Quotes of the Day
Street Fight in Iraq
"The battle for Fallujah has reduced another city to rubble and increased the hatred of the U.S. among ordinary Iraqis."
JEAN WALTRIP
Rocky Mount, Va.
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Your report on the full-scale assault to take back Fallujah from the insurgents [Nov. 22] reminds me of the Vietnam-era axiom: "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." Although reconstruction is supposed to begin as soon as we pacify the Fallujah cauldron, attempts at such rebuilding in the rest of Iraq have shown that it is impossible to begin the work and spend the budgeted money because of the lack of security for work crews. What contractor on earth would want to undertake such risks to work in Fallujah, the most dangerous place in Iraq?
DAVE WATTERS
Wyoming, Ohio
The battle for Fallujah has reduced another city to rubble and increased the hatred of the U.S. among ordinary Iraqis. I see no way out of this mess, short of leaving the country to its own devices. Then, of course, another dictator will take over, or a civil war will begin. The U.S. has no legitimate role in the Middle East. If we need Iraq's oil, we can bid for it on the world market. Our interference in the region has been counterproductive. There will be no scattering of rose petals for Americans, but there will be many more deaths of our troops and of Iraqis too. Show me the moral value in that.
JEAN WALTRIP
Rocky Mount, Va.
Why didn't you devote more reporting to the terrible suffering of the city's residents, in particular women and children? Perhaps you are afraid people will criticize the brutality of the American troops.
ANN SALVADORI
London
TIME's cover showed a Marine corporal, face tense and most likely screaming some command to his subordinates while fighting insurgents in Iraq. I feel terrible about what's happening in the war, but I am losing interest in the day-to-day combat. Have the media lulled me into acceptance of casualties?
JUMPER LAFAYETTE
Crownsville, Md.
Time and time again I am amazed by the quality of reporting by Australian journalist Michael Ware, who has tirelessly covered the war on terrorism for TIME in very difficult, trying and dangerous circumstances. We must pay tribute to remarkable people like Ware who continually provide us with gritty, quality journalism directly from the front lines.
NICK SMART
Gold Coast, Australia
The Legacy of Arafat
Whatever view one takes of the long struggle between Palestinians and Israelis, a kernel of truth concerning that conflict can be glimpsed from two details of Yasser Arafat's illness and death [Nov. 22]. His people had to take him to another country for decent medical care, and they had to ask Israel, his lifelong enemy, for permission to return his body for burial in Ramallah in the West Bank. Can you imagine an Israeli Prime Minister being put in the same position? Until the fundamental economic and political inequalities that lie behind such contrasts are corrected, there is little hope for peace in that blood-smeared region.
WILLIAM P. REICH
Evanston, Ill.
If there had been no Arafat, we would not have suicide bombers or the suspicion of terrorism in every public place in the world. Would Osama bin Laden have masterminded the 9/11 attacks without Arafat's having led the way? Doubtful. All citizens of the Western world (not just Israelis) should remember Arafat and the terrorist acts he inspired every time they have to go through a metal detector or take their shoes off to get on an airplane.
MARK FELD
New York City
Arafat funded violent groups throughout the territories. Even in the optimistic early days after the signing of the Oslo accords, Arafat turned a blind eye when Palestinian terrorists bombed defenseless Israeli civilians. Apparently he believed that such acts would force more concessions from Israel. What Palestinians needed was a leader like Nelson Mandela. What they got was a sort of Robert Mugabe. Good riddance, and please, no more crocodile tears.
GEORGE REISS
Paradise Valley, Ariz.
There is nothing wrong with seeking justice or independence for your people, but at what price? To state that Arafat won legitimacy for the Palestinian cause "despite sometimes [using] deplorable means" was cruel and idiotic. The next time you are worried that a terrorist will kill your loved ones or are haunted by the image of the Twin Towers, thank the guy who invented it all: Arafat. His dedication to violence has spawned a generation of thugs.
JOSHUA MARCUS
West Orange, N.J.
Palestinians are the forgotten victims of human-rights violations. Arafat brought their plight to world consciousness. Their oppression by Israel is a grave matter that must be addressed if there is to be a chance for peace.
ANNETTE THOMAS
Clarkston, Mich.
Arafat imbued the Palestinian movement with self-deception. His legacy is a shattered economy, a bankrupt government and numerous militant organizations like Hamas.
DONALD MINTZ
Sunnyvale, Calif.
The longer a Middle East peace deak is delayed, the more the final agreement will be to the disadvantage of Palestinians. Israel doubled the number of settlements during the lengthy Oslo peace process. And soon after the collapse of Oslo, Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed they would not pursue a peace agreement until Arafat was out of power. Now, after his death, they have implied that any agreement must wait until the Palestinians establish a democracy. Those delaying tactics do not serve the interests of Palestinians or Israelis who want an end to the devastating cycle of violence and a fair two-state solution now.
RAMZI SHAKRA
Glendale, Calif.
The Values Debate
Columnist Joe Klein's analysis of why the Democrats failed to win the election was right on target [Nov. 22]. Klein noted that the Democrats' "economic issues are not nearly as compelling as the Republicans' religious appeal." The Democratic Party needs to focus on the attraction that religious values hold for the middle class instead of promising voters complicated and expensive government programs. Democrats also should take a long look at those who are benefiting from the faith-based social programs. Those factors are worth pursuing before the next election.
CAROL A. BROOKS
Manlius, N.Y.
Klein implied that John Kerry lost the election because a lot of Southern Christians felt ignored by the Democrats. But Klein overlooks the fact that President Bush has shown himself to be a strong leader with a spine of solid steel. Kerry's claims that he would "hunt down and kill the terrorists, wherever they are" were not believable, coming from someone with a 20-year demonstrated lack of leadership in the Senate.
AMY NOCERA
Martinsville, N.J.
Bombs Along the Border?
Your Notebook item "Bordering on Nukes" [Nov. 22] reported on al-Qaeda's possible plans to smuggle nuclear material into the U.S. from Mexico. Not to worry. We'll take them out at the Rio Grande with one of those billion-dollar antimissile defense rockets recently installed in Alaska. They can't seem to hit many test targets, but surely one rocket could hit a terrorist driving a pickup across the border. Couldn't it?
JOHN REID
Portland, Ore.
It appears that the Bush administration has suddenly awakened to the very real threat of terrorist infiltration of the U.S. through the obviously porous border we share with Mexico. That it took an al-Qaeda operative to alert us to this obvious risk is ridiculous. What has our Homeland Security Department been doing? Wouldn't our nation be a lot more secure if, instead of spending billions of dollars in Iraq, we used the money to secure our borders?
DAVID COHEN
Wyckoff, N.J.
Hot Times in the Arctic
"Meltdown!" [Nov 22], your article on the impact of global warming in the Arctic, was especially timely in the wake of the re-election of Bush, who so arrogantly dismissed the Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. is a nation of selfish materialists who refuse to be good stewards of the earth, and we deserve every abuse Mother Nature heaps upon us. It's just too bad the rest of the world has to suffer with us.
CHERYL CLARK
Calera, Okla.
Be Seen and Not Heard
Re "10 Questions for Whoopi Goldberg" [Nov. 22]: She is an amazing actress, but Goldberg and the rest of Hollywood should stick to what they are good at. Since when do we care about actors' political views? I pay to watch their movies, not to hear their opinions. Goldberg's statement that the U.S. "is being pushed into a religious column" was all wrong. This country was founded by religious people. But our Founding Fathers are truly rolling in their graves right now because we have forgotten what they based this country on.
NICHOLAS DYER
Frisco, Texas