Articles
Other People's Mail, Pages 41-42
Compiled by Kate Hilmy and Andrew Blakely
Continue to Engage Iran
To The International Herald Tribune, Feb. 4, 2010
Roger Cohen ("Obama’s halfway house,’’ Globalist, Feb. 2) is right concerning Iran when he says the Obama administration’s saber-rattling is counterproductive. For diplomacy to succeed, there must be an abundance of patience and perseverance.
Look at Richard Nixon’s opening to China in the early 1970s. The same arguments being made today regarding Iran were being made then concerning China. Despite what seemed to be insurmountable obstacles, Washington engaged Beijing, and the rest is history.
It would be a tragedy if the Obama administration were to revert back to the failed policies of sanctions and threats. What have they achieved? Nothing, but to leave the United States bereft of any knowledge about Iran. Why should the U.S. government go down the road that has already led to nowhere? Whose interest does it serve? Certainly not America’s. The Obama administration’s measured efforts to engage must continue.
Fariborz S. Fatemi, McLean, VA
Roadside Bombs Query
To The Independent, Jan. 18, 2010
The supreme irony of the Iraq war as a response to Sept. 11 has to be that it was Messrs. Bush and Blair who facilitated the al-Qaeda”“Iraq connection, not Saddam Hussain. It was the power vacuum resulting from the fall of his regime that served as an invitation to al-Qaeda to enter Iraq, where they set up training schools in the making of roadside bombing devices.
The Taliban from Afghanistan were welcomed to attend these schools, and when they had become proficient in their skills they imported them back to Afghanistan on their return.
Will the Chilcot inquiry focus on the connection between the folly of the Iraq war and the roadside bomb attacks that are increasingly ending the lives of our servicemen in Afghanistan, or is that not one of the lessons to be learned?
Chris Ryecart, Harwich, Essex, UK
Afghan Resolve is Good News
To The Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2010
Mr. Karzai’s initial attempt to institutionalize the power of Afghan warlords, who exhibit the same militaristic nature as the Taliban and continue to abuse women’s rights, would merely reinforce the circumstances perpetuating conflict. The parliament’s rejection of this first list forced Mr. Karzai to submit a cabinet list that not only omits the warlords but also includes more women—a positive step.
Women, who faced a disproportionate amount of suffering under the Taliban regime, should be an integral part of Afghanistan’s reconstruction and governance. If women’s voices are not represented at the highest levels of government, their needs cannot be addressed. If the country empowers women, it begins to address the rights abuses that accompany the conflict.
Mr. Karzai’s second list, an apparent improvement, must be as highly scrutinized as the first. If the Afghan parliament maintains its independence and demonstrates a true commitment to reform, we may have reason to be optimistic.
Aparna Polavarapu, Somerville, MA
A Durable Mideast Peace
To The International Herald Tribune, Feb. 9, 2010
Regarding "On Israel-Palestine, no more of the same" by Yossi Alpher (Views, Feb. 3): A dramatic change in Washington’s approach is indeed required to secure peace in the Middle East. But I don’t share Mr. Alpher’s view that putting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a back-burner and pursuing an Israeli-Syrian accord would be productive.
Apart from Israel’s current war of words with Syria, Israel’s indisposition to withdraw from all the Golan Heights is as big an impediment as its insistence on expanding settlements in the West Bank. It is a common real estate issue.
The rational approach to a durable Mideast peace is for President Obama and the Quartet—the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations—to take the Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of its bilateral context into a regional framework based on the 2002 peace plan of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia that all the Arab League states had endorsed. It calls for Israel’s complete withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders, the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a fair settlement of the refugee problem in return for an unequivocal recognition of the state of Israel by all the Arab states and the normalization of relations among them. This offers a basis for a gutsy diplomatic activity that is more promising than a piecemeal approach.
Samih Sherif, Montreux, Switzerland
Israel’s Economic Leap
To The New York Times, Jan. 18, 2010
David Brooks correctly points out that the unique religion, culture and history of the Jewish people have contributed to Israel’s economic success. By underscoring Israel’s financial dominance in the Middle East, Mr. Brooks raises an interesting possibility.
While Israel’s political and military leaders have been unable to end the violent conflicts with the Arabs that have plagued their nation since its birth, perhaps Israel’s private sector can bridge this longstanding divide.
Israel’s increasing number of entrepreneurs and technological innovators should seek partnership opportunities to engage the Palestinians and the surrounding Arab countries economically (instead of militarily), with the goal of establishing a shared purpose that could lead to stability and peace.
Ivan R. Novich, Summit, NJ
The Anti-Semitism Label
To The Independent, Feb. 9, 2010
I was sorry but not surprised to read Jonathan Hoffman’s extraordinary letter (Feb. 3) yet again equating any criticism of Israel with racism.
I once served on an executive body wrongly labeled as anti-Semitic for actions taken over a third party’s criticism of Israeli policy. Over some weeks, we received press attention, from Israel to the U.S., and an avalanche of abusive e-mails, many of which described the deep personal outrage of each individual sender, in identical wording.
A potential partner, with whom we had hoped to join in a large charitable initiative, withdrew from discussions. Some of our income was put at risk.
Ever since, I have had a grudging understanding of the pusillanimous stance taken by the U.S. and others toward Israeli policies.
Both sides in this awful conflict have committed terrible actions, but one side has been more effective than the other in shaping reactions in North America and, to a lesser extent, in Europe.
Peter Robb, London, UK
Who Are the Victims?
To The Independent, Feb. 3, 2010
Your readers should hearken to Andrew Phillips’ sane and erudite article. For far too long we have tiptoed round the vexed issues he raises.
No, the state of Israel should not be allowed to hide behind the terrible events of the Shoah, dubbing all opposition to its appalling human rights record as anti-Semitic.
No, despite the propaganda doled out by its many spokesmen, Israel should not get away with its miserable justification for the slaughter of thousands of Palestinians in the recent Gaza invasion. No, it should not be allowed to defy dozens of U.N. resolutions against its abuse of Arabs over the past five decades. And, finally, powerful lobbying organizations should not be able to intimidate politicians and stifle debate over continued settlement building in Judea and Samaria. Even the president of the U.S. runs scared of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; hence his recent backtracking over settlements in East Jerusalem.
Israel is the emperor dancing naked through the streets. The media and most of our politicians seem only too eager to promote the myth that the rogue state is somehow clothed in the fine garments of democracy, fighting shoulder to shoulder against international terrorists, when the naked truth is that they are responsible for many acts of state terrorism.
Geoff Akers, Edinburgh, UK
Guantanamo Isn’t Prison
To The Washington Post, Feb. 16, 2010
Mr. Gerson’s assertion that “”˜Guantanamo’ has become a synonym for ”˜prison’“ is pure verbal gymnastics.
In every democracy, prison is defined as a place used to hold convicted criminals and accused persons awaiting trial.
As for convicted criminals, Guantanamo holds none. With regard to persons awaiting trial, of the 196 detainees remaining, a task force led by the Justice Department has recommended that 35 be prosecuted and that as many as 47 be held indefinitely, with the rest awaiting transfer or release, now or eventually.
For the 47 to be held indefinitely, “internment camp” would be a more fitting synonym, though history may record Guantanamo as synonymous with torture at worst or injustice at best.
Paul M. Hill, Washington, DC
Democracy From Within
To The National, Jan. 20, 2010
Mohamad Bazzi’s opinion article “Love the rhetoric, admire the oratory, where’s the action?” (Jan. 20) criticized the failure of the U.S. president, Barack Obama, to promote democracy in the Middle East. How long will the Arab people depend upon others to change their destiny? Bazzi has nothing new to say. Democracy is evolved, not imposed. It’s the Arab masses, academics, social activists and politicians who should come together to remove authoritarian regimes, and not presidents of the United States.
Iraq is still suffering from outside intervention to impose democracy. Unpopular regimes have to be uprooted from within by the process of elections. The worst dictators and despots suffered at the hands of people’s movements as in Romania and Poland. Mr. Obama was elected by the Americans to better their lot, and not for reforms in distant lands.
Syed Qamar Hasan, Abu Dhabi, UAE
9/11 Trial Out of New York
To The New York Times, Feb. 1, 2010
Regardless of whether one believes that the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed terrorism trial should be held in New York City or elsewhere, the basic premise is solid: this trial must be conducted publicly and in a democratic, civilian court. To follow former President George W. Bush’s plan for military tribunals would be an insult to our foundational democratic beliefs, and a statement of distrust in our country’s ability to function as a democracy.
Given that, the costs and resources must certainly be shared by all, through federal government coverage for security and costs. The 9/11 attacks were against the United States, not individual targets; we must respond as a united country in conducting these trials.
Aaron Taylor, Houston, TX
Root Causes of Terrorism
To The New York Times, Jan. 14, 2010
Olivier Roy ("Recruiting terrorists,’’ Views, Jan. 11) helps break a significant myth widely incorporated into the ”˜’war on terrorism’’: that al-Qaeda’s objective is to destroy the so-called Western way of life and replace it with a caliphate.
The Americans remain focused on attacking the symptoms rather than the disease itself, because fear is a powerful tool in U.S. governance, and war is a pillar of the U.S. economy.
Fixing the problem of terrorism would require wholesale redirection of America’s foreign policy—away from the interests of the U.S. lobbyists and toward U.S. interests in human rights and international law.
Ronald Barbour, Volonne, France
It’s Time for Moderation
To The Independent, Jan. 16, 2010
It has occurred to me, on reading Shaaz Mahboob’s “It’s time for moderate Muslims to step forward” (Jan. 13 ), that had “moderate Christians” restrained Messrs. Bush, Blair and their co-religionists in 2001 and 2003, we might not need to be speaking today of “moderate Muslims.”
Christopher Hutchison, Kingston upon Thames, UK
