Letters

(3 of 3)

It's not a solution to bomb a country down to the ground for questionable reasons and then totally lose control of everything. Iraq is not the only evidence of the U.S.'s flawed foreign policy. Think of Afghanistan. Has anything improved there since troops landed almost two years ago? No. Corruption is still proliferating, the Taliban is lining up again and the country is still among the poorest in the world. I'm sure we'll see the same results in Iraq.
LUC DEFERONT
Marseilles

Staying Power

As your story on the bombing in Jakarta made clear [NOTEBOOK, Aug. 18], Islamic terrorist organizations have shown once more that they have not been defeated by the global war against terrorism. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to damage a luxurious hotel in the heart of Indonesia's capital. Is it really necessary to maintain the risky fight against Islamic fundamentalists? They can appear everywhere, they can hide anywhere, and they're constantly filling their ranks with new, young and motivated members. It seems senseless to react with violence. It would be much more useful to find a compromise.
MAIRA FELUPINTIS
Piraeus, Greece

Forgive and Forget?

It is high time that the world accept Libya's confession that it was responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pam Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people [NOTEBOOK, Aug. 25]. Libya has been isolated and sanctioned for nearly 15 years, and it has already paid enough for this atrocity. Why should innocent Libyans be made to suffer any longer from enormous unemployment, a bad medical situation and a disastrous economy, all of which are the result of the sanctions?
MICHAEL DUNINGER
Salzburg, Austria