Quotes of the Day

Not All Bad in Karachi
There is no doubt that the crime situation in Karachi is bad ["To Live and Die in Karachi," Jan. 16]. Nevertheless, life is not as gloomy as projected in the article by Andrew Marshall. People in Karachi still enjoy Bollywood movies, music performances, cricket matches, restaurants and beaches. Killings and robberies do not get in the way of living life here.
Parvez Rahim,
Karachi

Karachi, as well as Pakistan, is going through a dark time. Only news regarding the deaths of at least 50 people is now seen as shocking. It is sad, but we as Pakistanis have been accustomed to death.
Ali Aasim,
Karachi

Although the headline read "To Live and Die in Karachi," it seemed more like a story on "To Die in Karachi." I realize it wasn't a travelogue, but we are living here more than we are dying.
Basim Waheed,
Karachi

Of Pakistan's 180 million people, more than half are under the age of 25. The youth of Pakistan is its strength. If you think that India is a booming nation, I suggest you stop a second and look at Pakistan. Given a little help from the Western world, Pakistan can become a dominant economy.
Tony Lazaro,
Sydney

Under ANC Rule
What a superb and refreshingly well-written account of the ANC in South Africa by Alex Perry ["How the ANC Lost Its Way," Jan. 16]. As a white South African, I would like to say that it is high time that people start becoming aware of the failures of the ruling party. The country is in a mess because of the ANC and its policies, which have helped to marginalize both black and white as never before. I hope individuals will start to see them for what they have become.
Martyn Abrahams,
The Hague

Please be fair. The ANC has brought continuous freedom and new opportunities for economic growth. It decided to forgive the whites and make South Africa a country that belongs to all who live in it.
Aloysius Abiakam,
Muraoka Hyogo, Japan

Of course racial prejudice is still here after 17 years. But having grown up in the segregated South of the U.S. in the 1940s and '50s, I have to ask Perry whether or not racial prejudice in the U.S. has disappeared after some 50 years.
M. S. Vosloh,
Marquard, South Africa

Debating Taiwan
Zoher Abdoolcarim's Commentary on Taiwan is in-depth, objective and pertinent ["Neither Independence nor Unification," Jan. 16]. I am thrilled that my country is a democracy; I am proud to be a Taiwanese. Compare that with China: no election for the leader, from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping.
Song Xiaowen,
Pingzhen City, Taiwan

Abdoolcarim writes that under President Ma Ying-jeou, "Taiwan has been politically stable and its economy resilient amid the downturn in the West." All of the stability now doesn't mean 23 million people in Taiwan are safe. Furthermore, businesses take advantage of the economy, which doesn't benefit most Taiwanese. There are many people who have a more miserable life compared with four years ago. But while I disagree with what Abdoolcarim says, I will defend to the death his right to say it — because Taiwan is a democracy. However, his stance does not represent all Taiwanese.
Fu Chun-wei,
Taipei

I find your anti-China stance a bit disturbing, unnecessarily highlighting its aggressiveness toward Taiwan. More than half of the ancestors of Taiwan's population came from China. Many still wish to be embraced by the mainland.
Ti Han-venn,
Taipei

Too Many Kills?
What possessed Belinda Luscombe to interview a sniper for 10 Questions [Jan. 16]? She tells us that Navy SEAL Chris Kyle has 160 confirmed kills, "purportedly the highest of any American," and that his victims in Iraq include a woman with a toddler because she had a grenade. Kyle shot people from a safe distance of up to 2,100 yd. (1,900 m) in a war we chose to fight in a country that had not attacked us. I'm sure glad to hear, though, that Kyle is now "pretty comfortable with not having to kill anyone."
Doug Palmer,
Seattle

Your interview with Kyle was bone chilling. To talk about having killed with such nonchalance is tragic. But the worst is his conviction that the Iraq war was worth the senseless bloodshed after it has been demonstrated that it was based on lies. If Kyle's conviction is prevalent among Americans, it leaves little hope for their nation to have finally learned its lesson.
Carlos Turriago,
Tampere, Finland