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Taiwan: Dodging the Bullet
Taiwan's presidential election is over amid heated disputes, leaving behind it layers of suspicion and a nation divided [March 29]. We knew all along that President Chen Shui-bian might do something dramatic to change the course of the campaign in his favor. No one, however, could have imagined an assassination attempt barely 20 hours before the election. There is still much speculation that the shooting was a political stunt staged to win sympathy votes for Chen. Even if the bullets were actually fired by a would-be assassin, the fact remains that the legitimacy of Chen's presidency is seriously in question.
Frank Shen
Taipei

A would-be assassin might not have killed President Chen, but the shooter still managed to gravely wound Taiwan's democracy and deepen the divisions within Taiwanese society. If Chen staged the assassination attempt, he won a close race but lost his credibility with voters. I am now too pessimistic and disappointed to trust and support Chen and his party. The greatest losers are not Chen's political opponents but the Taiwanese people. If this turmoil cannot be settled fairly, Taiwanese politics may become chaotic.
Song Xiaowen
Pingzhen City, Taiwan

Who's the Enemy Now?
In today's terror-struck world, war has evolved far beyond one nation fighting another [March 29]. Now a globally dispersed band of Islamist assassins, worshippers of death, blow themselves to bits along with as many innocent victims as possible. The civilized people of the world, regardless of nationality, must devise brand-new strategies for dealing with crazed terrorists. The U.S.'s unilateral actions seem only to be inflaming them. The U.N.'s practices of negotiation, inquiry, mediation and judicial settlement won't work against deranged extremists who hide behind religion, nor will sending troops to trouble spots. The U.N., our only global instrument of peace and sanity, must reinvent itself.
Robert L. Wolke
Pittsburgh, U.S.

How can we counter the ever intensifying climate of terror? Not by military means. The war in Iraq is proof of that. Using armed force to retaliate, in fact, breeds more terrorists. Why not look at the real roots of this terrorism? The radical Islamists hate us because we are in their countries, owing to America's increasing need for oil. If the U.S. had a Department of Alternative Energy, we might someday be able to eliminate the Department of Homeland Security.
Robert R. Newell
Nellysford, U.S.

The ruthless invasion of Iraq not only has cost thousands of innocent lives and billions of dollars but also has been a model of the failure of the war on terrorism. The invasion angered the Arab world and made the recruitment of terrorists much easier. The money could be better spent on achieving homeland security—for example, protecting nuclear reactors and transportation systems. The war has also taken resources from destroying al-Qaeda. These terrorists have been able to regroup, evolve and continue creating cells. How can Americans still support a President who has mishandled this urgent situation?
Richard Kaziny
Evanston, U.S.

International terrorism has adopted a different modus operandi. It has become decentralized without giving up veneration of Osama bin Laden. He is an icon of revenge for perceived atrocities against followers of Islam. The ongoing attacks in Iraq and the Madrid train bombings are grim indicators of the changing face of terrorism.
Kailash Mehta
Mohali, India

After Madrid, Who's Next?
The bombs of March 11 rocked Spain to its core [March 29], and we are all suffering and asking why. The day after the attack, 11.5 million people across this nation took to the streets in solidarity to demonstrate against terrorism. The time has come for a comprehensive and centralized global counterterrorism organization. Existing agencies, such as Europol (European Police Office), have often proved ineffective, and police officials have preferred to contact one another personally instead of using a centralized institution. The warmhearted and hardworking Spanish people will surely endure, but as in New York City, Bali and Istanbul, an age of innocence is forever gone. Stop the madness!
Michael D. Shanahan
Madrid

What is to be done to prevent more attacks? As long as revenge and war remain the only answers, peaceful coexistence has no chance. We must fight Muslim extremism by seeking dialogue with the majority of peace-loving Muslims. In Germany, moderate Islam prevails. Dialogue with moderate Muslims may give Europeans access to the religious and cultural essence of Islam, so they can better understand it.
Hans Gerbig
Gersthofen, Germany

About That Election
As a Spanish citizen, I am appalled by the persistent conclusion by some that the terrorists won the Spanish elections [March 29]. The bomb attacks simply set in motion a series of events that added up to defeat for Prime Minister José María Aznar, beginning with his government's effort to blame the bombings on the Basque terrorists of ETA and to rule out al-Qaeda. This arrogance and cynicism insulted the very essence of democracy by blotting out the truth. If ETA had been responsible for the attacks, Aznar's party would have won, because the majority of Spaniards endorse the fight against that terrorist organization. And if Spaniards had supported the war in Iraq, not even 1,000 al-Qaeda bombs would have affected the vote.
Antoni Conesa
Wembley, England

In the days after the terrible massacre in Madrid, the Spanish people showed great unity, courage and maturity. The demonstrations all across Spain told the world that peace and justice will never be beaten by terrorism. It was the Spanish government's failure to provide truthful information about the bombs that gave rise to the greatest confusion. The government's disinformation was a major cause of the defeat of Aznar and his party. First among all the causes that provoked the vote against Aznar, however, was his arrogance in defying the will of his people, who did not want to get involved in the Iraq war. The government must stop underestimating the capacity of its citizens to decide who should steer the country. No more lies. The Spanish people are too wise to allow their destiny to be manipulated.
Andrés Romero Nieto
Badajoz, Spain

I am proud to be a Spaniard. We have proved that we cannot easily be lied to, despite all of Aznar's manipulative efforts.
Luis Crespo
Barcelona

The elections in Spain dramatically changed the political mood in Poland. Everybody who has been following the past year's political turmoil started to feel deeply uneasy when the Spanish election results were announced. Poles really hoped that Poland and Spain could be political allies, especially since we stood together and took part in the Iraq invasion, an unpopular move opposed by most of Europe. Now Poles are afraid that they will be left alone to face frosty relations with the other European states. The situation is a good example of how, in the global village, events in one country can substantially change the climate in another.
Agnieszka Idzik
Jaslo, Poland

For once in my life, I felt an enormous solidarity with Spain. We Portuguese have nurtured antagonism toward our neighbor for several centuries. But on March 11, I suffered along with the people of Madrid, feeling like a citizen of the Iberian Peninsula rather than of a country that split from Spain in 1143. Still, I cannot understand how the Spanish people could allow their election to be manipulated by terrorists. The Spaniards have taught us some brave lessons about dealing with ETA terrorists. Though the probability of being killed on the roads of Portugal is thousands of times greater than in a terrorist attack here, people don't give up driving. I hope the terrorists will not prevail.
Sofia de Landerset
Lisbon

Unpredictable Hero
Hooray for Johnny Depp! I read every word of your story about "Hollywood's most unusual star" [March 22]. In Platoon, which was shot in the Philippines, Depp played a small but moving role as a Vietnamese-speaking G.I. who perishes in a firefight. Many of us fortysomethings, who were yuppies during the Philippines' turbulent 1980s, grew up watching the young Depp. We admired him for being rebellious, idealistic and nonconformist yet totally committed to his craft. Even back then, Depp had something special.
Raul H. Dado
Vientiane, Laos

High Time for Change
In your notebook item on Malaysia's new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he comes across as a bold reformer [March 15]. The elections in Malaysia were a real nightmare, but the people have finally shown that they are fed up with politicians who try to hinder modernism and secularism. The population's response was clear. May the people of Malaysia have the opportunity to see their country rise above itself with this new government.
Sergej Nicolas
Thessaloniki, Greece

Criminal Conglomerate
The profile of Mafia don Joseph (Big Joey) Massino referred to the vision some members have of La Cosa Nostra as a "grand old society that the New World corrupted" [CRIME, March 29]. That sentimental view is not supported by a brief history of the Mob we published on Aug. 22, 1969:

"Centuries before La Cosa Nostra was heard of in the U.S., the Mafia operated—even as it does today—as a brigand government in much of Sicily. Though many Italian immigrants had come to the U.S. to avoid just such oppression as the Mafia offers, a few among them formed a new Mafia in the new country. In the crowded 'Little Italys' of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the thugs found easy prey ... Prohibition offered the transplanted Mafiosi the chance they could not have made for themselves. Only they had the organization that could capitalize on the potential of bootlegging ... There was enough intraorganizational feuding to fill a graveyard ... To stop the killing, said [the Mob's modern founding father Salvatore] Maranzano, the gangs ... would henceforth be recognized as families, each with its own territorial limits ... The organization's code of conduct [was] a combination of such qualities as manliness, honor and willingness to keep secrets. Its requirements have never changed. The penalty for breaching the code: death."