Letters: Oct. 3, 2005

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Columnist Joe Klein's argument that the disaster "should spark a reconsideration of what has become a casual disdain for the essentials of governance and our common public life" was right on point [Sept. 12]. Beginning with the Reagan Administration, many government departments have seen budget cuts over the past few years, and we have arrived at the logical end. The Bush Administration can no longer provide security--that most basic part of the Hobbesian bargain in which power is ceded to a central authority in exchange for protection. To consign people to death because of bureaucratic ineptitude is one issue, but speaking as a political scientist, I believe failure to provide security for one of the largest ports in the U.S. is simply unthinkable. BARBARA P. McCREA Kalamazoo, Mich.

When did it become the President's responsibility to run our lives? Aren't we responsible for ourselves? People were not forced to live in high-risk areas. That was a choice they made. GEORGE KELLY Lewisville, Texas

Katrina was the first disaster. The response by FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] was the second. Shame on those in charge. Shame on us if we let the government get away with it. KENIS SWEET Lake George, N.Y.

Dangerously out of Touch?

Matthew Cooper's article "Dipping His Toe into Disaster" discussed George W. Bush's awkward and slow response to Katrina [Sept. 12]. But the point is not the political tone-deafness of the President or his handlers. It is whether his incompetence, and that of his appointees, has cost lives. While the White House was working on speeches, people all along the Gulf Coast were desperate. They needed food and water, not rhetoric. TAYLOR HEBDEN Bloomington, Ill.

To Rebuild--or Not

Walter Isaacson's Viewpoint "How to Bring the Magic Back" [Sept. 12] stated that New Orleans "needs to restore itself authentically rather than produce a theme- park re-creation." A fire reshaped Chicago's destiny, and an earthquake remolded San Francisco. In the wake of the disaster, New Orleans can have its future written by people like Isaacson. Why not have him serve on a committee with other esteemed natives to help rebuild? BRETT HARWOOD Maplewood, N.J.

Maybe the French Quarter and a small area around it can be saved. But let's give the rest back to nature, and establish a reborn New Orleans farther from the Gulf Coast. ANDY ROGOW Hollywood, Fla.

The Sudan Situation

Your article "Who Speaks for Her?" [on the violence against women committed by the Janjaweed militiamen in Sudan's Darfur region] was badly out of date and portrayed the situation in a sensational and inaccurate manner [Sept. 5]. In recent months the government of Sudan, in cooperation with others in the international community, has taken significant steps that have stabilized and improved the situation in Darfur. The government agreed to take concrete measures to protect women against rape and violence. We are implementing those actions. Sudan will address the problems of Darfur and permit our country to enter a new era of peace, national unity and reconstruction. KHIDIR HAROUN AHMED, AMBASSADOR EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SUDAN Washington

Black Enterprise Responds