Liu's excellent commentaries. Michael Gillespie Ames, Iowa (May 13, '03) The article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EE13Ag02.html " target="_blank">Afghanistan's newest victimization </a>[May 13] by Stephen Blank is myopic and reeks of hubris. Blank mentions that Afghanistan has once again become the victim and object of bigger and stronger states' machinations and goes on to condemn India. Please forgive my language, Blank, but that's like a harlot preaching about the virtues of chastity. Blank is worried about the Russians controlling the oil in Central Asia - that's an economic concern. He is also peeved about Indian cooperation with Iran, a member of the axis of evil - that's a security concern. Why cloak these in the garb of a moral concern? Dharmayudh Singh (May 13, '03) It seems that [Stephen] Blank is really writing that the US has given up on stabilization in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EE13Ag02.html " target="_blank"> Afghanistan's newest victimization </a>[May 13]. To begin with, by blaming the Russians and Indians, Blank seems to absolve the US and Pakistani role completely. Secondly, even from pragmatic thinking, what are the Indians supposed to do? You have a regime in Pakistan that has elimination of Hindus as its state policy. Do you really expect Indians to financially support this regime to carry this policy out? Blank, get real for a change. AP (May 13, '03) I agree with the author's concern for the economic stability of Afghanistan [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EE13Ag02.html " target="_blank">Afghanistan's newest victimization</a>, May 13]. There is no mention in Stephen Blank's article on the economic benefits to Afghanistan if the Turkmenistan-to-Pakistan pipeline is built. Why does not Blank list them? I am sure your readers would like to know who gets what. As far as India and Indians go, [Pakistani President] General Pervez Musharraf's guarantees are as good as nothing. What happens after Musharraf is gone? Given Pakistan's position that Kashmir needs to be discussed before trade, it is odd that Pakistan would champion the Turkmenistan pipeline. Anon (May 13, '03) Please thank Spengler for his article [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EE13Aa01.html " target="_blank">The secret that Leo Strauss never revealed</a>, May 13]. This whole issue of [Leo] Strauss, the so-called "cabal" and Judaism added to the mix was becoming obscure and confusing. We do not need any more confusion during these dire times. Diana Silberman Pompano Beach, Florida (May 13, '03) Apropos the article by Sultan Shahin, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE13Df01.html " target="_blank">India's startling change of axis</a> [May 13]: He suggests that the directors of Indian foreign policy are demented "Hindu ideologues" whose febrile imagination wills a US-Israel-India "axis". I'd say it's much more likely that the likes of Shahin are projecting their own neurotic scripture-inspired doomsday scenarios on to the mundane events of contemporary diplomacy. In fact, this America-Jewish-Hindu conspiracy concept has been a longtime favorite in the Pakistani media, which Shahin apparently likes to quote. It fits nicely with thrilling notions of Gog and Magog (Yajuj-Majuj) and the final war which, with divine intervention, will leave you-know-who the ultimate victor. Now, Shahin himself admits that the US policy with respect to India is "complex", while Pakistan has been a faithful poodle. It would require particularly dumb Indian policymakers to "hope upon hope" that everything changes. Clearly, India has been improving diplomatic and commercial relations with China as well, so Shahin's Hindu vs Confucian thesis goes out the window. Besides, if civilizational commonalty were a criterion, one would think the Hindus/Buddhists and the "Confucians" had a lot more in common than Hindus and Jews/Christians. If Brajesh Mishra was appealing to the Jewish lobby in the US, it should be seen in that perspective. But I think Shahin finds alternative scriptural explanations, and obscure writings of marginal ideologues, more sensational. Carl Clemens Ohio (May 13, '03) True to the ATol tradition of each writer with his/her own unique style, Sultan Shahin is back with some of more "cut and paste journalism" [ <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE13Df01.html " target="_blank">India's startling change of axis</a>, May 13]. This time he raises a specter of Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity against the Islam and Confucianism axis. Wasn't he the one who wrote about a "Delhi, Moscow, Beijing axis" [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DL07Df03.html " target="_blank">Delhi-Beijing-Moscow axis: Old romance rekindled</a>, Dec 7, 2002], implicitly Hinduism, Christianity and Confucianism against Christianity (USA) in ATol sometime ago? His only contribution to the articles apart from the cut-and-paste is to paint BJP [Bhartiya Janata Party], which he likes to prefix with "Hindu fundamentalist party", a deeper shade of saffron. I don't know how he missed out on the "Delhi-Tehran-Moscow axis" of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity against Islam and Christianity (read Stephen Blank's article in the adjoining column - <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EE13Ag02.html" target="_blank">Afghanistan's newest victimization</a> ). Despite his reconfirmation of the theory of the "clash of civilizations", which is now being claimed by someone from Hindu fundamentalists from 100 years, isn't this clash of civilizations an ancient phenomenon? What was the clash of the Romans with Egyptians, or Mongols with Arabs or the Mughals with India, or the British, the French, the Portuguese and Spanish with Asia and Africa? India is home to the largest Muslim population after Indonesia and is projected to be a Muslim majority state by 2050. The progressive thinking and general non-association of Indian Muslims to terrorism has been appreciated and lauded by many, including the not-much-liked writer on ATol, B Raman. I would not agree with him (or Najam Sethi) that wisdom lies outside of South Asia. Wisdom and well-being of people of South Asia lie here within and that is where it has to be found; or Delhi, Islamabad and Dacca axis. D Bhardwaj (May 13, '03) I take exception to several of [Sultan] Shahin's comments in his latest article. What is he trying to say by stating that Hindu "fundamentalists", as he calls them, didn't participate in the freedom struggle against the British? In my mind, it was a movement headed significantly, but not wholly, by Hindus, and subverted at the final stages by [Mohammed Ali] Jinnah and the Muslim league's irrational and vindictive demand for partition. I would like to know how Shahin defines the oft-spoken "Hindu fundamentalist" term. If it means undertaking a rational approach to understanding India's history and arriving at a consensus on shaping India's national identity while remaining secular, but taking into account its overwhelmingly Hindu character, then I am also a Hindu fundamentalist in spite of my Christian faith. If it represents the imposition of culture and history in a fascist manner, perpetuating the domination of Indian society by Brahmins, then I am against it. The Congress party has been plagued by indecision, inaction, and corruption throughout its life, especially with respect to India's foreign policy. India finds itself today in a unique position to further its ties with Israel (a country supportive of India's emerging role in world politics) and with the US (the world's sole superpower), while maintaining existing alliances with Russia. In addition, India has been successful in not attracting significant hatred from the Arab world, save for the same tired old Muslim reactionaries, who hate India anyway and all it stands for. It's about time that India's foreign and domestic policy is led by people willing to make decisions and form alliances, thereby advancing the needs of India on the world stage, while undertaking massive domestic infrastructure projects and economic reforms necessary for development. Something, I might add, that Congress has failed to do in its 45 years in power. Mark (May 13, '03) A note to the anti-China Indian journalists of Asia Times: Every time I read one of your articles, I can always expect China-bashing and attempts to discount China's economic progress contrary to your "unbiased" praise of India. Well, let's look at the facts. China has been on the road to capitalism for about 20 years while India's been doing it for over 50. As of today, China sits at double the pace of India in economic progress. China's city skylines come from a picture of the future while India's homeless orphaned children wander and beg in the streets of its major cities. Perry (May 13, '03) US foreign policy is "you spank the child until it stops crying". Canadian foreign policy is "trade with other nations, without prejudice, intimidation or bribery". Kalama USA (May 13, '03) Dear Asia Times Online: As a loyal reader and a US-based newspaper journalist, I find Asia Times Online to be one of the most balanced, informative and riveting news sites I've seen. The meticulously in-depth, yet concise and understandable, approach your editors, reporters and contributing writers take at covering the news puts Asian Times heads above any other news provider in today's market. I get nearly all of my international news from Asia Times and I know I am a more well-informed person for it. Keep up the great work! Dave Woodfill Seattle, Washington (May 12, '03) Regarding: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE09Ad02.html " target="_blank">Macau's heritage allowed to rot away</a>, May 9. It is with great surprise that I read the above-captioned article printed in your online edition. As head of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Cultural Institute of the Macau Special Administrative Region government, I am responsible for heading the team of specialists that implements government policy concerning Macau's heritage. I thus believe I am in a position to clarify the lack of accuracy in this report. 1. St Joseph's Seminary is described as "somewhat run-down". This important building testifies to Jesuit missionary and educational activity in the Far East since the early 18th century. In 2001 the high standard of the restoration work performed on this site (project duration 1998- 99) won one of the most internationally prestigious conservation awards: the Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation attributed by UNESCO. Surely there could be no greater proof that this building is in fact in an excellent state of preservation. The relic referred to was indeed moved from St Francis Xavier's Church on Coloane Island (most recently restored in 1996) after experts trained to international standards concluded that the atmospheric conditions in the seminary would be more appropriate for the preservation of this significant religious item. The bone is preserved in a glass reliquary, in keeping with the Catholic faith and its traditions. In passing, I would mention that not only did St Francis Xavier never live in Macau, he never set foot there. In fact, he died on Sanchuan Island, where he had been waiting for authorization to enter China. 2. The new infrastructure resulting from casino-related investments will contribute to the city's development, adding a new urban dimension. Far from being in conflict with heritage policy, this kind of private sector investment stimulates the tourism industry, of which the cultural tourism sector is an important way of promoting Macau's heritage. 3. Portas do Cerco Border Checkpoint The design of the new Immigration building and landscaping of the surrounding area have taken into account the setting of the historic Portas do Cerco. The entrance and exit channels will remain in the same location, neither closer nor farther from the Portas do Cerco, but the square in which this tourist attraction stands will be significantly improved, giving much greater access for both tourists and locals alike. As one of the items of Macau's list of Classified Heritage, the Portas do Cerco is subject to the same stringent conservation rules as, for example, St Joseph's Seminary. 4. Vasco da Gama Park The base of the statue has been removed temporarily according to internationally accepted norms. On dismantling, each stone was marked with a water-based removable ink to ensure that they can be accurately reassembled following completion of the work. In fact the ink will be washed off on reassembly of the statue. 5. Cheng's Mansion Work on this site began in July 2001 and is scheduled to last for around five years. A detailed plan has been developed to follow each conservation step very carefully. This gradual restoration is still in its early stages, so a temporary roof on a steel frame was built to protect the site from atmospheric damage in the meantime. It will not be part of the final restoration! The total estimated budget is $30 million patacas [US$3.7 million], of which only about one-tenth has been spent so far. A section of the frescoes, over the main door, has been subject to conservation work. As such, it was not "recolored" but restored in keeping with the original appearance of the building. Cheng's Mansion is the only intact example of a classical Chinese mansion complex in Macau. It is thus the focus of intense and very active concern from the government that it should be conserved in a manner which will accurately reveal its original significance. 6. Heritage Conservation budget Each year the government allocates a sum for conservation of items on the list of classified heritage of all Macau. This year, that amount is around 15 million patacas. There is no additional budget for the UNESCO World Heritage Bid, and existing human resources have been reallocated within the Cultural Institute of the Macau Special Administrative Region to accommodate this procedure. Instead of "pouring money down the drain", the Macau government places enormous emphasis on heritage awareness and education of its citizens. In line with the overall government policy, there is stringent management of resources to maximize the benefit for the local community. In conclusion, there has been a consistent approach by the Macau authorities in ensuring that heritage preservation has remained a priority issue since the Handover in 1999. There is recognition that Macau's special role as a place where different peoples, religions and cultures have co-existed in an atmosphere of tolerance and harmony for over four centuries should not only be protected, but also nurtured. For history buffs and everyone else, it seems like there is in fact quite a lot of good news. Stephen Chan Head of the Cultural Heritage Department Cultural Institute of the Macau, Special Administrative Region Government (May 12, '03) That's it. I will not visit your site anymore. The lack of balance and anti-China bias [are] too just too much. K Chew (May 12, '03) Concerning Jonathan Larson's article on tech illiterates: I agree with this article, particularly with regards to US war supporters refusing to wade through testimony by Scott Ritter concerning the disarmament of Iraq by 1998 [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE09Ak02.html " target="_blank">Technological illiterates and WMD</a>, May 9]. His reports were just too "technical" for many US citizens to endure. Too bad. I believe Larson missed the mark on the film 2001, A Space Odyssey, though. This film, despite its age, remains the best technical description of what human colonization of space really requires. No, no artificial intelligence has taken over any human facilities. I see the role of Hal in the film within the writer's vision of defining "intelligence" and its evolution, in human terms, which was the focus of the film. Note that computer programming errors within the US continental missile defense system could lead to far worse consequences than what Hal was capable of. Dave Sullivan Paso Robles, California (May 12, '03) Regarding <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE09Df03.html " target="_blank">US and India: A dangerous alliance</a>, [May 9] by Conn Hallinan , what kind of danger is the author talking about? Is it the same kind that Japan, South Korea and Germany experienced when they allied with United States? Looking at these nations, I would say India should grab the opportunity and work with US. Rajan (May 12, '03) [Conn] Hallinan needs to know that a strategic partnership does not become a burden by simply playing with numbers. India's US$14 billion defense budget is less than 3 percent of its GDP [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE09Df03.html " target="_blank">US and India: A dangerous alliance</a>, May 9]. Simply saying that one-third of Indians are illiterate ignores the fact that India's literacy rate has gone up from 45 percent in the '80s to more than 60 percent in the '90s. At the same time, the country's poverty rate has fallen from 40 percent to less than 25 percent today. The country has doubled its per capita income (agreed that it is still low but, come on, it is better than not doubling at all). With all the statistics showing that India's condition is improving, how can a blossoming friendship be a burden? Anon (May 12, '03) Enjoyed reading K Gajendra Singh's article, which does a great job summing up how things got to where they are [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE10Ak01.html" target="_blank"> The simmering tensions in Turkish polity</a>, May 10]. Anon (May 12, '03) Pepe Escobar's article entitled <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EC20Ak07.html " target="_blank"> This war is brought to you by ...</a> [Mar 20] was the best article I have read ever on this subject. Simply the best writing, analysis, and research ever. Wonderful! Wonderful, wonderful. Damn good! Treg D Loyden Tempe, Arizona (May 12, '03) Although it has been several years since I have been in the area, I read Larry Jagan's article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE09Ae01.html " target="_blank">Mixed progress for Yangon's drug war</a> [May 9] with some interest since during the late 1990s I worked in the Shan states south of Muse on a crop-substitutions project. I should note that the Burmese military has attempted to disrupt this program, which has the backing of the US State Department. Perhaps that might have something to do with the United States' skepticism. However, there are other reasons to be skeptical. First, there is an old joke in that part of the Shan states that runs that every year the government predicts that opium production will be decreased by a given percent, but instead it goes up by that amount. I would be curious to find out exactly what measure is used to measure cuts in production, total acreage or total opium production. In that region of the Shan states, production per acre can vary dramatically based on the amount of inputs, mainly labor and fertilizer, one puts in to each acre; opium production on an acre can be more than doubled using more labor and fertilizer. At the time I was working there, the trend was towards the use of more inputs. Consequently, there could be a substantial reduction in acreage, which I suspect is the measure used to determine the supposed decline, and theoretically there could still be an increase in the amount of opium and heroin produced. The fact that Jagan did not see many fields does not necessarily mean they are not there. I wonder how much freedom of movement he had in the area. The military regime has always tried to keep fields from being located near roads or any areas where foreigners are likely to travel. In addition, if Jagan's report is based on a recent trip, I should point out that by April the opium harvest is largely winding down and other crops are being planted, sometimes in the same fields used for poppies. There are also a few other items that need a bit of clarification. The claim that corn and rice production has been increased to enhance food security might be plausible, but one must ask exactly whose food security is meant. It is an open secret that [the] military routinely exacts quotas of rice, corn and other crops from farmers without compensation, and, in the case of corn, frequently sells the quotas to the Chinese for animal feed. If the farmers cannot meet the quota, they either have to buy the required amount of grain in the market or give the military an amount of money equal to the amount the grain would bring on the Chinese market, which is substantially higher than the local cost! If one were talking about food security for livestock in China, the most common consumer of Burmese corn in China, then I suppose the food-security rationale makes sense. Also, the Kachins, one of the main ethnic minorities in the area, have practiced intensive livestock production for quite some time, although admittedly crocodiles certainly were not one of their traditional livestock animals. Unfortunately, the essential step to solving Burma's drug problems is one that is beyond the scope of any crop substation project, intensive livestock raising or integrated farming practice. That step is a political change in Burma; until that happens, any drug-reduction programs are unsustainable in the long run. While democracy will not necessarily end Burma's drug problem, the any serious analysis must to conclude the continuation of military rule guarantees the continuation of drug production and drug trafficking. Aiontay (May 12, '03) In <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EE09Df03.html" target="_blank">US and India: A dangerous alliance</a> [May 9] by Conn Hallinan, what seems to be missed by the author is the greatest danger for India, [which is] doing nothing to counter the Chinese arming of Pakistan (conventional, nuclear and rockets) and the innumerable terrorist groups operating in India's northeast. Now it might be debatable what should be the best strategy for India to follow, but to ridicule the Indian government for countering the Chinese is plain naive at best or very irresponsible of the Indian government. The memory of 1962 when the Chinese professed to be brothers is still fresh. We can do business, but let us not delude ourselves. The Chinese have their interests and India hers. AP (May 9, '03) Lately, many articles have appeared in Asia Times Online about the renewed peace process between India and Pakistan. Unfortunately, the thousands of lives of the Hindu minority lost in Kashmir find absolutely no mention in any of these articles. The Indian government is making a fatal mistake by "negotiating" with terrorists. All this peace talk is nonsense. Anon (May 9, '03) Why should articles about Taiwan be placed in the "China" section? You should make a category of "East Asia". This way you do not politicize your articles. By putting articles about Taiwan in the "China" section, you imply to your readers that you believe that Taiwan is part of China. E G Deune, MD Baltimore, Maryland (May 9, '03) I do detect a form of mass hysteria going around the world and in your website, at the actions of my country. Yes, look at all the terrible things we are doing: getting rid of a mass murderer, promoting prosperity. We are just the most evil, wicked people on the face of the Earth. Look how China is suffering exporting all those goods to the USA. It must be killing them. I'm sure the South Koreans dread the day they ever sold us a car. Every time I wake up I bow down before the wisdom of the Germans, the French, and the Russians who have hardly done anything naughty in the last 100 years. Isn't it amazing that 300 million angry Arabs can't take on 5 million Israelis? Actually, isn't it amazing that they can't accept reality and learn to compromise like the rest of us? Or even export a pencil? I'm truly glad that they have everything all figured out and just keep trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. That's considered a definition of insanity in most psychiatric circles. Their righteous anger is so impressive. Yes, large, out-of-control, screaming crowds burning flags sure scare us. Wow. I wonder what they could accomplish if they ever stopped screaming and started studying in school? Maybe then they could confront the state they hate so much (their own). I'm sure we don't have to worry about that ever happening because that takes self-control. Instead of improving their own country, they will keep spending time working themselves up into a frenzy at the nearest tea shop blaming all their own problems on the outside world instead of solving them. D J Ausman Washington, DC (May 9, '03) In Stephen Blank's recent article, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE07Ak06.html " target="_blank">The American strategic revolution</a>, May 7, he contends that with the conclusion of the conflict in Iraq the United States has demonstrated a unique innovation in military tactics and strategy by smoothly combining the efforts of air, land and sea power to accomplish its goals. As a military historian I would have to dispute Blank's claims as somewhat shortsighted. To begin with, like the 1991 Gulf War, this recent conflict offered no real challenges to coalition forces once the deals cut behind "closed doors" had their effect on Iraqi resistance. Accordingly, many reports have already surfaced substantiating this fact. However, if we return to shortly after the original Gulf War it will be easily found that similar claims were made by both military and civilian observers and rather prematurely. By 1997, two major and extensive military reviews of that first American-led conflict in the Mideast displayed the glaring discrepancies with the highly touted technology that appeared to effortlessly defeat the Iraqi army, which displayed glaringly poor performance in defending themselves. In Stephen Biddle's 1997 policy paper which summarizes the conclusions of such studies, "Victory Misunderstood", (http://www.comw.org/rma/fulltext/victory.html), which he wrote for the Institute for Defense Analyses in Virginia, he clearly demonstrates the fallacies prevalent in the popular analysis that was promoted in the media for that conflict. As it related to logistics, the results were nearly as questionable as the popularization of the American military's ability to move so many troops to a single staging area, [which] failed to take into account the facts that the American military did not invest in appropriate troop transports, since by Pentagon standards troop transport was a rather "boring" concept to invest in, as well as the extended period that the US and its allies were allowed to build up [their] attack forces in Kuwait. The latter [was] the result of the developing Powell Doctrine, which in reality is not a doctrine at all but merely an invented piece of terminology to assuage concerns of military analysts who began to become almost amused at the way America was allowed to build up its invasion contingents. As we move to the current conflict, the idea that American strategy somehow was responsible for the defeat of the Iraqi military is somewhat "long in the tooth". First, American troops are poorly trained and hardly have enough combat experience across the major body of units to be able to be considered high-quality troops. This contention is based on two factors alone. On the one hand, the US military's love of technology is placing that emphasis over that of developing good soldiering techniques, which in turn becomes the focus of the training of troops. As technology increases in complexity and functionality, the training becomes increasing geared towards its understanding and use in the battlefield while really required abilities become a secondary focus which then decreases the battlefield efficiency of such troops once their technological underpinnings become damaged or completely destroyed in combat. On the other hand, it became apparent during the recent conflict that the necessary disciplines required in the field among a civilian population were completely missing from American troops. While their Vietnam counterparts took several years to become desensitized to the requirements of civilian interaction, which was one of the factors that began to demonstrate the deterioration of the American army, current American troops apparently required only about a week before indiscriminate killing of civilians became a notable condition for our very inexperienced forces. In essence, the current military makeup continues a tradition that became a hallmark of American atrocities in the field as the Vietnam conflict wore on with no discernible strategy or exit. As we move to the area of logistics, we once again find the American military unprepared for secondary planning while at the same time committing the classic sin of over extending a supply line that became woefully vulnerable to attack; this all due to the rantings of an even less experienced secretary of defense in the arts of conflict as well as the reliance on expected allies that were already tenuous at best. Had the Iraqi military continued its initial resistance to the American incursion, it is quite likely that they would have broken the American line of supply at some point, cutting the force in two. In addition, had the American landing in Iraq been even [more] complicated than it was, it may have been quite possible that the initial foray would have been stopped for a time altogether, since the sea power in question had no other port it could take advantage of, thus leaving it to literally queue up until it could perform its unloading functions for needed supplies. Further, the delayed transport of the 4th Infantry Division while other forces were being pushed to the point of exhaustion in terribly hot conditions not only displayed a lack of concern for the troops in the field, poor logistical coordination, [but] an overriding sense that the military's civilian masters were more in a rush to satisfy political necessity than [to make] sure operations were run correctly. Finally, when you have an air force that can drop all forms of ordnance en masse, it tends to become overly sloppy in its mission design, which directly resulted in an inordinate amount of Iraqi civilians being killed while planners were hoping to terminate Saddam Hussein's life ... or at least that was the story given to the media. Good air-power planning takes into consideration the safety of civilians and the need to keep such operations concentrated on military targets that are determined by the best intelligence that can be gathered given the circumstances. American air power has very sophisticated weaponry but uses it in a rather unrealistic manner, for want of a better description. In closing, Blank's contentions reflect a more ominous portent than that of superior American coordinated strategies. Instead, what the world has come to witness once again is that age-old adage where "might is right" is the last vestige of empire. Steve Naidamast (May 8, '03) As an avid reader from Canada, I trust Asia Times Online as my source from the other side of the world. Nowhere else can I find the type of perspective you offer, something that is helping to counterbalance the obvious bias of the American media machine. While in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp and the Globe and Mail are great sources for objective journalism, it is always great to hear the perspective from Asia. And for that I thank you. So it is with some concern that we haven't heard from Pepe Escobar in a while. I hope everything is all right, and his Roving Eye will pop up somewhere soon. Please let us know everything is fine and that he is hard at work on another treatise on the reshaping of the Middle East. Thanks again for all your hard work! Corey (May 8, '03) Next month, following last autumn's visit by envoys of the Tibetan government in exile, talks are due to start between Beijing and Dharamsala. As your correspondent points out, Beijing's image has been severely damaged by the SARS cover-up [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE08Ad02.html" target="_blank">China's brand-management lesson</a>, May 8].  Without detracting from the seriousness of SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] and the suffering it causes, perhaps now is the moment for meaningful progress on resolving the 50-year-old issue of Tibet? In terms of international goodwill, China has much to gain by reaching a genuine accord on the future of the Land of Snows. Alexander Wilberforce London (May 8, '03) I wish I knew the truth behind the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. Each has the potential to precipitate another fully blown world war but we seem to accept them as a matter of fact. Does it mean that humanity has reached the point where human suffering and environmental degradation are normal risks associated with living in the modern world? My simple understanding is this: the war in Afghanistan was an act of revenge. It achieved nothing. Osama bin Laden is still at large but forgotten. The war in Iraq is over but there are still no signs of the weapons of mass destruction that justified America's illegal assault on the people of Iraq. Saddam [Hussein] is still at large. As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the millions of hours collectively spent on negotiations, the occupations and suicide bombings have yielded no advantage to the parties most affected. Somebody stands to benefit from this. These gross violations of peace must have a beneficiary. Perhaps one needs to find the common denominator. Perhaps one has to reflect on the major players, and then the pieces fall into place quite neatly. Say no more. Shore up a failing economy by rebuilding a country that you have destroyed, with their own resources, and prepare for another election and while you are about it, avenge your daddy抯 humiliation in 1992? Your publication has kept a brave and robust attitude to the truth during these awful times. Thank you. Jeremy Ridl (May 7, '03) Unlike other Western online newsletters, Asia Times Online has managed to maintain a respectful relationship with its subscribers. Assuming [you] have treated me the same as [your] other subscribers, I am sure we are all happy that [you] have not succumbed to the sleazy ways of [your] associates by selling our e-mail addresses to spammers/advertisers for a profit. This small sign of trust and goodwill has [spurred] me to take this little time out of my day to write you, the editor, to say thank you. Dallas Dutkevich Edmonton, Alberta (May 7, '03) What has happened to Pepe Escobar and his Roving Eye column? His articles were very informative and helpful, especially as he was providing a US citizen with a very different perspective from what "we" in this country receive from "our" media. Especially valued, for me, was his inclusion of the historical basis for the article that he was writing, as well as conveying a marvelous sense of place; he is an outstanding writer. Asia Times Online is one of my favored sources of information: keep up the good work, and bring back Mr Escobar as soon as possible! Joseph Sweet (May 7, '03) Pepe Escobar is taking a well-earned rest after his recent roving through the Middle East. He will be back on ATol soon. - Editor David Bandurski's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE03Ad02.html " target="_blank"> Beneath the surface of China's reborn media</a>, May 3, is a lame attempt to justify Western corporate penetration of the Chinese media market under the cover of media "impartiality" and access. Bandurski's whine that the Chinese coverage was not "impartial" (ie, not pro-American and pro-war) enough is laughable given the outright propaganda masquerading as journalism which the "embedded" hacks of the American media spewed during the Iraq invasion. Apparently, Bandurski hasn't heard that even Ted Turner, MSNBC's Ashley Banfield, and the BBC's Greg Dyke have criticized the US media for their jingoistic coverage. Bandurksi's advocacy that should China should open its media up to "foreign competition" under WTO [World Trade Organization] guidelines is self-serving nonsense. What Bandurski is really advocating is the foreign colonization of the Chinese media market by Western corporations. This will have nothing to do with openness, access, or democracy. Rather it will mean Imperialist American control of media coverage in yet another country. If Americans are so keen on "foreign competition", perhaps they should allow foreign companies (say, al-Jazeera) to purchase American media assets. When Bandurski says that issues of "ownership and access" are important, he's right - but not in the way that he believes. It's American corporate domination of media access which is the greatest threat to press freedom on this planet. Anon (May 7, '03) How is it possible that a man who was AWOL [absent without leave] for a year from the [US] National Guard during Vietnam and never flew again after refusing to take drug tests could be allowed to appear in public and in our media in a military uniform? Yes, I am talking about [President George W] Bush. His "important" friends scrubbed much of the record, but not enough. And this man wants to declare a Loyalty Day? Give me a break. Bob Fleischer Groton, Massachusetts (May 6, '03) This is a distasteful article [ <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EE03Ad01.html " target="_blank">SATIRE: China blasts US over mullet epidemic</a>, May 3]. Even though it is marked satire at the beginning it is not a very good thing to print. As hundreds of people are dying you are using your resources not to reliably inform, but to lightheartedly joke about the matter. Your credibility is damaged. This "mullet" article is being read worldwide - you should be a little more responsible. W A Hendrix (May 6, '03) If there will be victory for this soul it will be won by the [US] Democratic Party [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED30Ak01.html " target="_blank">Battling for the soul of the American republic</a>, Apr 30]. But the party has clearly been hijacked by its many parts, and this lifelong member wonders if the party leadership even realizes it. And, if so, will they be able to unify the party's many voices by next year's election? Fringe issues currently negate any sweeping vision for the Democrats. They are to be addressed after gaining office, but never during a campaign. And make no mistake, for the campaign has begun. The Democratic parts may be righteous, but if the sum cannot be articulated, or if it's overshadowed by said parts, expect failure once again. This is in contrast to the GOP [Grand Old Party, or Republicans] - where their many constituencies are firmly supplanted by simplistic, soothing mantras (via a nearly totalitarian hierarchy of operatives). Even those who disagree with their vision for America acknowledge it exists. That is hardly true when viewing [Senate Minority Leader Tom] Daschle and [Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Terry] McAuliffe at work. Approximating a cult of ideology, GOP messages are drilled again and again in our sound-bite culture - they are easy to digest and never alienating. Picture President [George W] Bush in his fighter jet, with Karl Rove in the tower telling him to "stay on target". All the while the DNC peddles a sloppy mess. One would think it'd boil down to numbers. The GOP's flirtatious wink-wink sanction of intolerance actually attracts more than it alienates. They are too often an enabling force - making so many feel comfortable in their bigotry and nationalism. But responding to their intentionally divisive practices one by one will never work either. The Democrats inclusion works the opposite magic - the tent is filled with fringe groups but deflates weakly when Joe and Jane six-pack see too many minorities or homosexuals in the fold or onstage. It's simply a question of emphasis. The GOP strategy, from Rove on down, plays brilliantly. Their success truly shocks and awes. It is an orchestrated high-wire act - while the Democrats resemble a Wallenda-like collapse - to the world's disappointment. J C Esser (May 6, '03) Read the editorial by Ahmad Faruqui with only this to add: more gloom and doom rhetoric of the coffee-shop variety [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED30Ak01.html " target="_blank">Battling for the soul of the American republic</a>, Apr 30]. His history lesson was missed the day in school when World War I was discussed. Great Britain was not the country to blame for this event in history even though it blends in nicely with his Imperialism Theory. Sorry! J Dale Russell (May 6, '03) Arun Bhattacharjee's report does a very good job of highlighting the political and environmental issues surrounding palm oil in Malaysia, and related European concerns [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EE03Ae01.html " target="_blank">The price of Malaysia's palm oil expansion</a>, May 3]. One item of interest that I would like to add is that palm oil may turn out to be the key to a market-friendly solution to the Kyoto Accords. I invite you to consider that a blend of 89 percent vegetable oil and 11 percent methanol or ethanol using well-understood processes yields 11 percent glycerin and 89 percent biodiesel. This biodiesel is chemically similar enough to regular diesel that many European countries and the United States have developed specifications that allow it to be directly substituted in many diesel-fuel applications. Being able to use existing infrastructure to burn this fuel solves one of the key problems faced by all new biofuels, but requiring a costly parallel distribution system and creating a glut of diesel fuel that must compete with the oil industry's regular diesel, which is a byproduct of the refining process that still must meet the demand for gasoline and jet fuel, is a commercial dead end. To solve this problem, I suggest that the oil industry pay biodiesel producers US$3 a liter for enough to meet 0.1 percent of their crude-oil needs, blend it as evenly as practical into their refining process, and charge all of their customers evenly an extra 0.3 cent or so per liter so they can break even. This would immediately create a huge new market for oil crops, and, since $3 is well above typical production costs for many of these crops, create a new opportunity for farmers everywhere to benefit. Best of all, since the chemical properties are so similar to petroleum's, existing refineries would safely absorb the tiny fractions with no negative impact to cost or yields, and adjustments to those process would allow gasoline-like and jet-fuel-like fuels to be developed over time, which would save those distribution and consumption infrastructures as well. As efficiencies are reached in various aspects of production and consumption via market forces, they will allow ever greater proportions of biodiesel to replace fossil fuels without any further price impact to the end users. What does this have to do with oil palm, you ask? It turns out that oil palms yield 6,000 liters of oil per hectare compared with 500, 1,200 and 1,900 respectively for soy, rapeseed and jatropha. No other known crop is even close. [Oil palms are] nature's most efficient solar collectors, and research in India suggests that by increasing spacing of palms from 10 meters, which is common or plantations, to 12 meters, no loss in oil yield occurs but sustainable farming can be practiced beneath the canopy with the additional sunlight thus allowed in. Tom Sullivan Princeville, Hawaii (May 6, '03) Thank you for your plain-spoken and sensible descriptions of the state of relations between the United States and North Korea [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/ED30Dg01.html " target="_blank">Game of nerves in Northeast Asia</a>, Apr 30]. I share your bewilderment and doubts as to how this will turn out. But I think there are ways out of this situation the [George W] Bush administration has gotten itself into that do not involve increasing risks of warfare, on the one hand, or failure, on the other. It should show that it has no concern over the conventional security threat posed by the North Koreans to itself and its friends in Asia, and ignore it, the same way one ignores a dog that barks - with a certain risk, but with full knowledge that he is much more afraid of the bite than you. By the same token, I am also for giving it absolutely nothing, bad, or good. Specifically, the US should withdraw all forces from South Korea, except anti-missile, anti-aircraft, missile battery teams, and technical advisors. Those troops should be sent home. We thereby show (with actions, not words, as the Chinese have recommended) that we are not going to bother defending South Korea against a conventional arms attack by the North, much less start a war. And we back that up with words to the effect that we no longer believe we are needed. (That should send a chill down the spine of every Chinese businessman with contracts in South Korea.) Next, we revise our existing defense treaties with Japan to take in the account the new nuclear threat posed by North Korea. We do this with a new and comprehensive anti-ballistic-missile [ABM] system located on all the home islands of Japan, designed to protect it, and the entire world, for that matter, from the threat of a North Korean nuclear attack; and also, with the lifting of any restrictions on the stationing of US nuclear capable naval vessels at Japanese bases. (Not that this is really necessary: US subs already patrol the Sea of Japan. But it would reinforce the message.) Next, we notify China that we are going to disregard the "one China" policy put in to place by [late US president Richard] Nixon, and give diplomatic recognition to Taiwan once again. They will then realize that the next American shoe to drop will be a similar treaty in that case. And of course, it does not take much brainpower to figure out that an ABM system located in Japan, and capable of protecting it from North Korean attack, can also protect the United States from Chinese attack. Likewise, Taiwan. By the way, we might think of selling them those Aegis-class cruisers and destroyers. Next, we invite the Russian Pacific fleet to visit San Francisco, picking up the tab for it, and helping them make their vessels seaworthy, if necessary. And, of course, work out an arrangement for United States naval vessels, big and small, to visit Vladivostok. While we at this, we tell the North Koreans to eat all the nuclear missiles they can afford to build, with Chinese help. And while I am on a roll, return the 7th Fleet to the [Taiwan] Strait, if China still insists on propping up its warlike neighbor. Have I left anything out? How about a treaty of Peace and Friendship with Vietnam, and a return to Cam Rahn Bay? Recognition of the Philippines' sovereignty over islands and oil in the South China Sea? There is only one problem with such an actively non-threatening, and purely defensive response to North Korea nuclear threats. It does not deal with the export of nuclear material by the North. That I read as the most dangerous threat made by this country, and the one which leaves the United States without the choice I have just described, or with any choice, other than those offered by the North Koreans themselves. Tyler Harwell New Hampshire, USA (May 6, '03) In response to Joe Salazar's letter below, I never made any assertion that "censorship, intimidation and mob mentality are merely 'freedom of speech' when used against those whose opinions veer from blind obedience to the Republican party line". The remarks made by the Dixie Chicks were made to work an audience in a foreign country that (for the most part) were anti-war. The censorship by the media was meant to cater to a listening audience that supported the war. My point is that if you agree with the Dixie Chicks, you are free to support them in any manner you wish, but don't expect the majority of the population who supported the [US] president's decision to tune in to radio stations that play their music or buy their CDs. That being said, what you find here is a free-market economy at work in both instances. As for intimidation and mob mentality, I didn't address those issues in my previous letter, but since you did, I will assure you that I find those to be base behaviors quite at odds with democratic ideals and personal principle. Your assertion that I support them in the name of freedom is both obtuse and presumptuous. Jody Barr Shanghai (May 6, '03) I have only recently linked to Asia Times Online and just want to thank you for a most informative and well-designed publication. I have tried to keep a balance in my viewpoint drawing on domestic Canadian as well as British, American and French news sources. Your paper represents a most wonderful expansion of my horizon. Issues of interest are reported in-depth with a difference in perspective that helps a mind grow and expand. All the best in your efforts and again thank you. Harry Hillman Chartrand (May 2, '03) To Ian Urbina, your whole thinking is illogical [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE02Ak06.html " target="_blank">What if real democracy rears its head?</a>, May 2]. Democracy is the voice of the people to change their life. Why would you suggest they should use their voice only one time to create a government where they will be silenced by holy men for the rest of their life? Even in a true democracy, people still should not be able to pick a government where clerics have absolute rule over all without some sort of checks and balances. To let Iraqis pick whatever government, even if it causes another Saddam [Hussein] or Iran, is just stupid. Paul (May 2, '03) Regarding: "... an average of 400kg of chemicals are imported each year to make methamphetamines. 'Since only 1.5 [tonnes] per year would be enough to make medicines like cough suppressants and medicine for treating bronchial asthma in North Korea, it is clear that the remaining quantity is likely to be converted into 'meth' to be sold in secret overseas through international drug smuggling networks ...'" [Alan] Boyd: Please verify the accuracy of your numbers [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/ED29Dg01.html " target="_blank">North Korea: Hand in the cookie jar</a>, Apr 29]. One tonne equals 1,000 kilograms; 1.5 tonnes for pharmaceutical production would require in excess of 1,500kg in raw materials. Assuming 20-33 percent waste, 1,800-2,000kg would be required. I suspect the true figure is 4,000kg of raw materials. Paul Whitson Sacramento, California (May 2, '03) According to the South Korean report cited by Alan Boyd, the amount was 400 kilograms, not 4,000kg. While it is possible that the report by Seoul was in error, Boyd notes that a large stock of materials accumulated by North Korea over the years might also explain the apparent discrepancy. - Editor All these protests and anti-American sentiment [are] proof that "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was a farce. The people of Iraq never made a request to be freed from Saddam [Hussein], yet our president tries to sell [to] the American public [that] it is all about liberation. I am proud to be one of the anti-war supporters. My sentiments are based more on facts and reason and less on patriotism and propaganda. No 1 is this war/invasion was against international law and, No 2, it was against American morals. Anon (May 2, '03) Paul Belden is fantastic writer. His style of writing is like no other that I have seen. I like to read his articles very slowly to thoroughly enjoy every word. Does he have any books out? Greg Ray Rockledge, Florida (May 1, '03) <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED30Ak01.html " target="_blank">Battling for the soul of the American republic</a>, Apr 30, is a high-quality article by Ahmad Faruqui. However, the debate has just began. As I read and absorb the author's generally intelligent article, I find small hidden loopholes, which in reality are manholes or black holes of death. Consider this implicit accusation: America's "end game is to bring about 'the long-overdue internal reform and modernization of Islam'". I could argue that this otherwise superbly written article could all fall apart because the author has no strong appreciation that modernization and secularism [are] the only hope for the Muslim Arab. The Britons may have left the land of Arabs but it is the Arabs who are refugees in Britain and toothless dogs in the new world order. The Americans may find it too costly to engage in further military expeditions, but again, it is Iraqi children who are malnourished. The future of the Arab people cannot be reduced to mere frustration of the Western oppressor; the future must also uplift the people. Arabs solicit technology from the modern West to exploit oil resources, then sell the oil to the modern West, then get paid in Western hard currency, then buy Western modern conveniences like cars. Moreover, any Arab who dares disrupt this relationship of dependency will have his homeland raided with weapons of destruction produced in the modern West. And this author does not express the need to modernize Islam? Is Islam some kind of virus eating away at the brain so as not to see that modernization is a form of self-defense? I think not; a person can have core Islamic values and yet be pragmatic. Even if the neo-cons in the US are only paying lip service to modernization, I dare Arab scholars to prove me wrong that Arabia must reform Islam if they wish to be free, decolonized, and dignified. ATol, please, keep the articles and debates flowing. Roy USA (May 1, '03) Ahmad [Faruqui], I really enjoyed your article on the new US imperialism [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED30Ak01.html " target="_blank">Battling for the soul of the American republic</a>, Apr 30]. Very illuminating; a salve in this time of ideological hubris and delusional blindness. Again, very much enjoyed your analysis. Too bad so many US academics and "pundits" have surrendered their responsibility to engage in informed critical analysis. Steven Hunt (May 1, '03) Jody Barr [letter below] is either being deliberately coy or obtuse in her assertion that censorship, intimidation and mob mentality are merely "freedom of speech" when used against those whose opinions veer from blind obedience to the Republican party line. Freedom is indeed a beautiful thing, Jody. Shame you don't believe in it. Joe Salazar Los Angeles, California (May 1, '03) I refer to the quite excellent article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ED24Ad03.html " target="_blank">SARS and AIDS: What the people don't know</a> in your edition of April 24, 2003. Whilst I found much in the article of interest and several points made by the author to be highly relevant, I am afraid that [on] one key issue, the origin of HIV in China, the implication is quite wrong. There is no doubt that the plight of the former plasma donors in Henan is a terrible thing and a compassionate response is required. However, HIV first began to spread in Yunnan, in the far south of China and among injecting drug users, who account for around 68 percent of China's infections. It is Yunnan and Xinjiang, not Henan, that are bearing the brunt of HIV and former plasma donors account for only 10 percent of infections. Denying the real origins of HIV, and failing to mention where prevention, treatment and care [are] so desperately needed, does a great disservice to the majority of people with HIV infection in China. I would also think that China has to some extent acknowledged the extent of its HIV epidemic, they have acknowledged that without a rapid change in the approach they could have 10 million people with HIV by 2010. One can only hope that the experience of SARS will encourage China, knowing the numbers, to face the reality of its HIV epidemic and develop a response based on international best practice - expanding access to needles and syringes and making drug treatment services available. Such an effort could prevent a much wider epidemic and save countless lives. Lest some of your readers feel uneasy about such programs I would refer to a recent independent report on just one of these interventions in Australia. In terms of the health benefit, by 2000 the needle and syringe exchange programs in that country prevented 25,000 HIV infections and 21,000 HCV [hepatitis C virus] infections. If one wishes to focus on the economic gain, the same report found that for an investment of $373 million the government saved $6.896 billion by 2000. How many lives and how much money could be saved in China with a population of 1.3 billion? The first need for China in developing an effective response to HIV and AIDS is to acknowledge where the problem lies and to address this openly. The stigma and discrimination that surround drug use and drug users contribute to the problem and they must be addressed. International agencies and media should not act, however indirectly, to reinforce the denial that is stopping HIV prevention and treatment in China, nor, even by omission, to support the stigma and discrimination that drug users, especially those who are HIV-positive, experience on a daily basis. Dr R Hamilton (retired) Bangkok (May 1, '03) Given the fact that SARS is on the rise and that an effective vaccine will take at least two to three years to be used on a large scale, the current strategy, apart from containment and treatment of affected cases, would [focus] obviously on prevention. In this regard, I would like to make a few suggestions: 1) SARS carries a 5 percent mortality. This is bad, but it also means that 95 percent of people affected with SARS do not die. Why? What is the difference between those who survive and those who succumb? Is it the individual immunity? Is it the treatment? Or is it something else? A thorough study of the survivors vis-a-vis those who died should yield valuable information in this regard and will hopefully point us towards some useful direction. 2)Immune boosters: Many studies in Third World countries have shown, at least in children, a reduced mortality and morbidity to measles and other respiratory illnesses as a result of megadose vitamin A supplementation, since it strengthens the respiratory epithelium and increases local immunity. The same is true of zinc. Will supplementation with these substances help? Also, the BCG vaccine has been used in many diseases to boost cell-mediated immunity. Dr P V Vaidyanathan (May 1, '03) In regard to the important question of diverse media, as raised in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ED29Df05.html " target="_blank">India and the Dragon: A shared desire</a>, Apr 29, we in the US have many options, [but] the major ones are increasingly owned by wealthy conservatives (ie, Republicans). You often see the countless conservative commentators rallying their loyal troops against the "massive liberal media", yet this does not exist except in their minds. They point to the New York Times, maybe the largest paper in the US but a rather moderate one which has plenty of right-wing-influenced articles. Besides a few other papers in the middle, the rest are predictably conservative or afraid of offending advertisers, therefore pro-business and leaning towards the Republican Party (and super-patriots at emotional times like today). For example the right-wing Gannett Co alone owns almost 100 papers, including USA Today. Conservatives own most radio stations also; Clear Channel executives, personal friends of [George] W Bush, alone own about 7 percent of all stations and are fighting (a few) congressmen who see the need to restrict their aggressive growth plans. One in our city plays a piece of young men chanting super-patriotic themes, like Iraq and whatever is next are football games. Major TV channels are almost as bad, though the major three clearly have some moderates trying to slow the rightward tilt. Fox, actually run by a former Republican politician, is the worst; unfortunately its conservative bias has attracted a loyal following and the other networks, especially CNN, have moved to the right too. (The Nineteen Eighty-Four aspect is that Fox constantly claims, every hour on the hour, to be "fair and balanced", like some sort of brainwashing mantra.) CNN, for example, suddenly canceled the long-running Talk Back program just before the war, apparently because they had shown that many in their audience wanted more inspections. So while there is great diversity on the web we must be honest in that most people, especially in the US, get and are influenced by their news in papers, TV, and some by radio. Unfortunately it seems that only when there is a long dramatic event, like Vietnam, will many question their ideas or the sources for them (and it is especially disappointing that many of the Vietnam generation have failed to see through the media war blitz). Richard Ross Cincinnati, Ohio (Apr 30, '03) George W Bush thinks he's Napoleon. Watch out for Waterloo! RTC Florida (Apr 30, '03) Meanwhile, back at home, what about those who continue to practice the ugly side of patriotism? I will be angry for a very long time over those who insist that "you are either for us or against us". We have heard once again the fascistic chant of "America - love it or leave it". They just don't get it. There is no more important patriot in this nation than the citizen who has the guts to stand up and tell the official establishment that it is wrong, that it is forcing the nation to move in a dangerous direction. It is so deeply wrong to viciously attack the patriotism of those who dissent peacefully. It is so immature and embarrassing to our nation that tiny minds must even attack France and anything seemingly French. "Freedom fries"? We trivialize ourselves. The French have been carrying the banner for an international view shared by the majority of the world. As distasteful as we may find French positioning, it is their right, it is their own national duty. It is no wonder that so much of the world looks upon Americans as self-absorbed primitives. I know who my enemy is - it is the idiots who last month burned down the dry-cleaning establishment I use here in Modesto, because it had the word "French" in its name (or because it had Assyrian owners who immigrated from the Middle East). I know who I must fear the most - those Americans who do not understand what freedom of speech means, those who equate patriotism with blind obedience to what the current power structure tries to dictate. I care not what any individual wants to believe, though I may wish to debate issues with them. I care very much when anyone tries to strip me, or anyone else, of our right to be true to our convictions. Alice Copeland Brown Modesto, California (Apr 30, '03) I am from Toronto, Canada, and I feel the impact that SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] has brought to the economy and people's health. I pray every day that this will stop soon so China can get on with business and the people will be safe to walk down the streets and shops without any prejudice of the virus. I really hope things will get under control soon so people can get on with their lives. Peace in the Far East. Oscar J Wu Toronto, Ontario (Apr 30, '03) Did any readers notice? Francesco Sisci's article - <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ED26Ad06.html " target="_blank">China: SARS spurs structural reform</a>, Apr 26 - was refreshing, thoughtful, and intellectually delightful. His previous article on SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] was typical sinophobic rhetoric and intellectually vapid. That is why I complained about the media assault on China. If the initial response in China were the same as it is now, and "a few human rights will be trampled" as Sisci says, just imagine the fanfare and circus the US media will be making. Prudence is a virtue, especially as a first reaction. Spontaneity can follow. Roy USA  (Apr 29, '03) [M] Melton (see letter below), there is no problem with the Dixie Chicks expressing themselves freely. Just keep in mind, when you express yourself freely, it's a two-way street. It just looks as if a lot more Americans are traveling the other way. In case you slept through government class, in America, one is not obligated to support or disseminate the opinions or, in this case, the product of someone he/she disagrees with. Freedom is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Jody Barr Shanghai (Apr 29, '03) I am a regular reader of Asia Times Online and appreciate the articles covering various global issues on your site. I would like to respond to the recent article by Jayanthi Iyengar with the title <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ED29Df05.html " target="_blank">India and the Dragon: A shared desire</a>, Apr 29. It is very easy for anybody to comment that, in India, state (government) control is more on its citizens' affairs. I am an Indian citizen working in the USA for the last four years. After watching the television news coverage of world affairs on most of the major news networks in the USA, my impression is that Indian news channels are better than in the USA. In the USA, most of the network programs are controlled by various corporations (and their shareholders or board members). In corporate America, it is an open secret about the relationships between corporations and government policymakers. So how can you say that the press in the USA is not state-controlled? Last year, Bill Maher, famous TV host of Politically Incorrect on ABC network, was fired for his remarks on one of his shows. This is only one example. [The] excuse [was that] his boss at ABC did not like his comments. It does not require a genius to understand that supporters of US government policies got offended. I do not usually depend on television news coverage on world affairs in the USA, rather I depend on the Internet. So tell me a nation on this Earth where a government does not control directly/indirectly any of the affairs that you mentioned in your article. I do not know about China, but at least in India people have some alternatives like independent TV channels, newspapers, etc. I hope the author does a better job next time by doing some basic research and objective analysis. Satish Kodavat USA (Apr 29, '03) I appreciate Nelson Wang's letter [see below] regarding ATol's "effrontery" in employing me to write about China, but I think he may be unclear regarding a few facts. I would like to address my role in the story [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ED25Ad05.html" target="_blank">Beijing's battle with SARS Shanghaied</a>, Apr 25]. In the story's byline I am credited along with ATol staff - Chinese writers in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The ATol Chinese-language website staff had written a piece regarding the Politburo-mandated isolation of Shanghai. I translated the piece from Chinese to English. I also translated the announcement by the government that had been posted by the Xinhua News Agency. I did contribute to the content of the story, but the effort was by no means solely mine. I would also like to address the issue of non-Chinese writing about China. Indeed, it would be ideal for every publication to have more Chinese nationals writing about China, but perhaps the lack of Chinese writers writing about China for foreign publications has more to do with the lack of journalistic freedom in China rather than xenophobic editors elsewhere. I have spent one-fourth of my life studying Chinese and I have lived and studied on the mainland as well. This does not mean I am Chinese, but it does mean that I do have a degree of understanding of today's China. To be sure, I aim constantly to expand my familiarity with the Chinese people and their country, culture and history. As for Wang's reference to the Chinese word for crisis - weiji - I am in agreement again. Severe acute respiratory syndrome could very well prove to be an opportunity for Beijing to do something positive for China. However, the word weiji is composed of two equally important characters. The second character, ji, does indeed mean "opportunity" as Wang noted, but the first, wei. means "danger". It is important to search for unseen opportunities in this unfortunate epidemic, but Beijing would be well advised to keep in mind the danger posed by SARS to China's people, economy and international standing - not to mention the health of the government itself. Christopher Horton Asia Times Online (Apr 28, '03) Hello, operator? At times, acting crazy can serve a useful purposes in negotiations. As when someone offers you $14 million for your little restaurant in downtown Tokyo, or Hong Kong, and you break out in fits of hysterical laughter [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/ED26Dg04.html " target="_blank">Disconnect in Beijing</a>, Apr 26]. But who thinks there is any room for it in the give and go between the United States and North Korea over its nuclear capability? I do not. The North Koreans would have to be crazy to defiantly tell the American envoy that they have nuclear weapons, and the ready capacity to make more, if that were not in fact the case. It follows that anyone, especially those at risk, would have to be crazy not to take them at their word. I fail to see what possible good can come from that declaration, or the facts supporting it. Nothing North Korea said or did not say at these meetings could have been more provocative than the statement that they would continue to make such weapons, and use them or sell them, as they in their discretion, saw fit, "depending on what actions the United States may make", as has been reported. Unless the North Koreans do not really care what the United States does, or secretly wish that they will be attacked, their aggressive statements on the subject would seem to be very unwise, for they corner [President George W] Bush's administration, which at last count had a lot more thermonuclear weapons at its disposal than Kim Jong-il. Who can account for this behavior, other than by ascribing it, as I have done in the past on your site, to a desperate folly? But what's done is done. The only question that matters now is whether the American leadership is up to the challenge, and what it will do. My concern is mainly that it does not have the flexibility and long-range vision necessary to cope with this problem. There have been encouraging signs, however. A few weeks ago, Defense Secretary [Donald] Rumsfeld suggested that it might make sense for the United States to pull its troops in South Korea back from the DMZ [Demilitarized Zone]. I would support this. In fact, I would support bringing American troops stationed in South Korea home. If the North wants to engage in a nuclear confrontation, it is senseless to leave them there. At the same time, I do not think those countries exposed to the North Korean risk can afford to ignore it. Maybe someone else should take the lead in dealing with them. Anon (Apr 28, '03) After reading <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED26Ak03.html " target="_blank">Petroleum: Iran's black curse</a>, Apr 26, I immediately sent an e-mail to Vahid Isabeigi and asked him why, he, as an Iranian, had used "Gulf" instead of "Persian Gulf". He replied that he had indeed used "Persian Gulf", but an Asia Times Online editor had changed all to "Gulf". I am not questioning your right to edit any article, but in this particular case, it seem more than editing a text. ATol is known to be impartial and unbiased. However, changing "Persian Gulf" to just "Gulf" says otherwise. I regret losing trust in an internationally acknowledged site. Suri Dalir (Apr 28, '03) The term "Persian Gulf" was used on first reference, and the shorter term "Gulf" was used only twice, in the same paragraph. We do not see how anyone could be confused by this. - Editor Please retract the article about Ayn Rand written by Wendell W Solomons [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/ED19Dj01.html " target="_blank">Modern economics' anti-business missile</a>, Apr 19]. It is a very simple matter to show how far off-base Solomons is. He thinks Milton Friedman was a friend of Ayn Rand, when actually it was Alan Greenspan. This completely discredits his nonsensical article. Ayn Rand was nothing like a nihilist. On the contrary, the basis of her philosophy is the axiom "Existence exists". To Ayn Rand, things do matter. Adrian Apollo Fresno, California (Apr 28, '03) The current Iraq invasion by the supreme powers of the West shows they themselves possess weapons of mass destruction and proved it by killing the innocent Iraqi civilians including women, children and sick poor people. May I ask the concerned plenipotentiaries involved in drafting the Geneva Convention, [the] United Nations or all the other humanitarian agencies, the reason for paying lip service against the US and British atrocities rather than cutting off all trade agreements to show their strength and solidarity to the poor, sanctions-ridden Iraqi civilians. Anyhow, the era of jungle law has already begun in the form of the Iraq invasion in which no nation, region, religion and person is treated under the strict execution of the rule of law. Mahjabeen Agha Karachi (Apr 28, '03) Thank you very much for [the article on] Bar Girls [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ED26Ae01.html " target="_blank">Bar Girls raise hell in Vietnam</a>, Apr 26]. I think it's about time to show the truth [about a] society that has been covering up for so long. All lies do not help finding solutions for any real problems. Bar Girls begins to shred light on a stagnant and narrow sociopolitical system. Duong Thi Phuong Hang San Jose, California (Apr 28, '03) It would appear that the prime reason why until recently the American troops had failed to intervene to stop looting in Baghdad was to allow the national museum there to be vandalized and stripped of most of its precious exhibits [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED26Ak06.html " target="_blank">The lions of Babylon</a>, Apr 26]. Martin Sullivan, President [George W] Bush's former advisor on culture, who has resigned in protest at what happened to the Baghdad museum, rightly pointed out that the looting "was foreseeable and could have been prevented". A claim by an Israeli archeologist, Professor Ban Bahat, that behind the looting of and vandalism at the museum were some art mafia is nothing but a smokescreen being used to divert the public's attention from the fact that the looting and vandalism had been officially sanctioned and must have been organized by the CIA and Mossad. The purpose was to try and make the Iraqis to forget their history and as the first step to destroying their souls with a view to total subjugation. That was also the official policy towards Germany in 1945, when in the wake of her defeat, the US military administration issued orders to some of their units to search out and destroy the statues of the German kings. They failed in their barbaric attempt to a large extent due to the effort of an American army officer who, having learned of the plan, informed the museum's curators who had the statues spirited to a safe place. Some two years ago, the former army officer was decorated by the German government for his services to the nation. Hussain Taha (Apr 28, '03) Although I fully agree with the trial of leaders of the former Iraqi regime, it is a matter of justice that British and American war crimes must be punished also. In the first place, [during] their air strikes the USA and Great Britain used cluster bombs, which are internationally forbidden by the Treaty of Ottawa because of the big risk for civilians on land mines and scattered missiles (by explosion many missiles are scattering in the wide environment). According to international law the use of weapons with an enlarged risk for civilians is a war crime. In the second place, several times Iraqi civilians were shot by American troops at checkpoints. The justification by military spokesmen, referring to a suicide attack by an Iraqi soldier in civilian clothes, makes no sense, because shooting civilians is always a war crime according to international law. Of course the American troops have the right to take security measures, but not at the cost of the Iraqi civilians for whose safety they are responsible according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, being the occupying army. For maintaining the principles of international justice, the trial of British and American war crimes is of the utmost importance. Astrid Essed The Netherlands (Apr 28, '03) China has been making great progress towards democracy. That progress has been noted by President [George W] Bush and many other world leaders. That is why China (not India) has been invited to the G8 summit. China deserves some cheering on the way to democracy. Many articles served as a purpose of diminishing China's achievement are authored by Indian-named persons. I never said Francesco Sisci is Indian. I suggest Piyush read my letter before making comments. Frank Seattle, Washington (Apr 28, '03) "The Dixie Chicks have taken a big hit lately for exercising their basic right to express themselves," said Bruce Springsteen. "To me, they're terrific American artists expressing American values by using their American right to free speech. For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American. The pressure coming from the government and big business to enforce conformity of thought concerning the war and politics goes against everything that this country is about - namely freedom. Right now, we are supposedly fighting to create freedom in Iraq, at the same time that some are trying to intimidate and punish people for using that same freedom here at home. I don't know what happens next, but I do want to add my voice to those who think that the Dixie Chicks are getting a raw deal, and an un-American one to boot. I send them my support." In support of Bruce Springsteen's admirable comments concerning freedom of speech, I would also remind readers of this message left behind by a former president: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public," said Theodore Roosevelt. M Melton USA (Apr 28, '03) Christopher Horton writes in Asia Times Online about what might happen if SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] hits AIDS sufferers: "Assuming that SARS makes its way to every populated area of China, it is quite plausible that China's SARS deaths could experience a ferocious increase ... AIDS sufferers are particularly susceptible to pneumonias. Indeed, the most common serious infection among AIDS patients in the United States is a type of pneumonia called Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), which is typically fatal if not identified" [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ED24Ad03.html " target="_blank"> SARS and AIDS: What the people don't know</a>, Apr 24]. Christopher Horton writes that as PCP pneumonia is the most common serious infection in AIDS patients in the United States, this has potential dire implications for SARS in China's AIDS population. In reality, PCP pneumonia is an opportunistic fungal proliferation in the lungs. In less-developed countries it arises primarily as a result of malnutrition, which reduces the thymus, lowers T-cell numbers and means that decomposition products in the lungs cannot be cleared and thus provide the ideal substrate for the growth of the PCP fungus. This is why AIDS sufferers are, to quote Horton, "particularly susceptible to pneumonias". In fact, one pneumonia - PCP. Horton betrays his ignorance of the underlying nature of Third World and Western pneumonias. Fintan Dunne (Apr 28, '03) I admire the effrontery of Asia Times Online by letting an Anglo-Saxon write about the Chinese SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] epidemic, thereby exposing itself and the author to xenophobic attacks and accusations by certain readers [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/ED25Ad05.html" target="_blank">Beijing's battle with SARS Shanghaied</a>, Apr 25]. Also, the UN would do well to keep in mind the Chinese adage about "crisis" and "opportunity". The SARS "crisis" is actually an "opportunity" to prove its relevance in today's world. Nelson Wang Miami, Florida (Apr 25, '03) Henry C K Liu brought up a good point when saying: "It never occurs to many Americans that their riches might have come from institutionalized and structural exploitation of other economies" [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED25Ak01.html " target="_blank">Part 2: The new Agincourt</a>, Apr 25]. In addition, millions of Americans don't realize that they are in fact also being exploited because the wealth and politics of this country have been controlled by a small group of wolves and hawks. Perhaps Henry needs to write more about these two topics (internal and external exploitation) to help awaken many ordinary American citizens. As we here often say that life in America will never be the same after September 11, 2001, I believe that America's image (as a leader of democracy) will never be the same after the Iraq war no matter how [President George W] Bush's administration has tried to manipulate its reasoning. Andrew USA (Apr 25, '03) </td></tr></table> </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="65%"> </td></tr></table> </td> <td valign="top" width="10" background="/web/20030601151729im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/line.gif"><img height="1" src="/web/20030601151729im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="9"></td> <td valign="top" align="left" width="130"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="117" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/letters.html"> <center><img hspace="0" src="/web/20030601151729im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes//images/letters-to-editor.gif" border="0"> </a></center></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"><img height="5" src="/web/20030601151729im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"></td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030601151729/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/letters_1.html"> <center><img hspace="0" 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