Letters

Tomb Raiders Your Story "Spirited Away" described how art thieves are stripping Asia's cultural sites of their valuable artworks and smuggling them abroad for sale [Oct. 20]. It is grievous to see that so many of our cultural artifacts are stolen and mishandled. Your story played a very important role in warning people that the preservation of priceless antiquities is in our hands, and we must crack down on the looters and preserve the past. We also need to ingrain the idea of guarding our Asian heritage and make the looters understand that the more artifacts are stolen, the fewer chances we Asians have to track our history. It is our duty to pass down our cultural heritage to the next generation.
Takahito Higuchi
Yokkaichi, Japan

Give Roh a Chance
You summed up very well the troubles of South Korea's President Roh Moo Hyun stemming from the country's economic problems and the North Korean threat [Oct. 20]. However, your reporting seemed preoccupied with a certain right-wing point of view. A growing number of people want to stay with Roh and support his request for a public vote of confidence. They see this as a good opportunity to set a precedent and exert the people's power to judge their leadership. The news media often make matters worse by exaggerating people's concerns.
Kang Jeong Hwa
Pusan, South Korea

Malaysian Farewell
Your account of the mixed legacy of Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as he steps down after 22 years in power was an informative report on the country's changes under his leadership [Oct. 20]. Despite all the criticisms leveled against him, it is undeniable that Mahathir truly put Malaysia on the world map. I can still remember when my parents, while traveling abroad, would have had a hard time explaining that Malaysia was located north of Singapore and south of Thailand. Those days are over. Despite Mahathir's sometimes controversial remarks about certain ethnic groups and foreign media or governments, Malaysia is a moderate, tolerant Muslim nation where Malays, Chinese and Indians live in harmony, maintaining their own cultures and religions. Let's hope that Mahathir's successor, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will bring about more positive changes, especially in the nation's relationship with Western governments, as well as with the foreign media.
Alex Chow
Hong Kong

Mahathir should be praised for leading a once backward nation toward first-world standards of living. He also made the developing world proud when he stood up to international financial institutions and imposed capital controls. Further, his unflinching criticism of the U.S.'s unilateral and pre-emptive policy vis-à-vis "rogue states" should stand as a warning to sycophantic countries. Still, despite Malaysia's success, one has to wonder if it might have been possible for Mahathir to achieve all that he did without resorting to strong-arm tactics, like jailing his political rival Anwar Ibrahim. If development could have been achieved without sacrificing democracy, then Malaysians would be enjoying a free press, and the country would be a better model for democratic but underdeveloped countries in Asia.
Mark Andrew Lim
Cavite, the Philippines

		LATEST COVER STORY Jessica Lynch's Story November 17, 2003 Issue Past Covers Tortured Minds Nov. 10, 2003 ----------------- 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: Political Crisis  China: Pride and Prejudice ARTS  Books: Afghan Women  Books: Yu Hua comes West NOTEBOOK  Philippines: Tower of Trouble  Indonesia: New Terror Tactic?  China: The Longish March  Milestones  Verbatim  Letters GLOBAL ADVISOR  Learn Cooking from the best  Skiing around the world  Giving David a Bath CNN.com: Top Headlines

Analyzing Iraq
Michael Ware's report on the recruitment by the U.S. last spring of Iraqi collaborators, who were crucial to the success of the invasion [Oct. 20], suggested that some U.S. authorities knew the extent of the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Who in the U.S. intelligence services or government—by accident or design—exaggerated that threat and thus misled the governments and peoples of Australia, Britain and Spain? An independent public inquiry is essential to settle that question. It must be followed by U.S. actions showing that lessons have been learned. Otherwise it is less likely that any U.S. ally will again support threats of invasion, let alone war itself, on the basis of evidence provided by the U.S.
Michael Lipton
Brighton, England

I am wondering why the President of the U.S. is trying to save people in Iraq when it is the Iraqis who are killing American soldiers. Is this worth all the pain? I suggest that the U.S. leave Iraq and let its citizens take care of themselves. Why do the Americans feel they should save the world? Imagine how scared the Iraqis would be if the U.S. pulled out. They would realize that by encouraging terrorism, they have created a monster at their own door. I feel sorry for the Americans, who are victims of both Iraqi hatred and their own government's policies.
Ghislanie Quibel
La Chartre sur le Loir, France

What will America's presidential candidates do about the host of conflicts in which the U.S. has become embroiled? President George W. Bush seems only recently to have come to the realization that he has bitten off more than he can chew—or afford, for that matter. The Administration has created a royal mess of things that I'm sure was not anticipated. Maybe Bush will be thankful to exit office at the end of one term, leaving the next President with a horribly daunting task: trying to glue the broken world back together.
Lynelle Grobler
Pretoria

Who's Calling the Shots?
Joe Klein's column on Vice President Dick Cheney and dysfunction in the Bush Administration was quite wonderful, as well as saddening [Oct. 20]. The U.S. has been the torchbearer of democracy for the past two centuries. America's efforts during World Wars I and II were quite an example for others to follow and admire. After 9/11, the U.S. had the sympathy of the whole world. But what the Administration has done from 9/11 till now has only turned that sympathy into hatred and disgust. Today one wonders who's the boss in America, Bush or Cheney? It's about time Bush realized how bad the situation is. The sad part of the whole mess is that even with an Administration that has competent members like Colin Powell, Bush blindly followed the hard-liners into the pit they made for him and themselves.
Majid Rauf
Lahore

Lessons of the Recall
"The 5 Meanings of Arnold" missed the real lessons to be learned from Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory in the California gubernatorial-recall election [Oct. 20]. These are that personality almost always means more than politics and that it is more important to have name recognition than to answer questions about issues. If you are a star, the media will do anything to cover your campaign. Arnold's election was about one thing: the cult of celebrity.
John Cork
Los Angeles

Amid all the hubbub regarding the hows and whys of Schwarzenegger's victory, there is an overlooked explanation: he may simply represent what has been lacking in politics for a considerable while. He is a self-made man who has enough money, so he doesn't need to ingratiate himself with the lobbyists and political-action committees that plague our system. Instead of spending his entire career ensconced in a bureaucracy spending other people's money, he built a thriving business and career. Maybe what many voters want is someone who has actually had to live and survive in the real world the rest of us inhabit. Schwarzenegger can certainly do no worse than the current crop of morons.
Brad Hale
Cambria, U.S.

Schwarzenegger may not be a very good actor, but he is a great comedian. He has the entire world laughing at California.
Robert J. Libutti
Sinking Spring, U.S.

Iran's Freedom Fighter
Iranian human-rights activist Shirin Ebadi has won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize [Oct. 20]. This award recognizes women's achievements in Iran—something that is refreshing and revolutionary. Ebadi went to jail to protest political repression and domestic violence, and she fought for women's custody rights in divorce cases. (Men always get custody of the children.) Her achievements in Iran are inspiring because they contradict the stereotype of the oppressed Middle Eastern woman. Being an Iranian female myself, I am proud that Ebadi has set an example for all Iranian women to stand up for equality in every aspect of life.
Ladan Nekoomaram
Noblesville, U.S.

A Gore Gourmand?
Director Quentin Tarantino's new film, Kill Bill Vol. 1 [MOVIES, Oct. 20], has caused a stir for its violent scenes. But for those who have followed Tarantino's celluloid antics for years, the graphic aggression runs true to form. When Pulp Fiction came out nine years ago, we summed up the director's forceful style [Oct. 10, 1994]:

"Tarantino's films allow for no idle bystanders; you either get with the pogrom or get out of the way... Here we go again—another gore gourmand acting out fantasies of aggression for the grind-house trade. Well, no. For a start, Tarantino's films are energized not so much by violence as by its threat; it's in the air like a balloon ready to explode... [Tarantino] sees movie violence as a vivid visual correlative for the internal agitation of urban America... Tarantino's movies are smartly intoxicating cocktails of rampage and meditation; they're in-your-face... There's never silence when Tarantino is in the room. This engaging, nonstop performer... moved to Southern California when he was two. Since then, it's been a movie-mad life. His folks took him to all sorts of films, then he went on his own. He seems to have remembered—and understood—everything he's seen... 'People ask if my love of movies can be too much,' he says. 'What annoys me about the question is the snobbery; it treats movies like a bastard art form. Could a novelist ever read too many books, or a musician listen to too much music? Well, I totally love movies.'"