Letters

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The U.S., which has the world's largest arsenal of nukes, is telling other nations to disarm? While we're at it, why don't we tell the Iraqis to stop drinking alcoholic beverages and eating fast food?
STEVE WEDDLE
Cincinnati, Ohio

Military conflicts are a lot like poker games in that both involve bluffing. When the stakes are high and it's time to show one's hand, the people who hold poor cards fold faster than Superman on laundry day.
TOM MURRAY
San Luis Obispo, Calif.

No matter what success an invasion of Iraq might achieve, the ensuing escalation of animosity against America in the Muslim world would put the U.S. in ever greater peril. The Bush Administration has established a national-security doctrine that calls for pre-emptive war against any nation that it views as a potential threat. This contradicts the notion that Washington acts as a force for peace and democracy.
R. GLENN HESSEL
Chicago

Economic Overhaul

U.S. treasury secretary Paul O'neill was apparently fired for failing to sell President Bush's economic policies to the public [NATION, DEC. 16]. I always thought the purpose of an adviser was to give the president objective information so he could make an informed and effective decision. This President seems to prefer a cabinet composed of little more than highly paid telemarketers. Why should the taxpayer bear the cost of the president's cheerleaders?
GRACIA MARKS
Camarillo, Calif.

Kudos to O'neill. It's good to know there are still some high-ranking public officials whose integrity can't be bought.
HENRY PENNYMON
Orlando, Fla.

The Vatican Doesn't Get It

Barring homosexuals from the priesthood will not stop the admission of pedophiles into its ranks [NOTEBOOK, DEC. 16]. And blaming the media, as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger did, is akin to shooting the messenger. If not for the press and public outrage, this horrendous cycle of sexual abuse would certainly have continued at the expense of the innocent. Will parishioners have to wait hundreds of years for the church to recognize the truth, as did Galileo for his empirically sound observation that the earth revolves around the sun?
SCOTT HAMMING
Roswell, Ga.

I was appalled by the vatican's response to the sexual-abuse scandals. For the church to blame both the media and gays demonstrates how out of touch with reality it is and helps explain how such a tragedy could occur. As leaders of their church, the Cardinals should be showing how to take responsibility, not blaming others for priests' transgressions.
MARY ELLEN BEEBE
Manitowoc, Wis.

Filmic Review

Kudos to your critic Richard Corliss, who obviously took the spirit of the new, single-take movie Russian Ark into account when composing his review [HOLIDAY MOVIE PREVIEW, Dec. 23]. I couldn't help noticing that his entire 246-word capsule was a single sentence.
MARK MOSRIE
Knoxville, Tenn.