Quotes of the Day

How to Aid Afghanistan
"The Right War": an oxymoron if ever there was one [July 28]. I was born when World War II was raging and served in the military during the Vietnam era. Fortunately, I wasn't called upon to kill or be killed, but tens of thousands of others were. There is no hope for peace on earth as long as war is considered the right thing to do. Each side in a war considers its cause to be right, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda, which call their wars "holy" — another oxymoron. When will people ever learn?
Carlos Carrier,
Long Beach, California

Your cover showed a soldier standing near a gun emplacement. A better photo would have been the one in Rory Stewart's article, in which two Kabul residents are holding hands as they cross an incomplete bridge. That picture more closely represents what is likely to help Afghanistan achieve its rightful future of peace and stability: a helping hand.
Piyoosh Kotecha,
Brisbane

Could we somehow get both John McCain and Barack Obama to read Stewart's article? Stewart is knowledgeable, comprehensive and realistic. We very badly need his ideas to be discussed and, more important, implemented, especially in the face of the tactics proposed by both presidential candidates.
Jane Carder,
Macon, Georgia

Terrorists are mobile and headed from all over to Iraq because the U.S. was there. Now Afghanistan is becoming the hotbed, and terrorists will flow there. The problem is that no foreign force, including the former Soviet Union, has ever been successful in Afghanistan. Could this be why the U.S. chose to fight terrorists in Iraq?
Charles Langhorn,
Auburn, California

Taliban fighters are representatives of an ousted legal government. They are defenders, not insurgents. There is no way forward unless and until the Taliban are accepted as a real part of Afghan life.
Louis Anderson,
Sydney

Unretiring Diva
It's a pity that your "Brief History of: Un-Retirement" focused on sports stars [July 28]. Otherwise, it might have mentioned the celebrated case of soprano Dame Nellie Melba. The phrase "More farewells than Nellie Melba" still has currency in her native Australia. After her official farewell at London's Covent Garden in 1926, she returned to Australia two years later to sing farewell in Sydney and, over the next few months, Melbourne, Geelong, and finally Adelaide. No matter whether the arena is sporting, theatrical or musical, no one can really be said to have "done a Melba" who hasn't resurrected him- or herself at least twice.
Norm Stevens,
Sydney

Chastity Meets Controversy
Purity balls strike me as a contradiction in terms [July 28]. Dressing children up as adults and putting them in a mature environment focused on sexual behavior surely offers a glimpse of the very temptations these fathers are trying to forestall. I wonder how many of these men are involved in creating the society they are so fearful of for their daughters. Making a "vow before God" to protect the purity of another is presumptuous and in any case probably requires sainthood.
Peter Waugh,
North Vancouver, Canada

Your article mentions a girl who was assaulted, then consumed with guilt. Where was the boy's purity ball? Why was he not raised to treat women respectfully? If a daughter can promise purity in the presence of her father, why can't a son?
Lily Weiss,
Lawrence, New York

Fathers who are genuinely concerned with the well-being of their daughters rather than compelled to control them have a more sensible and effective approach: they behave as role models who demonstrate healthy relationships in their interactions with wives, girlfriends and other females.
Lisa Deck Drdul,
Amherst, New York

When some of these girls marry abusive husbands or encounter discrimination in the workplace, will they assert their rights or just keep quiet? I would much rather see young girls doing an activity that helps them learn they are something more than a sexual object. Purity balls produce the very type of girl who ends up thinking her value lies only in her appeal to men.
Linda L. Rasmussen,
San Diego

Cracking Up Is Hard to Do
There is no excuse for your flighty defense of the New Yorker cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as fist-bumping terrorists [July 28]. You ask if America has lost its sense of humor — America has not. But we have lost patience with the kind of hatemongering that drove the New Yorker to try to sell magazines by marginalizing the man who will be the next President of the United States. You should be ashamed of defending its decision to run that cover.
Thomas Rajala,
Stockton, California

In the 18th century, Jonathan Swift was criticized for his satirical essay A Modest Proposal, which suggests that poor Irish treat their children like food and sell them to the rich. Swift was not promoting cannibalism or infanticide: he thought his audience would understand the absurdity of such ludicrous ideas. Does the New Yorker really believe Obama is a Muslim extremist and his wife a terrorist? No, but the editors thought Americans were smart enough to interpret the utter ridiculousness as an exaggeration — one that fits well into this increasingly overdramatic presidential campaign.
Lauren Tighe,
Saginaw, Michigan

McCain and Bush
Though James Carney adequately highlights the personal rivalry between President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, his reference to McCain's divergence from Bush on policy issues is dramatically overstated [July 28]. While McCain's previous vocal opposition to Bush's agenda has secured him the "maverick" label, his Senate record has followed the party line on almost every major issue except tax cuts (a position he has since reversed) and torture.
Katie Mercuro,
Ashburn, Virginia

Your picture of McCain and Bush embracing carried the caption, "An awkward hug on the '04 campaign trail." If you had done your homework, you would know that the reason the hug looks awkward is because McCain can not lift his arms much higher than his waist without pain as a result of being stabbed by a bayonet after his capture in Vietnam.
James Schear,
Fort Thomas, Kentucky

The Louvre Faces the Future
Peter Gumbel's article "Le Louvre Inc." warmed the cockles of my heart [July 28]. It made me feel that my favorite museum is well cared for by its director, Henri Loyrette. I visit a different section of the Louvre every time I visit Paris, and it will take me a lifetime to see it all — if I ever do. But I am now certain that my grandchildren, their children and all coming generations will also be able to enjoy the world's greatest museum.
Issa Boullata,
Montreal

Bums "R" Us
Like Nancy Gibbs, I eagerly await the arrival of "some new bums" in the political arena [July 28]. I even know some who would be perfect: an eighth-grade English teacher who knows the Constitution inside and out; an empathetic nurse with the experience to help establish a universal health-care plan. Sadly, these outstanding outsiders will remain outside until our system changes its rules by drastically limiting the amount of money a candidate is allowed to raise and by reducing the amount of time a candidate may campaign. Only by leveling the field will those players be able to enter the game.
Ronna L. Edelstein,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Ray of Sunshine
Your review of Mamma Mia! was on the mark [July 21]. With so many noisy, darkly violent movies filling our cinema screens, Mamma Mia! appears as a burst of sunshine. The verve of the cast and their exuberant renditions of ABBA songs are both compelling and uplifting. Any small defects are obliterated by the sheer entertainment the movie gives.
Tony Ferrier,
Hamilton, New Zealand