Letters

(2 of 3)
T

he Atrocities in Sudan are reminiscent of those in Rwanda 10 years ago. The U.S. is hesitant to step in because the Sudanese government is willing to help in the war against al-Qaeda, but does that mean we should sit back and watch as children starve to death? We spend millions to rebuild a country that despises us — and gladly murders our soldiers and beheads our citizens — but we leave other people in desperate need to fend for themselves.
KERRYANN BOLTON
Silver Spring, Md.

Fomenting Fundamentalism

"Meet The New Jihad," on the Islamic insurgency in Iraq [July 5], provided another example of the folly of U.S. foreign policy regarding Islamic nations during the past 50 years. The U.S. helped arrange the overthrow of Iran's democratically elected President, Mossadegh, supported the autocratic Shah and wound up with a fundamentalist Islamic state. Our opposition to Soviet influence in Afghanistan led to the creation of the Taliban. In the process we aided and empowered Osama bin Laden. We have given uncritical support to Israel and as a result made a viable Palestinian state a virtual impossibility. We launched a unilateral and pre-emptive war on Iraq on the basis of false claims, enraging the entire Islamic world, and now a new jihad has developed against us there. Will our foreign policy again midwife a new fundamentalist state into existence?
JOHN A. BERTSCHE
Normal, Ill.

So "A TIME investigation reveals how insurgents in Iraq aim to create an Islamic state and turn the country into a terrorist haven"? Congratulations. You have discovered the status quo.
MICHAEL TOMLIN
Boise, Idaho

Your investigation delineated the hideous, Taliban-like attitudes of the insurgents based on the outskirts of Fallujah. Those terrorists must be defeated. They unsettle the serenity of the people of Iraq in particular and global peace in general. Iraqis should cooperate with U.S. forces to vanquish fanatic terrorist groups, because they are stumbling blocks to peace.
A. VINOO FABIAN
Bangalore, India

I was surprised that your reporter could write a story from inside the insurgency. I doubt that such coverage is helpful to the Iraqi or coalition forces. Giving attention to the rebels makes them feel important and encourages them to do more harm to civilized people.
MARUF RAHMAN
St.-Lo, France

The Iraq war is being portrayed as an unmitigated disaster. If that's the only drumbeat the American public hears, many people are going to feel apprehensive and negative about it. My parents told me that after World War II, many cases of brutality and viciousness occurred in Europe — like the aftershocks of an earthquake. But eventually order was restored and life in dictator-free societies was allowed to thrive. That is the reality of war. You don't have instant peace, affluence and harmony just because a document has been signed. I am convinced that the result, perhaps many years away, will be a free and democratic Iraq that will benefit the world.
CHRISTA GRUNINGER
Vancouver

President Bush has carried out a war in Iraq that has brought more harm than good to the U.S. economy and the world. Now that sovereignty has been handed back to the Iraqis, the only thing for Americans to do is leave the country immediately before something more terrible than Sept. 11 happens.
ANENE EZIAFA
Anambra, Nigeria