Letters

Life After Bali
It has been one year since the Bali bombing, and the terrorists' web has continued to spread in the region [Oct. 13]. The Bali bomb blasts showed the world that Muslim nations are not immune to terrorism. Asia is a most vulnerable place for terrorist attacks. It is high time that governments act to eradicate this evil from our society.
Akshay Mor
Bombay

What is needed is for muslim political leaders and clerics to show courage and denounce terrorism loud and clear without any ambiguity. Unfortunately, at present their denunciations are normally diluted with words citing the cause behind terrorist activities, conveying a message of vague justification. Surely there are many Islamic scholars and clerics who do not believe that any part of the Koran preaches the killing of innocents, but they choose to be mute.
Sujit Chakravarty
Calcutta

Third Culture Kids
I read with great interest Hanna Kite's article about the benefits and disadvantages that expatriate youngsters experience [Oct. 13]. As the son of a Singaporean foreign-service officer, I fall into the category of children raised in countries other than their own. Your readers should be aware of an organization called Global Nomads International (gni) that aims to "promote opportunities for global nomads of all ages and nationalities" and explore the lifelong impact of an internationally mobile childhood. gni has established an amazing network that global nomads can tap into for social and professional purposes. The organization also works with children, parents and schools. Contrary to what some may think, most global nomads don't adjust to moves after a week or two of sulking. Most kids, based on my own experience, will not be fine and will come to terms with their upbringing and cultural identities only in their early 20s. The value of gni is that it is run by global nomads for other global nomads. And only they can truly understand what it is like to live life on the road and grow up in countries other than one's own.
Aun Koh
Singapore

		LATEST COVER STORY Tortured Minds November 10, 2003 Issue Past Covers Eating Smart Nov. 3, 2003 ----------------- Bollywood Oct. 27, 2003 ----------------- Tomb Raiders Oct. 20, 2003 ----------------- Bali Remembered Oct. 13, 2003 ----------------- What Went Wrong? Oct. 6, 2003 ----------------- What's Next Sept. 29, 2003 ----------------- Japan's Koizumi Sept. 22, 2003 ----------------- The Saudis Sept. 15, 2003 ----------------- Dyslexia Sept. 8, 2003 ----------------- U.S. in Iraq Sept. 1, 2003 ----------------- Asian Journey August 18-25, 2003 -----------------   ASIA  Sri Lanka: Peace Dividend  Japan: Get This Party Started BUSINESS  India: Life of the Party ARTS  Books: Peter Carey's new novel NOTEBOOK  Indonesia: A Bittersweet Victory  Hong Kong: Muddy Waters  India: Reverse Charge  Milestones  Verbatim  Letters GLOBAL ADVISOR  Postcards on the Edge  The Great Southern Cook-Off  Sail Force CNN.com: Top Headlines

Leaking with a Vengeance
Your article provided a thorough look at the leak that led to the outing of cia operative Valerie Plame [Oct. 13], the wife of Joseph Wilson, whose investigation found there was no attempt by Iraq to buy uranium in Niger. Some say the Democrats need to appear nonpartisan and temper their rightful outrage, but in truth it is up to the Republicans to demand a special prosecutor to investigate this serious matter. After all, Plame's role was to track any person or nation that might provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, something that is supposedly the Bush Administration's top priority.
Frances Sampson
Oak Park, U.S.

So the Bush administration is going to investigate itself to find out who leaked? Sure, and I'm going to invite a wolf over tonight to guard my henhouse.
Don Crisp
Saltville, U.S.

What about the responsibilities of conservative columnist Robert Novak relating to this serious breach of ethics? As you noted, he disclosed Plame's identity in his column, but Novak's role as a possible tool of the Administration's shameless vindictiveness over its flawed war rationale should not be overlooked. Not only must the leakers inside the Administration be flushed out and brought to justice for breaking the law and compromising national security, but Novak's motives and ethics should also be scrutinized.
Stephen Charing
Clarksville, U.S.

What Novak and his sources did was treasonous. Revealing the identity of a covert cia officer is just as harmful as publishing troop movements. The leakers should all go to jail. It was disgusting, intolerable behavior. Americans at the polls in 2004 should hold President George W. Bush accountable for the acts of his subordinates.
Stephen Lee
Glenview, U.S.

Fury on the Left
Michael Kinsley's commentary "why Bush Angers American Liberals" only added fuel to the polarizing fires [Oct. 13]. Liberals are enraged at Bush because they remain in constant campaign mode, harping on a stolen election and President Bush's stupidity and dishonesty. It's all hatred of Bush. Our culture needs to take a break from campaigns long enough for the free exchange of ideas. Abraham Lincoln asked that the nation proceed "with malice toward none" after the Civil War ended. I wish liberals were capable of acting like that.
Joel Mark Solliday
Brooklyn Park, U.S.

Our anger at the Bush presidency goes much deeper than policy or personality. We are furious at how this Administration has exploited the grief, fear and patriotism of the American people for political and financial gain. Our nation has been plunged into war under false pretenses, our young people in uniform are being needlessly sacrificed, and our grandchildren will foot the bill. The question should be: Why aren't more people angry?
Martin Lolich
Downers Grove, U.S.

No More Monkey Business
Your item "cheetah, you ought to be Out of Pictures" [Oct. 13] on primatologist Jane Goodall's efforts to stop the use of actor-chimpanzees on TV and in movies, came at the perfect time. With the news of a tiger that was kept in a New York City apartment and the mauling of Las Vegas showman Roy Horn by a white tiger during a performance, people are finally understanding that wild animals belong in their natural environment. People lucky enough to travel to Africa can see these beautiful animals in their own territory. The only thing sadder than a wild animal in captivity is one trained to perform for our entertainment.
Patti Breitman
Fairfax, U.S.

Amazons of the Silver Screen
In his profile of Uma Thurman and her violent, extremely physical role in Quentin Tarantino's action film Kill Bill Volume 1 [Oct. 13], critic Josh Tyrangiel asserted that "the only analogous performance in recent movie history is Sigourney Weaver's turn as the avenging warrior" in the Alien series. This is a very limited view of cinema history. Action movies made in Hong Kong and Japan have routinely featured dynamic heroines who cause much more mayhem than your typical, contrived male Hollywood action hero—and these are the kinds of movies Tarantino is paying homage to in Kill Bill.
Marc Walkow
New York City

The Gift of Energy
Elia Kazan, who died in September at age 94 [Milestones, Oct. 13], published his memoir when he was 78. We called his autobiography "bustling" and "bruising," and our review described the compulsive drive that fueled Kazan's success [May 9, 1988]:

"[Kazan] conceived and co-founded the most influential teaching institution in U.S. theater history, the Actors Studio ... In the '60s he would absorb much of the blame for the failed first attempt to establish a repertory theater at New York City's Lincoln Center and amaze himself, among others, by becoming a best-selling novelist (The Arrangement). A sense of worthlessness, Kazan says, is what drove him. It stemmed from his foreignness (he immigrated to the U.S. with his Greek parents when he was four); his lack of social status at Williams College, which he worked his way through as a fraternity-house waiter, and his lack of visible talent at the Yale Drama School ... [Director] Harold Clurman ... informed Kazan that his only gift was excessive energy. But that, of course, is a quality too often underestimated by intellectuals ... [Kazan had] more brief affairs than he can count or recount-including one with a cheerfully complaisant Marilyn Monroe. 'Sick,' Kazan pronounces, then adds, 'People make fun of the male crisis at 45. I had that crisis all my life. I knew there was more to life than I was getting, and I didn't want to miss out on anything.'"

To Set the Record Straight
• The article "So, What Went Wrong?" on miscalculations in the war in Iraq [Oct. 6] referred to Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels' estimation a year ago that the "total price tag of the Iraq adventure would be just $50 million to $60 million." The reference should have been to billions, not millions.

• In "Itching for a Fight" [Sept. 22] we incorrectly stated that the wording on Taiwanese passports had been changed "to read 'Taiwan' instead of 'Republic of China.'" The word "Taiwan" was actually added to the existing words "Republic of China."