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month=d.getMonth() var day=d.getDate() var year=d.getYear() // document.write("Today is " + days[d.getDay()] + "<BR>") 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> </strong></font> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="65%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="406"> <tr> <td width="406"> <p align="center"><br> <strong><font size="2">Please write to us at</font> </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/mailto:letters@atimes.com"> <strong><font size="2">letters@atimes.com</font></strong></a><br> <br> <font size="2">Lengthy letters run the risk of being cut.</font></p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <hr> <font color="#000000" size="2">I heard a lot about your publication. I appreciate the quality contribution. My compliments for your work.<br> <b>Kuldip Mishra</b><br> Katrineholm, Sweden<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 5, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> China's political reforms, as described by Francesco Sisci [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/EB05Ad01.html">Trimming the fat</a>, Feb 5], will be more effective if also accompanied by social reforms. A shift of power from the state to the private sector will only be successful if there are the checks and balances, freedoms and safety nets found in developed countries. Before communism, the feudalistic nature of Chinese society, which allowed private ownership of property and all the trappings of a capitalistic society, created huge gaps between the haves and the have-nots. It would be cruel to see a China tormented once more by a return to a society that enables the rich and powerful to dominate the poor and needy. When powerful cartels and cronies dominate, there is no real freedom, and thuggery exists in various 'legitimate' guises. For capitalism to work in China, as we understand the way it works in the West - a free and open society run by the primacy of the rule of law - society has to be benevolent. In Eastern Europe and Russia, the sudden shift to capitalism without the existence of the necessary infrastructures of democracy and necessary checks and balances - eg, incorruptible police, free press and fair judicial systems - has created hardships for the people. The world has yet to see what a China can do when it is a free, open and benevolent country ruled by incorruptible officials and good laws. The real test for the Chinese is how their leaders will not succumb to personal greed and think of nation before self.<br> <strong>Steve Oh</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 5, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> To Henry C K Liu [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EA10Dj01.html">The Bush plan: A global-scale disappointment</a>, Jan 10]: I greatly enjoy your articles. You are very astute in your thinking, and it is always a pleasure to get your viewpoint, which reflects wisdom. This provides all of us a relevant backdrop from which to evaluate the reasonableness of ideas and views. I am looking forward to reading more of your articles.<br> <strong>Duke</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 5, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Criticizing the bad side of American foreign policy [myriad letters below] is certainly valid, but one should be very precise in describing the Agent Orange situation. Fact: It was used with the primary purpose of reducing vegetation. If it were truly intended to wipe out civilians, wouldn't it have been used in major urban areas? I am of the mind that Americans' intentions throughout history are not as evil as many like to think. As for the War of 1812 [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EA31Aa03.html">War and the military-industrial complex</a>, Jan 31], let's review some facts. It was fought against the British Empire at a time when Britain still held territory in North America. The primary reason for Americans entering the war was not to acquire this territory. But considering the ongoing bad blood between the British Empire and her former American colonies, the Americans of course felt threatened by the continued British presence in North America, and would like to have gotten rid of it. Those who would take the side of the old British Empire in the War of 1812 must feel the need to criticize the US in any conflict. But those of us who grow tired of criticism that only flows in one direction will ask you to also recognize that the list of our enemies overwhelmingly includes people who were, can you believe it, worse than us?<br> <strong>Chadwick Smith</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 4, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Mr Jaewoo Choo's metaphor for "dining at the table" via various menus [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EB04Dg04.html">North Korea: What's on the table</a>, Feb 4] helps underscore the first basic need for communication between the parties involved in the tensions. Instead of pulling out the six-shooter and banging away with "outlaw regime", "oppressive regime" and "axis of evil", the American approach would be better toned as less self-righteous and more pragmatic, getting on with dialogue and ironing out a workable program. Whichever "banquet" emerges, a cheerful and polite tone would seem the first order of business to get on with yet another dust-shifting on the brink of a devastating war on the Korean peninsula. Since the Bush language emits distrust and stereotype with its mind already made up, it's not surprising that Kim Jong-il is delivering his own bombast, which is then demonized with no regard for what generated it from the Bush administration.<br> <b>Peter Bollington</b>, US<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 4, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> It is interesting how Hooman Peimani [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EB04Ak01.html">Forcing reform in Iran</a>, Feb 4] criticizes the problems that exists in Iran today and somehow does not provide a solution to these problems. I don't see how you can be a critic of government economic policies and not like the privatization that is being done in Iran. He finishes his article with the following: "As part of this initiative, implemented at best half-heartedly over the past few years, the government's allowing the sale of private sector bonds, if not restricted somehow, will be a significant move towards economic liberalization with a weakening impact on Iran's monopolistic public sector." I suggest the writer come up with solutions that may help the economy in Iran, rather than picking on it. As an Iranian, the writer can number the causes of the worsened economy as follows: war, the doubling of the population, revolution, emigration by wealthy Iranians (outflow of billions), billions frozen by the US, destabilizing efforts going on daily by the US, and so on. I think it is time our intellectuals start thinking about their people and loosen their greed on feeding the media with what it needs - which is more bad news. It is worthy to say that Iran is trying to come out of Shah economics of "sell the oil and fill the bellies" that went on for several decades. Iran needs a real economy and not just a feeding-house table, as it was during the Majesty. Nevertheless, it is acceptable that the Iranian people and government have many things to prove and several problems to solve.<br> <strong>Hess Aletaha</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 4, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Mr Rakesh [letter below] and various other friends from India, when will you face the facts? Our people [in Pakistan] are poor. They need bread and education more than they need hatred. Now I am not against any Indian, and I love them as friends and brothers, Hindu and Muslim and Christian alike. We are all the same and we can't escape culture/tradition. I will tell you that I and my family were equally proud of Kalpana Chawla's achievements. It didn't matter to us who she was. She was one of ours. However, I am going to state my case on Pakistan's behalf. I think you need to look at various texts and examine statements by various Taliban leaders and learn to live with the facts. The Taliban created themselves. As far as jihadi outfits are concerned, they are funded by outside sources, including India, and hence have caused an equal number of deaths in Pakistan. If we can't control them in Pakistan, then how can we do it in India? Re B Raman's article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EB04Df04.html"> A smoking gun and Powell's blind eye</a>, Feb 4: Your Iraq claim is outlandish. You have been caught red-handed once again in Iraq. Admit your guilt instead of making lame excuses.<br> <b>R Gondal</b>, Pakistan<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 4, '03)</font><br> <br> <br> </font></font><font color="#000000" size="2"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><strong><font color="#000000" size="3"> Henry C K Liu responds to readers . . .<br> </font></strong>In response to readers' comments on my article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EA31Aa03.html"> War and the military-industrial complex</a>, Jan 31, I would like to point out the following. 1) Agent Orange was used in the prosecution of war, it is a chemical, and it kills on a massive scale; therefore it is a WMD by definition. 2) On the War of 1812, the dream of annexing Canada was a fundamental aim of the War Hawks led by Henry Clay. 3) As for my being located in New York, my location should not impose on me any obligation to be blind to reality, any more than other investor professionals in London, Frankfort, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore or Shanghai are obliged to be blind to historical and contemporary facts of their respective regions. There is nothing in my article that is untrue or that could be construed as unfair to any party. In fact, I gave the US the benefit of the doubt on its professed values and only suggested that it should conduct its international affairs within their bounds and not hold other nations to standards which the US itself does not meet. 4) As for being an "egregious case of someone biting the hand that feeds him", I learned from President Ronald Reagan long ago that it is the people who feed the government by paying taxes. The government is not "the hand that feeds" me. To point out logical inconsistencies in the policies of the government is a fundamental right in a democracy, quite different from holding "a dismal view of the country". Had Mr Sharsky [letter below] been better informed, he might even realize that I do not "take people's money" as he so crudely put it. My investment group is a private group that invests our own funds and have declined frequent offers from many who ask us to invest their funds for them.<br> <strong>Henry C K Liu</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> </font>George W Bush's State of the Union address, by pursuing a dual and paradoxical project, has been creating a negative impact on the world. Despite being a major arms supplier and a critical source of advanced weapons systems and arms production technology, the US has insisted on seeking new arms control regimes and supporting non-proliferation of nuclear and advanced weapons technology. In addition, Bush insisted that the US does not depend on the decisions of others in resorting to all actions to topple Saddam Hussein. These solely American terms, however, have not only divided the European continent, but are widely interpreted as a campaign of interference and imperialism and have sparked anti-American emotion in the Muslim world. As a result, brutal non-stop terrorism for Americans would be conducted by Muslim fundamentalists. Moreover, Bush抯 double standard strategy that distinguishes between Iraq and North Korea while insisting that "different threats require different strategies" undermines the security mechanisms of co-operation, thus leading to instability. On the other hand, however, the question should be raised whether the world needs some sort of hegemonic basis of security and, if so, which states or organizations could take the initiative in international politics to provide it? In the absence of the US, other states or organizations lack credibility. Thus, in essence, there needs to be strong US leadership politically, economically and militarily. For good or ill, currently the only country that can meet all these requirements is the US. In short, for the world, the USA is "necessary devil".<br> <b>Tadashi Nishimura</b>, Japan<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> I feel that much anti-American sentiment comes from inequality in the world. Almost any person anywhere in the world can now view conditions in any country via the Internet. This is happening and thousands of individuals in underdeveloped countries that were reliant on controlled media for their information can now get a much broader picture from the many Internet sites. So how does an individual making clothing, rugs, pottery, etc, feel when they sell their work for subsistence money and then see these and other articles sold for many times that price (if not thousands of times) in rich countries. Okay, there will always be disparity between the rich and the poor, but their anger increases when they see the hospitals, restaurants, roads, schools, and housing which others have and which they do not. Imagine their real anger when they find out that they are now forced and cajoled to produce or grow foods or plants for medicines that will only be consumed in rich countries or used to treat rich country illnesses. They face short lifetimes and are subject to sickness and low levels of education and are unable to change these conditions. Failure to look at and find solutions for this inequality will result in more extreme actions being taken by bigger and wider sections within this grouping. Finding these solutions is the role of the UN and any action of the US to work outside the UN will consolidate this anti-rich country sentiment into the anti-US sentiment alone, along with all the consequences.<br> <b>Bernard</b>, Australia<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Thailand estimates the cost of the damage to its embassy and businesses in Phnom Penh after Wednesday night's riots [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EB01Ae05.html">Anti-Thai riots: Cambodia counts the costs</a>, Jan 31] at US$23 million, and wants Cambodia to pay the bills. It means that Cambodians damaged Thai business. We agreed with this. But what about the damage done by the Thai people to the Hmong minority business in Nan province in northern Thailand. The cost and damage estimated by Hmong International Human Right Watch is $14 million. We felt this is equal to the Thai situation in Cambodia. If Cambodian pays Thai, then Thai should pay Hmong in Nan. How the Thais feel is how we felt in Nan.<br> <strong>Thomas Yang</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Mr Escobar [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EB01Ak07.html">Listening to Europe</a>, Feb 1] misses one aspect of the letter from the Gang of Eight; it was in part a response to the high-handed method with which the French and Germans thought they might dictate EU foreign policy. Quite simply, eight other nations responded with 'You're not making our foreign policy! So there!' This bodes ill for harmonizing foreign policy in the EU, of course, as no useful mechanisms for achieving consensus seem to exist. Certainly France and Germany felt unconstrained by any such mechanisms; it is no wonder that Britain, Spain and Italy do not either.<br> <b>Stephen Herdina</b>, US<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Regarding Mr Smith's letter [below], his argument that Agent Orange is not a chemical weapon is flawed. 1) Weapons don't have to be anti-personnel. Agent Orange is obviously used to prepare for further attacks on Viet Cong, and thus is a weapon just like the bombs used to destroy enemy bridges and water supplies. 2) It's common that a weapon causes injury to its operators. Artillery has a long history of damaging the hearing of its gunners. That doesn't exclude artillery from being a weapon. Honestly, Agent Orange is a chemical weapon. Mr Smith is right when he said that there are many things the US can be criticized for. Using of Agent Orange in Vienam is certainly one of them.<br> <strong>Ying</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> Let us see the effects of the chemical Agent Orange used by the US during the Vietnam War: Sixty thousand Vietnamese suffered severe effects from the chemical, including genetic damage. Many more suffered less severe damage. The chemical, supposed to kill plants, poisoned the Vietnamese food sources, water and land. Some people think that chemical weapons should produce immediate death; how about slow but agonizing death by chemicals? Should these not be considered as chemical weapons? Please note that nuclear radiation can produce radiation sickness and thus death over time as well.<br> <b>David Chiu</b>, Canada<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> LHY [letter below] seems to have run out of arguments now that (s)he has started blaming Indian readers merely for responding to some of the arguments coming from certain defenders of the so-called "fortress of Islam". LHY asserts that India's support for America's war on terrorism is "shameless pandering" to America's "phony" war. May I ask why then is LHY's dear Pakistani regime and military publicly supporting America's "phony" war? Or is this Islamabad's way of "shamelessly pandering" to America's war, in order to compensate for "shamelessly pandering" to the monstrous Taliban and jihadi terrorist groups in the past? Of course we all know what the real reasons behind the public Pakistani support are: coercion from the world powers (NOT conviction), mounting anti-terrorist sentiment throughout the world, and, last but not least, debt write-off for Pakistan's crumbling economy. I for one hardly care about all this, as long as Islamabad stops using terrorism as an instrument of its foreign policy, genuinely cracks down on terrorist training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and stops dreaming of Talibanizing South Asia and Kashmir. All this seems unlikely to happen in the near future.<br> <b>Rakesh</b>, India<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> I am a periodic visitor to your website, and I must say that I find your columns and letters rather interesting. K Ahmad's lengthy essay [below] about how badly the Indian economy is doing disregards the totality of facts, figures and opinions of most economic pundits in the world. The better the Indian economy does, one can expect to hear louder cries from cynical Pakistanis about how badly the Indian economy is doing. One should of course give credit where it is deserved - the Chinese performance on the economic front has been excellent, quite better than India's over the past two decades. The Chinese leadership should be lauded for having taken some tough decisions and followed astute policies on the economic front. However, let us not forget that India's is also the second fastest-growing economy in Asia. India does ofcourse have problems related to poverty and illiteracy and significant work is needed in developing better infrastructure. I don't think anyone from India is denying this. However, it is also equally true that India is home to one of the largest middle-class and largest college-educated populations in Asia, and the world. While I'd be open to pondering on comparisons based on neutral and credible objective economic analysis between India and China, what is fishy is that the loudest, and most hostile-sounding rhetoric about China doing better than India, comes not from economic experts, or the ordinary humble Chinese commoners, but from third parties - volatile, religion-based, undemocratic dictatorial regimes perpetually on the verge of socio-economic collapse. These voices usually base their arguments on selective facts, hearsay and sheer pessimistic (wishful?) thinking.<br> <b>Piyush</b>, India<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> I must agree with Mr Chadwick Smith [letter below] when he says that Agent Orange was not intended as chemical warfare in Vietnam. Your readers must try to understand that the American government had taken it upon itself to save the world from Communism - and were having trouble doing so. In the urgency of the time, their lab people were under pressure to come up with quick, yet effective, solutions; so they cut a few corners and failed to give proper consideration to the fact that the mix they were brewing contained dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals known to man; and that the proportion of it that they recommended for Agent Orange would be the largest dioxin release in history. Nor did they realize (until after they had given it a whirl) that one dose would kill the enormous mangrove forests that protected the coastline and provided breeding and nursery quarters for large numbers of river and ocean fish; or that it might also cause skin disease and three types of cancer. Your readers must try to understand that our latter-day dragon-killers did not intend all these bad things to happen; they were simply trying to protect us from "Godless Communism". And the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who lived in that 10 percent of the country where this benign herbicide was used, who died and are still dying from its effects, simply got in the way of this glorious crusade. Try to look at their demise as "friendly fire". Yes, look at it from the American point of view.<br> <b>Keith E Leal</b>, Canada<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> I second GS's letter [below] supporting the US disregard for the UN. The UN has become the playground for perpetual bickering, and all the conflicts which the UN has stepped in to try to moderate have become worse, be it Iraq, North Korea or any other. The UN does not have the guts or the brains to take bold steps. It needs to reform itself urgently if it hopes to be relevant in the new millennium.<br> <strong>Gaurav Savant</strong><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> <font color="#000000" size="2"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"> <font color="#000000"><font color="#000000">I am a journalism student at the University of British Columbia, Canada. I read Friday's front page article <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EA31Aa01.html"> Dark days for Asian journalism</a>, Jan 31, but it doesn't seem quite convincing to me. First, any attempt to see Asia as a whole, in my opinion, would inevitably blind the author to the continent's cultural diversity that shapes journalism differently in different countries. Without distinguishing China from North Korea or Malaysia from Indonesia, one would easily overlook innovative changes taking place under a seemingly worsening situation. It's hard to imagine that anyone would try to generalize Europe's journalism development in a 1,000-word piece. "China confirming its position as one of the biggest jailers of journalists" - With its damn big population, China can be the biggest anything in the world, as long as heads are counted. "Nepal ranking first in the wake of the harsh crackdown on the Maoist insurgency" - Which government would embrace "insurgency"? Is Maoism pro-democracy? "In the Philippines, journalists are especially vulnerable in the island of Mindanao" - Well, journalist there are not so much vulnerable to censorship as they are to military conflicts. Then I would question the editorial's lack of statistical support. How many licenses have been revoked by Indonesia's National Broadcasting Commission? How many reporters has China singled out from ethnic minorities for harsh treatment? The author comes up with some good stats though, such as journalists being prisoned. However there are still some unsupported claims. Finally, I would cite some facts that reveal positive development in Chinese journalism: First, for the first time in its history, the Chinese Communist Party's new boss, Hu Jintao, has asked his Politburo colleagues to "self-consciously accept supervision by the masses", particular in the area of fighting corruption. Second, "political civilization" has been conspicuously added by Hu to the "material civilization and spiritual civilization" propagated by Deng and Jiang in the past 15 years. Third, China's Anhui province has recently passed its Provincial Anti-Corruption Regulations, specifying unprecedentedly in Chapter 3 that "News Media supervise the work of functionaries". ("Supervise" may be a little too strong though; I can't find an exact English word.) The regulations took effect January 1, 2003. This doesn't mean that I am uncritical of the journalistic situation in China or any other Asian country. However, I believe that more research in Asian issues is needed for journalists to avoid the use of "cultural shorthand".<br> <b>Yi Hu</b>, Vancouver<font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font><br> <br> <br> </font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font> </font></font></font>Stephen Blank's discussion <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EA28Dg01.html"> Pyongyang: An immoral program of provocation</a>, Jan 28, is a one-sided, continuing demonization of North Korea and Kim Jong-il. That his article uses the term "immoral" is remarkable since it is so obviously biased and polarized to a Western interpretation, and invites a counterblast on the US in its own "immoral" ways from the North Korean point of view, which indeed has occurred. For the North Koreans, the US is the "excess" of evil in its own multifarious ways. Neither approach is profitable. Blank dismisses "respect" and saving face as an important issue in the current tensions. In his view, very simplistically, North Korean behavior can be explained by its alleged intent to be a rogue state content to bully countries surrounding it, and all from the self-indulgent effusions of Kim Jong-il, a dictator noir. Blank's account leaves out the US delays (by its own account) in implementing the 1994 agreement, let alone its continuous war games on the borders. North Korea's responses, in contrast with Blank's view, may be as defensive as they are aggressive. I say "may" because very few, except for, perhaps, the Chinese or South Koreans, have much real insight into the mind of Kim Jong-il. On the other hand, the Western press and international experts such as Stephen Blank think they have it all figured out. What's peculiar, however, unless we see it as yet another strain of a dark, compulsive and evil mind, is the movement that has taken place in recent years to bring North and South Korea closer together. Tourism has been taking place at Mount Kumgang; a railroad connection has been started, with plans for development toward a trans-continental link all the way to Paris; the free economic zone has received support; television access to South Korea has been allowed; the South Koreans have been able to view goings-on in North Korea and conduct cultural exchanges; and South Koreans largely are interested in moving the peninsula toward dialogue rather than military resolution. In the face of this reality within the Korean peninsula, lumping North Korea disparately with Iraq and Iran as an "axis of evil", and then continuing to demonize as Blank does, is inappropriate and indeed a matter of face and respect. It is helpful to keep in mind how important this matter is to Asian peoples. We are left to wonder what might happen to all this terrible remaining totalitarian menace if the US indeed took partnership in a pact of non-aggression and began a gradual withdrawal of US forces from the South. After all, we have been known to live with certain dictators in the past, distasteful as that may or may not have been.<br> <b>Peter Bollington</b><br> Mendocino, California</font><font color="#000000"> <font color="#999999" size="1">(Feb 3, '03)</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font> </td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="65%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td background="/web/20030402172008im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/line.gif" valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" src="/web/20030402172008im_/http://www.atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="9"></td> <td align="left" valign="top" width="130"> <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="117"> <tr> <td><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402172008/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/letters.html"><center><img border="0" hspace="0" 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