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I commend Bennett for shedding light on a little-known, crucial issue. It pains me that young girls are forced to find safe haven in jails and orphanages to escape sex trafficking, and I'm horrified that this just recently became a problem, following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The lack of law and order in Iraq is enabling the exploitation of those girls. MORGAN WILEY Fairway, Kans.
I was appalled to learn that Iraqi girls who are kidnapped are not always taken back by their families and are sometimes even killed. How can a society that does not value equality, freedom and justice embrace our version of democracy? Iraqis play by a completely different set of rules. Why do I, a stay-at-home mom with one year of college, realize that, when the top people in Washington do not? CASSANDRA HAGEDORN Grand Rapids, Mich.
The starkest element in this heartbreaking story about Iraqi girls being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery was the observation by a Western official in Baghdad who monitors the status of women in Iraq that sex trafficking was virtually nonexistent under Saddam. So was the violent persecution of Iraqi Christians, and so were terrorist attacks. Was regime change really necessary? ROBERT P. WAXMAN Cairo, N.Y.
The story about Iraqi girls broke my heart. If Islam is truly a religion of justice and humanity, then change must come from the so-called street. There should be outrage in the community that matches the reaction to the Muhammad cartoons--and that outrage should be directed at the perpetrators. DON KANG Speicher, Germany
Escaping from North Korea
TIME's story about the trials of North Koreans fleeing their country made for riveting reading [May 1]. Instead of hounding desperate refugees, the Chinese government should focus on prodding Pyongyang to open up and reform. Ultimately, only improved economic conditions under a more open system in North Korea can effectively stop the flow of refugees. If China really wants to stem illegal border crossings and help the North Korean people, a great step in the right direction would be spurring its basket-case neighbor to embrace globalization rather than just providing aid to prop up the regime. If that happened, the underground railroad created by American Christians would come to a halt, a result they and other activists would warmly welcome. CHEN LIANG Singapore
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