Letters

Facing the Fury

"Americans don't fear the wrath of protesters. It is those who carried out the heinous attack who must face the rage of the world."
ROBERT SOLOMON
New York City

Enough hand wringing over angry Muslims [THE TALIBAN, Oct. 15]! Americans are angrier, and we're ready to fight too. These people are the enemy, and I'm sick of seeing them on my TV screen. Remember Sept. 11, America, and let your anger rage until we've made the world a better place for everyone.
WES REEVES
Amarillo, Texas

I have had it with the notion that we Americans had better be careful or we might make "them" more angry than they already are, and then we'll be in real trouble. There is a grain of truth to it, but I am tired of it. What about my anger? What about my fury? Five thousand Americans were slaughtered without provocation. American foreign policy is not perfect, but it did not cause this hideous display of evil.
MICHELLE JACKSON
Sacramento, Calif.

President Bush and his administration are doing a great job in the most complex of situations. Hats off to them! Because the U.S. is pitted against such a ragtag lot, it seems ludicrous to describe this conflict as a war. But if the air strikes can rid the world of terrorism or something even worse, we will have a better world for future generations.
VIJAY RUNGANADHAN
Mumbai, India

Let the terrorists know that we are just as determined as they are and we have the weapons to show our resolve. Let's put some fear in their lives. I don't like to advocate the use of violence, but you have to fight fire with fire. If violence is the name of the game, then we should play the game!
DEWEY T. JONES
Green Oaks, Ill.

Your cover photo may indeed reflect the fury of some in Pakistan, but it may also be highly misleading. There are 144 million people in Pakistan, and it appears a few thousand have taken to the streets. What are the other 143,995,000 doing and thinking?
PETER ZHEUTLIN
Needham, Mass.

--The angry anti-American protesters on our cover were the last thing many of you wanted to see. "What are you trying to do," asked a Louisiana reader, "scare all the mothers of the servicemen and -women sent to fight this war? It would have been better to show the righteous fury of a Navy SEAL or an Army paratrooper." Objecting to the "Muslims screaming hate against America," a Texan asked, "Why not show the heroic workers cleaning up the rubble in New York?" "We have enough reminders of the terror without that revolting picture," declared an Arizonan. But plenty of you were struck by something else. "That Pakistani protester must have a great dental plan," wrote a Californian. "He has a perfect set of teeth." A New Jersey man agreed. "My two daughters' orthodontia didn't come close to those teeth. What's in the water over there?" We don't know about Pakistan's water or dental plans, but we can tell you that the photo was unretouched.

Food Fight

Much of the U.S.'s humanitarian effort in Afghanistan is simply adding fuel to anti-American fires [THE STRATEGY, Oct. 15]. Dropping tons of food that the Afghans neither like nor understand (peanut butter, for example) merely perpetuates the image that Americans are trying to convert Afghans to our way of life--or that we are so arrogant we really don't care what they want. We need to discover what food Afghans want and need and then distribute that rather than the stuff we're giving them now. This would do much to advance our humanitarian image.
DUNCAN WIMPRESS
San Antonio, Texas

Instead of dropping food, we should drop the foolish idea of a coalition against terrorism that seeks to include the very terrorist nations we should be fighting against.
DANIEL WAHL
Kannapolis, N.C.

If Afghan planes were flying over the U.S., dropping packages with Arabic writing and the Afghan flag, what would Americans' reaction be? Would they know it was food? With the wartime paranoia, I suspect most would think it was some form of biological warfare. To be recognizable, a food drop must consist of McDonald's hamburgers, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Recognition of those logos is universal, and the Afghan people would immediately know what they were getting.
DONALD M. CURRIE
North Vancouver, B.C.

Building the New Nation

To totally destroy the military infrastructure of the Taliban while at the same time strengthening the Northern Alliance (which represents only about a third of the tribes) would lead to extreme political imbalances in Afghanistan and be a cause of more bloodshed [THE TALIBAN, Oct. 15]. So it is of the utmost importance that the U.S. clean up the mess it creates in Afghanistan, help set up a fair and balanced government and not desert the Afghans as it did in the 1980s.
SIBGHAT ULLAH
Lahore, Pakistan

Both President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair speak of a post-Taliban government that would represent all tribes and ethnic groups. If it is to be a government of all, let's hear a lot more about Afghanistan's women, who have borne a terrible burden during the Taliban's medieval rule. Under the former, Soviet-dominated regime, they were well educated and played important roles as physicians and teachers. Today the nation's women are the brightest and best hope for democracy.
TIM SYMONDS
Lamberhurst, England