Wheel and Deal

Wheel and Deal
Re “Obama’s Iran Gamble” [Dec. 9]: Michael Crowley could well be right in his assertion that “the deal could still go badly wrong, and the critics may yet be proved right.” Iran’s government has been known for its flippancy in the past. There is no obvious reason to believe it has morphed into a sincere administration under the new, untested President. While Moscow continues to maintain a cordial relationship with Tehran, many Russians still feel that such kinship is only superficial and politically motivated, for we are skeptical of Iran’s ultimate true intention. In any case, peace must prevail, at all cost.
Yuri Czekov,
Moscow

President Obama seems determined not to get involved in any new war again. The very fact he entertains Iran’s nuclear saga shows that he wants a peaceful and amicable deal with Tehran. Also, he must have coerced and persuaded Israel not to carry out any air strike without his green light. It does appear that the Iranian government under new President Hassan Rouhani has become not as aggressive as before. This is a good sign, and the U.S. ought to capitalize on it, for the sake of global peace.
Miko Isetan,
Kobe, Japan

Road Rules
Re “Pedal at Your Own Peril” [Dec. 9]: This article highlights a growing problem that is evident in most large Western cities. The root of the conflict between motorists and cyclists is that cyclists can generally ignore the road rules with impunity. There are few legal consequences for flouting the law on a bicycle. Under most legal codes, a person riding a bicycle is not held to be in charge of a vehicle. Unfortunately, this legal loophole makes effective policing of bicycle traffic difficult. With the growth of cycling as a commuter option, the time has come to overhaul the laws.
Phillip White,
Melbourne

How different things are where I live, a nation where cycling is being taught from a very young age and is promoted by society as a whole. By the time a Dutch teenager gets his driver’s license, he himself has been an active cyclist for roughly 10 years. This is what makes all the difference. This is why relatively few fatal accidents happen in a nation where roughly one-third of the population regards the bicycle as the main mode of transportation. So yes, cycling is very risky, but only to the extent that society lets it become so.
Jürgen Fassbender,
Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands

Libya in Limbo
Re “Lawless in Libya” [Dec. 2]: One way of explaining why the local militias in Libya are so uncompromising is that they do not actually want a solution to the issues that generated them. Such a solution would mean moving on from the glory of victory in the spring and also of the deference with which they are being treated by the post-Gaddafi leadership. Continuing to laud these obdurate parasites will only protract the bloodshed in Libya.
Mathew Haine,
Kuala Lumpur

Population Check
Re “Why China Needs More Children” [Dec. 2]: China’s one-child policy is a violation of human rights and an economic disaster. The policy exposes China to a raft of hidden social problems. The hazards of labor shortages and an aging population have emerged, and China’s social-security system hasn’t been set up yet.
Song Xiaowen,
Pingzhen City, Taiwan

The Chinese have made mistakes in the implementation of their one-child policy. From these, the rest of the world’s regimes should learn how to improve on their own efforts in this regard. Whatever the adverse economic consequences of such programs, it will be a small price to pay compared with the long-term consequences of the progression of our civilization if overpopulation is allowed to escalate any further.
Gert Pienaar,
Pretoria, South Africa