Quotes of the Day

The 2008 U.S. presidential race is off to an early start, with many fresh, diverse contenders entering the marathon to the White House. Readers stressed the importance of a concrete agenda to clear the toughest hurdle — how to handle Iraq — as they anticipate a historic dash to the finish

All the candidates, regardless of party affiliation, should know something about the next 648 days [Feb. 5]. They will be rejected if they engage in the personal attacks and name calling that we have witnessed in past elections. We need realistic solutions to real problems. They should fire their campaign managers and speechwriters if all they want to do is tear down the other candidates or propose pie-in-the-sky nostrums that haven't a prayer of becoming law. We want character and intelligence. Otherwise, they should drop out now and save us all a lot of irritation.
Wanda Jones
San Francisco

time is already reporting on the 2008 presidential race? What's next, a March issue about Christmas? Considering your dubious past success rate with prognostication — such as the seriousness of the Y2K problem and the prospect for Howard Dean's presidential bid — you should either leave the fortune telling to others or upgrade your crystal ball.
Joe Frank
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.

You quoted senator Chuck Hagel as saying, "I don't think there's any point in going back and reviewing or replaying the bad decisions" related to the war in Iraq. I strongly disagree. A president must make good decisions for the country. Have the candidates who voted for the Iraq war demonstrated that ability? Why did they vote for war? Did they evaluate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's assertion that Iraq could have a nuclear weapon so soon? Did they not consider the possibility that removing Saddam Hussein from power might unleash a civil war among Iraq's intensely hostile ethnic groups? American voters need to understand what motivated those ayes in Congress.
Elizabeth Terry
Palm Coast, Florida, U.S.

We should be opposed in principle to a legacy presidency. European settlers in the New World risked life, limb and fortune to escape the monarchies that held power within royal families. The Adamses, Harrisons, Roosevelts and Bushes have given us ample experience with all-in-the-family presidencies. With the notable exception of the Roosevelts, legacy Presidents have been mediocre. There are plenty of qualified candidates in the race with names other than Clinton or Bush. Let's elect one of them next year.
Craig Cranston
Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.

Much has been made of recent polls showing that, among black voters, Hillary Clinton is favored by a large margin over Barack Obama. The (mostly white) talking heads have twisted themselves into knots trying to explain it. Let me help them out. We in the black community know full well that not enough white Americans will go into the voting booth and pull the lever for a black man to be the President, so we don't want to throw our votes away on an underdog black candidate. And 90% of black voters do not vote Republican because, while we might not always know who is for us, we definitely know who is against us.
Vernon S. Burton
San Leandro, California, U.S.

Agreeing to Disagree
Michael Kinsley made some excellent points in his Viewpoint "In Defense of Partisan Bickering" [Feb. 5]. To his list of what Americans want, I would add that Americans want politicians to stop the negative campaign ads. I want to hear each candidate's stance on issues and ideas for the future, not demonization using distortion or misinformation. From Donald Segretti's campaign of dirty tricks in the employ of Richard Nixon to the Swift Boat Veterans' attack on Senator John Kerry, such tactics have debased and degraded the electoral process and turned voters off. Can't we have a campaign with integrity?
Jane Dineen
Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.

Imagining a New NATO
In light of the global threat of terrorism, Walter Isaacson asked, "What would George Marshall and Dean Acheson be doing now?" [Feb. 5]. Isaacson suggested that they might be forging a Mideast Antiterrorism Organization (mato) whose members would include Israel and Iraq. I doubt it. I rather suspect that Marshall and Acheson would be saying they told us so. Both men were vehemently opposed to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine because they recognized that it was immoral and that it would open up a can of worms that would haunt the region and the U.S. for decades to come.
Adam Edwards
Lindgo, Sweden

Isaacson's proposal for a MATO is such a simple yet sound idea. The U.S. has squandered much of its soft power — the good will of so much of the world after 9/11 — and is bumping up against the limits of its hard power. A MATO is much needed, sooner rather than later.
Quincy Scott
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

This Land Is Whose Land?
Your article "In the land of the lonely" [Feb. 5] reported that the nearly 300,000 Jews who live in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) have responded to hundreds of murders, maimings and kidnappings by throwing stones and name calling. While your article designated the area as "Arab territory," it must be remembered that the Arab world perceives all the land of Israel as theirs, with no room for Jews. When Israel retreated from Gaza, the Arabs there established a well-armed terrorist infrastructure that has been raining missiles down on Israeli residential areas ever since. How could anyone reasonably expect the Israelis to withdraw further?
Scott David Lippe
Fair Lawn, New Jersey, U.S.

Your important story about the illegal settlement outpost of Migron, in the West Bank, erroneously referred to Peace Now as a "pacifist group." The organization was established in 1978 by 348 senior Israeli officers and combat soldiers to urge their government to sign a peace treaty with Egypt. Peace Now has supported some Israeli military measures, including Israel's military response to Hizballah gunmen who crossed from Lebanon into Israel to kidnap two soldiers in the summer of 2006. Our objection to the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories does not stem from a pacifist philosophy but from a pragmatic conviction: such settlements undermine Israel's security and the efforts to achieve a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ori Nir, Spokesman
Americans for Peace Now
Washington

Democracy's Deep Roots
I enjoyed David Kennedy's illuminating article on how the U.S. Congress and Presidents always tangle over war [Jan. 29]. His reference to the U.S. as "the world's oldest democracy," however, may need some qualification. Notwithstanding the many contributions the U.S. has made to the world, some say New Zealand was the first true democracy since it was the first nation to enfranchise women. Others use as a criterion the first election of parliament members (Iceland in A.D. 930). Some would ask, If the oldest democracy is not to be found somewhere in ancient Greece, why did the word first appear there?
Zafiris Tzannatos
Cephalonia, Greece

All Eyes on Iran
Peter Beinart's "Stop obsessing about Iran" [Jan. 29] was unconvincing. Iraq's Shi'ite community could indeed form a fifth column in Iraq or at least form new alliances with Iran. Beinart observed that Iraq's Shi'ites have never launched a secessionist movement. That isn't surprising, since Saddam Hussein's suppression did not allow for much sectarian expression. Much of the pent-up anger under Saddam's regime is now finding an outlet in brutal daily violence. Iran will not hesitate to support an embattled Shi'ite community with all the means at its disposal — just look at Iran's meddling in Lebanon in support of its proxy Hizballah.
Isaac Gerstman
Tel Aviv

Beckham's Body Double?
The Jan. 29 People page made me do a double take to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. The resemblance between actor Jason Bateman and soccer star David Beckham is uncanny. Surely Bateman needs only to turn up at the audition to be cast as Beckham when David Beckham: The Movie is eventually made. Assuming, of course, that Beckham doesn't audition for the part, considering that he might very well end up living in Hollywood.
William Stopforth
George, South Africa

More Trees, Fewer Chimneys
I was pleased to read "Lost in the forest" [Jan. 29], about the plans of some companies to compensate for their CO2 emissions by planting trees. This is a nice first step. But we also need a worldwide organization with a lot of political and economic power to force companies of every country to reduce CO2 emissions.
Gerrit Röpke
Verden, Germany

The Personal Is Environmental
Re "Kyoto, heal thyself" [Jan. 29]: i want to believe that we Japanese are born loving and cherishing nature. However, I feel that we are not taking action. Despite the trend toward hybrid cars overseas, many young Japanese are attracted to huge SUVs, which burn more fuel and take up more space in the already crowded streets of our cities. We throw away our cell phones within a year and replace them with the latest model so that we can show off to our friends. Let's not leave it up to the government or technology to solve environmental issues for us.
Makiko Kawamura
Urayasu, Japan

• Agreeing to Disagree; Imagining a New NATO; This Land Is Whose Land?; Democracy's Deep Roots