Monday, Apr. 15, 2002

Letters

More amazing than President Bush's decision to intervene in the Middle East is his prior lack of involvement [WORLD, March 25]. It is sad that Bush decided to act because of his plans to force a showdown with Iraq. He should have been sitting at the negotiating table from the first day of his presidency. A hands-off approach to Israel and the Palestinians gets us nowhere. Peace can be achieved only through negotiations. BRANDON NIGHTINGALE Lawrence, Kans.

To Israel and the Palestinians: will you blockheads knock it off? Israel, you're never going to have the peace and recognition you desire until you acknowledge the right of the Palestinians to their homeland. Palestinians, you're never going to get free title to that homeland until you quit the killing and disturbing-the-peace business. It just angers the rest of the world. I'm really tired of hearing about this lunacy. JOHN H. HAGER Wheeling, Ill.

I take issue with your statement that "throughout the Muslim world, sympathy for the Palestinians and antagonism toward Israel" fuel the hatred of the U.S. The root of Islamic enmity toward Israel is a hatred of a non-Islamic country that has the audacity to exist at all in a region that Arabs consider Islamic and has succeeded economically where the Arabs of pre-Israel Palestine did not. Muslim hatred of the West and the U.S. is much more complicated. Muslim monarchies and dictatorships encourage anger against the U.S. because it provides an escape valve for the rage of the populations they oppress, which otherwise might rightfully be directed at them. JACKIE RECKSEIT Delray Beach, Fla.

Why is it O.K. for the U.S. to ship planes, tanks and gunships to Israel but not O.K. for Iran to ship guns and ammunition to the Palestinians? SEBASTIAN MELMOUTH Peoria, Ariz.

The Middle East crisis is a mess of a war that will probably drag on for centuries unless we take drastic diplomatic steps. Besides looking at the complex historical causes for the bloodshed, consider the present situation: each time one side attacks, the other retaliates on a greater scale. One side needs to refrain from reacting when provoked. Such a course seems simple, but when we look at the desire for revenge we in the U.S. felt after Sept. 11, we can understand that it is no small feat to accomplish. CHARLES HAILER Boston

The Arab World needs to understand that no amount of threats or acts of terror will shift the West from its defense of Israel's right to exist. Arabs must stop using anti-Israeli feeling as a safety valve for the discontent in the Arab world's own mismanaged societies. MARK ALAN Los Angeles

--Many of you felt that the scariest person in our cover photo was not the man firing his gun. "The most unsettling character is the man in the background, casually leaning against the wall with his arms crossed," wrote a reader from Michigan. "How many people would strike that pose if a gun were being fired in front of them?" A Florida reader agreed, observing, "The person leaning nonchalantly against the wall has an almost grotesque attitude, the resigned acceptance of a checkout delay at the grocery store. This is a world I cannot comprehend."

To Find Real Peace

The cover photo of a Palestinian firing his gun does not show the Israeli tank pointing back at him and does not indicate that the tank is, in fact, occupying this man's land [WORLD, March 25]. A long history of U.S. vetoes of U.N. resolutions affirming Palestinian rights is the reason that so many Arabs view the U.S. and Israel as the same enemy. The Americans and Israelis should realize that making peace deals with governments will never result in real peace. Unless the U.S. and Israel consider the Palestinians' right to land, identity, possessions and dignity, there won't be much hope of peace for anyone in this part of the world. HANNA ABOULGHAR Cairo

Profiles in Correctness

Bravo for Charles Krauthammer's commentary "The Case for Profiling," in which he argues that airport security should focus on the people who are most likely to commit terrorist acts [ESSAY, March 18]. We are paralyzed by political correctness. It is time somebody blew the whistle on it. In any other country, profiling would certainly take place in airports, and rightly so. As a frequent traveler, I would understand being profiled in countries where people matching my physical description are known terrorists. I would expect to be treated correctly, but I would not object to being profiled. Countries have to protect their citizens! Wake up and stop bothering little old ladies! NADJA DAVELUY Montreal

So Krauthammer thinks that profiling young Arab men at airports is an acceptable policy. But what if the attack on the Twin Towers had been carried out not by a bunch of Arab fanatics but by a group of Jewish extremists? Would that give us the right to profile all Jews or have them wear a yellow star? JAN VAN EIJK Regina, Sask.

Krauthammer brilliantly illustrated the hypocrisy of the U.S. government in its defense of profiling. Not too long ago, the U.S. summoned thousands of presumably innocent men of Islamic origin for "voluntary" questioning. And now, with tens of thousands of airline passengers' lives at stake daily, officials are intimidated by a civil-libertarian backlash and are equating the threat posed by the very same ethnic group with that of a bunch of Irish nuns? Give me a break! RON VINOKOOR Takarazuka, Japan

Continental Divide

Michael Elliott's article "How Europeans Can Be Useful," which noted that they should step in and help out around the world instead of slamming America, was right on the money [GLOBAL AGENDA, March 11]. Our 20th century was horrible indeed, and twice the U.S. had to bail Europe out. Military cemeteries in France, Belgium and the Netherlands are reminders. Though we older people will never forget the wars and still stand in awe when we visit these cemeteries, a new generation is totally estranged from this history. In Kosovo, U.S. forces again had to quench fires in the heart of Europe that Europeans were loath to put out. We holler when the U.S. rightly fights international terrorism, which is also close to our doorstep. Pacifism and left-wing governments have blocked wholehearted support of American goals. It will take another Sept. 11, on this side of the ocean, for Europe to wise up. ARIE DE KORT Bodegraven, the Netherlands

Keep Oscar Above the Fray

It is hard to imagine that the mudslinging and dirty tricks mentioned in "Inside the Oscar Wars" could have influenced any member of the Academy [SHOW BUSINESS, March 25]. To read that there were malicious smear campaigns behind the awards was disturbing. I believe people in Hollywood care more about the honesty of their performances than they do about media stories on the films. Even if, with my Midwestern mentality, I am misled to believe in the integrity of those who make movies, I prefer to remain as I am. JOANNA J. CHENEY Milwaukee, Wis.

The graphic "Oscar by the Numbers," which listed some big-shot actors turned Oscar-winning directors, omitted Clint Eastwood's Best Director Oscar for Unforgiven, which also nabbed a Best Picture Award in 1992. Eastwood's fine directing deserved consideration. FONTIP KLAIDONPLONG Bangkok

Writer Ben Nugent explains that he did not include Eastwood because the star has been an actor-director for some 30 years, and Unforgiven was the 16th movie he directed. Those actors on Nugent's list all won for their first or second directorial effort.