Letters: Nov. 13, 2006

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In his essay disparaging the U.N., Charles Krauthammer argued that violence and greed are "the natural way of nations" [Oct. 23]. That is the lazy man's excuse for resisting change and progress. As a means to create security and stability, war has failed over the millenniums. Our experiment in international collaboration, nonviolent conflict resolution and mutually beneficial partnerships--still in its infancy--will continue to suffer missteps and setbacks, not the least of which include the present U.S. Administration's uninformed and shortsighted policies. My hope for the future of civilization lies in the goals, purposes and accomplishments of the U.N.

PEG MAHER Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I applaud Krauthammer's realistic take on the North Korean issue--that a "dynamic, capitalist, reunited Korea" would be stiff competition for a China that aspires to impose its will on East Asia, hence Beijing keeps its unruly neighbor alive and refuses to support tough U.N. sanctions against North Korea. Let's hope for the sake of the Korean people that China does not succeed in promoting its self-interests and that there may be a reunited Korea before our lives are over.

JUWON YANG Los Angeles

Krauthammer rightly commented that the U.N. has failed to achieve many of the goals for which it was established. Taiwan is well aware of this painful reality, having endured exclusion from the supposedly universal world body because of Chinese pressure for more than three decades. But there is no civilized alternative to the principle of international cooperation in pursuit of the common good. The world's only hope for the ethical, nonviolent resolution of conflict--whether in the Taiwan Strait, on the Korean peninsula or anywhere else--lies in the collective cooperation of U.S.-led democracies. Give up that hope, and we are lost indeed.

BEN SHAO TAIPEI ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE New York City

Cutting Our Losses

Leslie Gelb's Viewpoint "Would DEefeat in Iraq Be So Bad?" [Oct. 23] argued that after the U.S. defeat in Vietnam, "the dominoes did not fall." Well, they didn't fall as far as the U.S. was concerned. But maybe someone should ask the Cambodians about what happened after the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam. I think the families and friends of anyone who was killed under Pol Pot would have a different story.

LAUREN COOK Dallas

Gelb has got to be kidding. Can the terrorists in Iraq be deterred by mutual assured destruction, as the Russians were? Can we defense-spend them into oblivion? If we cut and run in Iraq, it will be annexed by Iran, a larger share of the world's oil will be used as a weapon against the U.S., a Shi'ite majority will have free rein to commit genocide against the Sunnis and Kurds, and the Shi'ites will have more money to buy arms for Hizballah.

JOSE RAMIREZ Lindenhurst, N.Y.