Letters

Bravo for your salute to American ingenuity and entrepreneurial skill that your story "Now Hiring" so convincingly demonstrates [Nov. 24]! Reading about the unemployed who are successfully taking risks and adapting to career changes is such a contrast to listening to the noisy strikers and whining demonstrators who seem to be everywhere these days. Your article showed people unafraid of a radical career change supported in part by American self-confidence as well as our sense of mobility. Seeing new jobs, even if temporary or minimum-wage work, as a challenge is an American answer to dreary job entrenchment and shows our ability to begin again. PATRICIA K. RYAN Ardmore, Pa.

You presented a skewed version of what it is truly like out here. You said, "Jobs are coming back," but whom were you talking to? If you really want to know how the economy is, why don't you ask the maids cleaning hotel rooms, waitresses, cooks and grocery-store clerks? Or maybe folks like us really don't count. After all, we don't have college educations. We're not very stylish. We often look older than we are because it takes a lot out of you to live in an impossible situation. Many of us had our own dreams, but now we just have the jobs that help other people's dreams come true. PAMELA BOWEN Oak Harbor, Wash.

Even with an Ivy League degree, AN M.B.A. and 15 years of successful marketing experience, I have found employers in the hot areas you profiled (including health care and professional services) unwilling to consider management candidates from outside those fields, even when they meet or exceed all other job requirements. I'll continue to hope for a more robust economic turnaround while mulling over the ups and downs of opening a gourmet shop. JEROME FUNARO Baltimore, Md.

You described a rosy picture of the resurgence of jobs, but too many of them are in the service sector and have poor pay. Newly created jobs will not be enough to counterbalance the large number of old ones that have taken a one-way trip to Asia. Unless the hemorrhage of well-paid work to foreign countries is stopped, the U.S. is heading toward Third World status. EDWARD J. MASON El Lago, Texas

I wish you could experience what it is like to be laid off and unemployed for an extended period. You should endure the ordeal that I and thousands of others have undergone, one that strips you of not only any financial security but also your dignity and self-esteem. If you did, then you would be qualified to write a realistic article on the job market instead of the upbeat, sappy story you published. SUSAN SCHNEIDER Suffern, N.Y.

The number of months I've persistently looked for a job after college graduation: nine. The number of job openings I've applied for: 263. The number of times I've been called back: six. The number of offers I received: one for a temporary position. I'm tired of hearing everyone, from friends to President Bush, tell me that the economy is getting better every day and that more jobs are available. Words don't mean anything unless there is actual improvement. HUE MA San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Shifting Gears in Iraq

L. Paul Bremer, the American proconsul in Iraq, is being directed to change policy there as the political winds blow [Nov. 24]. One has to wonder if the timetable for transferring governance to the Iraqis was accelerated because it is in the best interests of that country or because President Bush's primary concern is his re-election bid. MICHAEL ROBERTSON Frisco, Texas

Responding to recent suicide-bombing attacks in Turkey, Bush said terrorists "hate freedom. They hate free countries." Are we to believe that people who blow themselves up do so to bring democracy to its knees? Somehow that sounds farfetched and not unlike the motives attributed to the enemy in Vietnam. Moreover, our response of attacking violence with more violence is as illogical as fighting fire with gasoline. War is like a fire in the human community, fueled by living beings. Let's put the fire out. DENNIS KOSTECKI Holladay, Utah

Al-Qaeda Targets Arabs

You reported on al-Qaeda's new strategy of launching terrorist attacks directed at other Arabs [Nov. 24]. While it was comforting to kid ourselves that al-Qaeda was on the run, the terrorists are proving to be much more resilient and intelligent than anyone imagined. They have now taken aim at pro-Western allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Meanwhile, in Iraq the bombings are becoming more focused. It is time for the U.S. to stop playing the kingmaker in a country about which it knows very little. SRINIVASAN SADAGOPAN Coimbatore, India

I'm puzzled by the insistence that there is a fully organized al-Qaeda--type organization behind the Muslim fanatics who are bent on purging the Middle East of Western influence. Why credit al-Qaeda for every fanatic's act? The facts are simple: there are many disenfranchised Muslim males who see the U.S., Britain and their allies as intruding on sacred Muslim ground. Those Muslims have a holy cause. They want Westerners out at all costs. There is no need for a terrorist, insurgent or al-Qaeda organization to direct the attacks when religious fanaticism is at work. KEN ALLISON Claremont, Calif.

Extreme Peacekeepers

Joe Klein's commentary "It's Time For Extreme Peacekeeping" highlighted the need for an elite corps of people devoted to public service and nation building [Nov. 24]. As Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continues to reform and reorganize the armed forces, he should seriously consider creating such a corps. Klein suggests it could be called the Extreme Peacekeepers or the Freedom Corps. It could play an important role in establishing bastions of democracy and improving America's image throughout the world. Creating such an organization would be an important step in providing an opportunity for college-educated youths who yearn to serve our nation. If we are to prevail in this seemingly endless conflict with radical Islam, we need to win the hearts of young people worldwide. This corps could be the answer to our military peacekeeping shortcomings, and it could create priceless political goodwill. BEN HERNANDEZ-STERN Pasadena, Calif.

To suggest that President Bush consider creating a corps of Extreme Peacekeepers must be the joke of the year! If Bush were so inclined, he would never have declared war against Iraq. His cowboy mentality is not one of a person with the lofty goals of a peacekeeper. LARRY POLSKY Boise, Idaho

Alternatives to Dean

Since your article on Howard Dean focused on the differences and flaws among the Democratic presidential candidates [Nov. 24], it would have been pertinent to highlight the only woman in the race--and the only candidate to be endorsed by major women's groups--Carol Moseley Braun. She has advantages no other candidate does, while her greatest weakness may be that the press will not acknowledge her as a viable candidate. ELLEN TREIMEL New York City

I wish the news media would pay more positive attention to Senator John Kerry. Kerry has the most foreign policy experience of all the Democratic contenders; he has real solutions rather than Dean's anger and slogans. Kerry's plans for health care and the economy make sense. As an independent voter, I feel that Kerry is the most centrist candidate. CAROL A. MANNING Blue Lake, Calif.

Judge No More

RE Your report on the firing of ALAbama state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore for his refusal to remove the Ten Commandments statue from his courthouse [Nov. 24]: I would defend Moore's right to read the Bible on the courthouse steps, but citizens do not have the right to put religious monuments of their choice on public property. If the judge truly believed in the law, including the Ten Commandments, he would have explored legal channels for setting up the monument before taking things into his own hands. MARIE EVANS Clayton, N.C.

Judge Moore has made his point. Our forefathers were honorable men who believed in God. Our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution pay homage to this belief. For our Supreme Court to routinely ask that "God save the United States and this honorable court" while removing all references to God from our courts, schools and laws is the height of hypocrisy. JOHN OLSEN Pensacola, Fla.

Moore's removal from office is a victory for both church and state--and their separation. Freedom of religion includes freedom from state-imposed religion. KATHY PLUMB Minneapolis, Minn.

High-Brow Horror

In his VIEWPOINT on Stephen King's receiving the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters [Nov. 24], Lev Grossman described King as an "unrepentant horror monger." But Grossman admits that the great literary novels of the past were often as popular as the works of King. It's clear that King is in a class of his own. And the American reader should be credited with appreciating this. A great writer raises standards and makes all writers work harder. King's prose and storytelling changed the landscape of the novel years ago. He should be recognized for his contribution. KATHERINE CARTER Malibu, Calif.

There is nothing like a good, trashy read. Unfortunately, a Stephen King novel isn't one. King writes like a 14-year-old who tries, in his adolescent way and at great length, to shock his English teacher. I agree it's time a writer of genre literature earned some respect. I am just sorry the honor went to King. LISA LIPPITZ Bourbonnais, Ill.

Long ago I gave up trying to read critically approved novels. They were stories containing "fine writing," static plots, a lot of exposition and much boredom. I hope that publishers and editors will pay attention to the implications of the National Book Foundation's award to King, but I fear they won't. IVAN LEECH Seattle