Letters: Apr. 3, 2006

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TIME is overly concerned about issues like the interrogation methods employed in the prison at Guantánamo and warrantless eavesdropping on phone calls. It is a typical liberal attitude to criticize and second-guess the government's tactics in the war against terrorism. Thank God, the media do not dictate U.S. policy and the general public is more sensible than you are.

SAM THOMAS New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Sleep deprivation, exposure to cold, forced standing, denial of bathroom breaks, denial of clothing and emotional manipulation? That sounds like something I experienced recently: U.S. military boot camp.

JOSHUA MATTHEW FISHER SENIOR AIRMAN, U.S.A.F. Fort Edward, N.Y.

China's Gathering Storm

"Inside the Pitchfork Rebellion" [March 13] suggested there may be a revolution in the making in China. What will happen if 900 million oppressed farmers rise up to get justice and revenge? It would be naive to applaud such a development. History shows us that revolutions never lead to what is hoped for. Instead, chaos spreads, inevitably leading to new catastrophes in an increasing number of countries. Given the Chinese powder keg, the Bush Administration's preoccupation with Iran seems rather out of proportion. Washington should concentrate on how to help China's political and business leaders defuse the risks.

STURE GADD Helsinki

TIME's reporting proves that the Chinese farmers are afraid. Their protests are peaceful, but they are still beaten and killed by the police. If the government responded this way in the U.S., riots would break out. The Chinese seem almost to have accepted that they can't do anything. Their government controls them completely, and that is manifestly unfair.

AMRITA JAGPAL West Chester, Ohio

Security in the Global Market

Columnist Joe Klein's "It's Economic Security, Stupid" [March 13] hit the nail on the head. The U.S. response to the now defunct Dubai Ports deal was a global public relations nightmare. Although I agree with Klein that a "drastically revised social safety net for American workers" would ease the collective American insecurities and provide a more rational and less emotional view of the growing global economy, I don't see that becoming a reality anytime soon. Universal health insurance and government-subsidized pensions smack of socialism and would inevitably draw protest, even from those who would benefit most from the programs.

RICHARD S. RITSMA Haledon, N.J.

Klein says if we give middle-income Americans "economic security" in the form of government-run health care, "they might be willing to look at the rest of the world--and controversies like the Dubai Ports deal--less emotionally." It is a stretch to think that government-run health care would be satisfactory, and it would in no way affect the public's opinion toward foreign investment in the U.S.

MIKE VAN WINKLE Oak Park, Ill.

A Hawk's Regrets

Andrew Sullivan's Essay "What I Got Wrong About the War" [March 13], in which he confessed his errors in supporting the war in Iraq, was a step in the right direction. The next step would be to ask for the resignation of all those responsible for such a devastating failure.

AARON GREENE Santa Monica, Calif.