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Gibbs wrote that two years ago we lost our belief that "our world was safe." I'm glad she felt safe and secure before 9/11, but I didn't. After the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, I believed it was only a matter of time before terrorists, either foreign or American, would be successful in New York City. FRED RUECKHER New York City
Sweet Alternatives
Re "How Safe Are Sugar Substitutes?" [Your Time: Health, Sept. 15]: The safety of approved low-calorie sweeteners is not questionable. Before a food additive is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it must undergo rigorous testing and scientific peer review. For millions of people, low-calorie sweeteners and the products that contain them are a way to reduce calories--which, as studies have shown, can help consumers lose weight and keep it off. In fact, reducing caloric intake by just 44 calories a day over the course of a year can result in a 5-lb. weight loss. BETH HUBRICH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR CALORIE CONTROL COUNCIL Atlanta
The Outlook in Iraq
In "Al-Qaeda's New Home" [After 9/11: The Iraq Mess, Sept. 15], you described how bin Laden's network is rallying new recruits to battle U.S. forces in Iraq. It seems likely that the same political situation that made it possible for the Taliban to take control in Afghanistan will now emerge in Iraq. Foreign, mainly Arab, volunteers may enter the country in massive numbers, carrying with them one great desire: to fight the U.S. soldiers who occupy the country. The foreseeable future looks bleak when one takes into account that the voluntary jihadists have a clear-cut goal and a fanatic determination and that the U.S. won't easily withdraw its troops from Iraq. MOSES NDELEBE Pretoria
Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network remains a global terrorist threat. The challenge for the modern democracy is to protect individual liberties and at the same time act decisively against terrorists without turning into a militarized police state. We need to form a worldwide coalition of democratic countries, adopt national and international legislation that strengthens law-enforcing agencies and fight terrorism with global coordination. AMIT PRADHAN Baroda, India
Only half a year after the U.S. in effect declared the U.N. irrelevant and went to war in open disregard of it, the Bush Administration is asking the people of other nations to pay for America's miscalculation and the resultant chaos in Iraq. Even though the mess was created by America and Britain, the U.N. should try to assist the suffering Iraqi people as best it can. But any step to accommodate the U.S. and Britain should be contingent upon their renewed and unambiguous commitment to respect the U.N. FREDRIK S. HEFFERMEHL Oslo
The Bush Administration seems to expect other countries to share in the body count. If the U.S. had treated other nations as equals, they might be willing to salvage the situation for a fumbling U.S. Administration and a feeble British government. The U.S. cannot afford another Vietnam. Nor can the world. GERRIT DEJONG Nesoddtangen, Norway
A Cheese by Any Other Name