Stem-Cell Study Moves Ahead

Re "The Quest Resumes": I am very impressed that scientists in this field preserved their passion, when the Bush Administration looked as if it might successfully restrain the research [Feb. 9]. Please go on finding new cures and therapies.
Antje Loew, AUGSBURG, GERMANY

No one, including former president George W. Bush, is against stem-cell research. It's embryonic-stem-cell research that's debatable. The Bush Administration's stem-cell restrictions were a result of Bush's courage to enact policies that reflected his belief (shared by many) that life begins at conception. It's because of these restrictions that scientists discovered the exciting potential of other types of stem cells.
Diann Claassen, TEMPERANCE, MICH., U.S.

The Perils of Peacekeeping
Re Alex Perry's "Congo Seeks Protection": I think it's great that TIME covered an issue that wasn't on the evening news, but I am disappointed that Perry merely glanced at the problems faced by the U.N. peacekeeping force [Feb. 9]. Although the U.N. deployed peacekeepers around the world with some success in the second half of the 20th century, never before has it forcibly implemented a cease-fire. It is having such difficulty stemming the violence simply because no one's ever done it before.
Rick Say, WEST CHESTER, PA., U.S.

Gaza Voices
The plaintive "voices from the rubble" are clearly symptomatic of denial by the Gaza residents of their own culpability for civilian deaths [Feb. 9]. Gazans elected Hamas and enthusiastically supported and lauded the relentless bombardment of traumatized and beleaguered Israeli civilians by tens of thousands of deliberately targeted rockets and mortars. It is surely time for Gazans, and in fact all Palestinians, to internalize that actions have consequences and Israel has practiced unwarranted restraint in the face of the deadly provocation it could no longer ignore.
Fay Dicker, LAKEWOOD, N.J., U.S.

Your singling out of the story of the shooting of Abed Rabu family members by an Israeli soldier, true or not, is biased, disturbing and harmful. The constant shelling of the towns and settlements in southern Israel seems forgotten. Wouldn't it have been fairer to juxtapose your story with one on the casualties and trauma suffered by Israeli civilians during the years of shelling?
Avigdor Reiss, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

How can the Israeli government claim that its Defense Forces "is an ethical army" in light of such atrocities? Israel clearly timed its attacks to coincide with the vacuum of power between U.S. Presidents, banking on our indifference. And to our shame, their bet paid off, for they've again gotten away with it.
Tamra Fallman, ITHACA, N.Y., U.S.

Cooking the Books
Your report on this year's Bocuse d'Or chefs' competition in Lyons was most informative but with one glaring omission [Feb. 9]: Norway, the winner.
Ingerid Bitustyl, RAULAND, NORWAY

Decline and Fall
Re Postcard: as the pound loses its exalted position, why is the U.K. still refusing to join the euro [Feb. 9]? Could it be that the pound, and the monarchy it represents, are the only things left that uniquely identify the country — perhaps the most cosmopolitan in the world, with millions of people of diverse languages, cultures and philosophies all claiming British citizenship — as the Britain of the colonial era; and the past glory that era represents?
Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner, VIENNA