Letters: Aug. 16, 2004

The Strip Is Back!

The sin and foolishness that pass for fun in Las Vegas should make us stop and wonder where we are going as a nation. PATRICIA DEE Glennie, Mich.

I was very disappointed that "The Strip is Back!" depicted Las Vegas as a sexy, sinful playground for adults [July 26]. I have been to the city on many occasions with my husband and young children. Las Vegas is an elegant and entertaining city of great hotels and restaurants, wonderful shows and child-friendly arcades. But the pictures of strip clubs in your story were off-putting. You even made the Mandalay Bay's casino look seedy and cheap. What did you intend to do, keep middle-class people from visiting? MONICA STEVENS Farmington, Mich.

TIME captured one side of life in Las Vegas in vivid detail: lots of money, alcohol and sex. How about a follow-up on the other side? Alcoholism, venereal disease, unwanted pregnancies, loneliness and heartbreak--that's Vegas, baby! JEAN TUOMEY CLEARY Sewickley, Pa.

Vegas is great for kids. I spent a week there in February with my husband and young grandchildren. We stayed four nights each at the Monte Carlo and Circus Circus, including a quick overnight drive to see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. Las Vegas has the best public bus transportation I've ever used. And I was impressed that the hotel employees stepped right in if I inadvertently took the children to an adult-oriented area. There are museums, amusement rides, water parks and great little shops that cater to youthful tastes. PHYLLIS H. WITCHER Wilmington, Del.

Las Vegas' slogan proclaims, "what happens here, stays here!" But the main thing that stays there is your money. BRAD MILLER Encinitas, Calif.

Know Thine Enemy

"The Iran Connection" reported on the evidence uncovered by the 9/11 commission that there were contacts between al-Qaeda and Iran between October 2000 and February 2001 [July 26]. That is further confirmation that the U.S. attacked the wrong country. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. Your story noted that Osama bin Laden declined an offer of collaboration with Iran to avoid alienating his supporters in Saudi Arabia. So, what better country to attack than Saudi Arabia? The warfare should have been not military but economic, in the form of subsidizing a Manhattan Project to end our dependence on oil. We can start now and lead the world, or wait for the oil to run out and watch other countries take advantage. BILL ZAWACKI Beaverton, Ore.

Dishonorable Men

"Marked Women" [JULY 26], on the rash of honor killings committed by Iraqi men against female family members suspected of straying from traditional rules of chastity, left me overcome with feelings of outrage, disgust and sadness. My beautiful 16-year-old daughter died in a car accident several years ago, and her loss continues to bring our family indescribable pain. I know that her father and brother would give their lives in a heartbeat if doing so would bring her back. That fathers and brothers would take the lives of daughters and sisters in the name of honor is beyond abominable. LOUISE MCLEOD Duncan, B.C.