Letters: Oct. 10, 2005

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I can tell you who is responsible for the incompetent Katrina recovery operation: government, at all levels. But the real question is not who is to blame but how changes can be made so that this never happens again. Finger pointing doesn't solve any problems.

RYAN LUM Ottawa

If there is a silver lining to Katrina and the botched efforts to help its victims, it is that we have got our wake-up call. Americans elected an insulated, not too astute President who is surrounded by yes-men and -women. His inflexibility cripples him when events beyond his control demand a new direction.

BETTY HATWIG El Dorado Hills, Calif.

Why try to assign blame? If we expended half as much effort in attempting to learn from the Katrina disaster as we have in trying to find whom or what to blame, more people would be out of danger and beginning to rebuild their lives.

JUDITH HEINEMAN Phoenix, Ariz.

The Wretched and the Dead

Your Katrina photo essay "Ghost Town" [Sept. 19] featured a reprehensible picture of a lifeless body floating face-down in the contaminated muck of New Orleans. That was disrespectful to the dead and their families. You may have intended to show readers the horrors of Katrina, but it was shock journalism.

MICHAEL YONKER Portland, Ore.

Learning from New Orleans

I am a 62-year-old white woman responding to the pitch-perfect words of my black brother Wynton Marsalis. In his Essay "Saving America's Soul Kitchen" [Sept. 19], he wrote, "We always back away from fixing our nation's racial problems. Not fixing the city's levees before Katrina struck will now cost us untold billions. Not resolving the nation's issues of race and class has and will cost us so much more." America, listen to those words. If the cries of human suffering don't move us, perhaps enlightened self-interest will. Whatever the motivation, we must act now.

NICOLE DAINES GIBEAUT Fallbrook, Calif.

Marsalis' Essay struck a chord; in addition to his musical talents, he has amazing insight. Perhaps musicians share an understanding that easily transcends racial and class lines. Musicians appreciate something that treats race, gender and religion as being incidental. Marsalis is right on the mark. Maybe if enough people speak out, as he has, they will pierce the tone-deaf arrogance of the powerful.

PETER PIASKOSKI Milwaukee, Wis.

Inhuman Intervention

Your report about China's use of forced abortions and sterilizations as part of its one-child policy [Sept. 19] painted a horrific picture. Congratulations to brave legal activist Chen Guangcheng, who, despite being blind and living under the threat of personal danger, has worked unselfishly to file a class action against officials to protect women and children. His dedication is something that anyone can respect and strive to emulate.

CAROL E. ST. AMAND Ludlow, Mass.

Chinese women are forced by local officials officials to undergo abortions so bureaucrats can meet party requirements and advance their political careers. Government and local leaders do not care about the quality of life of these women. I admire the activism of Chen and hope that other Chinese will join in the fight for the health of the women and their children--born or unborn.

ILEANA SANSANO Ann Arbor, Mich.