Inbox: Aug. 13, 2007

The Long Goodbye

Although Michael Duffy's thoughts on "How to Walk Away" from Iraq made sense, I beg to differ with him on the timing and pace of withdrawing troops [July 30]. While it is crucial that they leave in an orderly fashion, the sooner they depart, the better. A U.N. task force should be assigned to guard Iraq's borders and prevent a regional conflict. Iraq's neighbors and the world powers should launch an intensive diplomatic effort to help the Iraqis sort out their disagreements. They are best qualified to construct the democratic unified nation they aspire to after Saddam Hussein.

Samih A. Sherif MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND

My hope that president George W. Bush would bring the troops home dimmed after reading the story. Although the majority of Americans may demand a withdrawal, it won't happen before Bush leaves office. His Administration is operating on the premise that it is worth every cost to avoid anything that could cause a war among Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, all top oil producers.

Olutayo Oluyemi, NEW YORK CITY

The sidebar "Moving Mountains" showed that the old weapons and warfare are no longer viable. When a $10 pipe bomb can blow up a humvee or Bradley vehicle, it just shows the whole world that our concept of warfare has been a colossal mistake. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's plan has turned out to be a waste of lives and treasure.

John Holland, ANAHEIM, CALIF.

Duffy stated that "Americans want the troops brought home." While this is obviously true, what Americans desire even more is victory. Without victory, every sacrifice made by U.S. servicemen and -women and their families will be pointless. Our enemy has vowed to destroy us. If radical Islamists are not defeated, they will continue to attack us. Victory is precious, defeat devastating, and it takes time to fully achieve the former.

Travis Sides, DENVER

Duffy's recommendations are so similiar to those of the Iraq Study Group that it is heartbreaking. We could be halfway through the painful troop withdrawal if the Bush Administration had simply listened to the experts on that bipartisan commission. Meanwhile, China gleefully holds our enormous debt, which finances the Iraq debacle. Our economic future frightens me far more than the insecurity of the Middle East.

Sharon R. Clark, MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIF.

Private-Equity Perks

Michael Kinsley's article on the unfairly advantageous tax treatment that superrich private-equity managers are fighting to preserve was interesting [July 30]. But we should already know that greed can corrupt otherwise good men. The real problem is that some Senators support those people in their fight to maintain this blatantly unfair tax treatment. The lost trust of our elected officials poses a much greater threat to our democracy.

John Kissane, NEW YORK CITY

Resurrecting a Dead Language

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen wants a return to the Latin Mass because she is unhappy with Roman Catholic teachings and would like to escape back to a time when those in the pew had no clue [July 30]. Cullen should savor the fact that she can understand what is being said in English and disagree with it.

Josh Steger, GREEN BAY, WIS.

Replenish the Earth

RE "Leveling the Praying Field" [July 23]: You should confess only your own sins, not those of others. When I told TIME that it was a sinful mistake to walk away from churches because they were the institutions in which most Americans express their values and aspirations, I was speaking of my generation of environmentalists, not the Democratic Party--which needs to do its own confessing.

Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club, WASHINGTON MAILBAG Biggest Mail Getter: Leaving Iraq 30%: This is a war we must win--we need more time to complete the mission 70%: The war is misguided--we should face reality and get out.

HOW TO REACH US Our e-mail address is letters@time.com Please do not send attachments. Our fax number is 1-212-522-8949. Or you can send your letter to: TIME Magazine Letters, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020. Letters should include the writer's full name, address and home telephone and may be edited for purposes of clarity and space.

Customer Service and Change of Address For 24/7 service, please use our website: www.time.com/customerservice You can also call 1-800-843-8463 or write to TIME at P.O. Box 30601, Tampa, Fla. 33630-0601. Back Issues Contact us at help.single@ customersvc.com or call 1-800-274-6800. Reprints and Permissions Information is available at the website www.time.com/time/reprints To request custom reprints e-mail TimeMagazine_Reprints@wrightsreprints.com for all other uses, contact us by e-mailing timereprints_us@timeinc.com Advertising For advertising rates and our editorial calendar, visit timemediakit.com Syndication For international licensing and syndication requests, e-mail syndication@timeinc.com or call 1-212-522-5868.