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As you noted in your article "The Charity Olympics" [THE HOME FRONT, Nov. 5], tens of thousands of people made contributions to charities they believed would help those in need after the Sept. 11 attacks, and now they want to know how that money is being used. It seems unconscionable for an organization like the Red Cross to initiate a fund that appeared to be dedicated to a single cause but that management intended to dedicate to multiple purposes. The Red Cross has demonstrated not only that it is unworthy of the trust of the American people but also that it is incompetent in its management of systemic problems. Just how much money is the Red Cross making from these donations? LAURA SAVINETTI-MOBERLY Ely, Minn.
Winning Over the World
The war against terrorism can be likened to the cold war against communism: common elements include competing ideologies, a difficult-to-define enemy inside and outside the U.S., the domino theory and containment strategy [The War, Nov. 5]. Considering it took nearly 50 years for the free world to overcome communism's ideological appeal and threat of expansion, we must do whatever we can to speed up the process of restoring stability to the Islamic world and eliminating its terrorist threat. The war in Afghanistan against terrorism, however, cannot be fought on military terms only; the minds and souls of the Islamic world must be won over. The West has managed to sell the world Coca-Cola and Marlboros; surely it can also convince people of the value of freedom, democracy, human rights and education. RAPHAEL MONNOT Paris
How ironic that the first of your "New Rules Of Engagement" is "Dig in, this is going to take some time." On the contrary, effectively striking out against terror calls for accurate answers to only three crucial questions: 1) Are we applying the right countermeasures? 2) Will they be applied swiftly? 3) Are they accepted by the public at large? JACOB VAN DER WESTHUIZEN Pretoria, South Africa
Imitation of Death
The statement by film director Robert Altman about how movies may have influenced terrorists in their actions was direct and to the point [PEOPLE, Oct. 29]. In the quest to earn more profits, Hollywood tries to make films with bigger and more spectacular violence. And, like it or not, America produces the pictures that people all over the world watch. If the audience in Asia and the Middle East sees a New York City street being demolished with explosives, with everyone in proximity killed, viewers start to think that it could actually be done. Life imitates art, which imitates life. I think that Hollywood will not be producing many Die Hard-type movies in the near future. ROBERTO P. BONOAN Manila
One Solution to Bioterror