Letters

The Man with the Plan
Your article on U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi [June 7] reported that he compromised with members of the Iraqi Governing Council to select Iyad Allawi, a man also favored by U.S. officials, as the country’s interim Prime Minister. That is absolutely incredible. Allawi, like the discredited Ahmad Chalabi, had lived outside Iraq for decades; he was a Baath Party member and a CIA employee. How likely is it that he will be viewed by the Iraqi public as having credibility? When will the Bush Administration learn from its past mistakes?
Jack Kinstlinger
Hunt Valley, U.S.

The report on the power struggles in Iraq included a photo of children playing in Sadr City in front of a mural that paired an image of an Abu Ghraib prisoner with that of the Statue of Liberty. That picture showed the true extent of the damage that has occurred. The very people who came to liberate the Iraqis have treated them in ways that are similar to Saddam Hussein’s. It makes one wonder whether the American forces have overstayed their welcome and whether it’s time to hand over the country to the Iraqisand to a leader who is not just a puppet in American hands.
Nandini Ravishankar
Mumbai

Not So Radical
“The Exile and the Entrepreneur” [June 7] reported on how the 1989 protests and their brutal suppression by the government is rapidly fading from the Chinese people’s memory. That is too bad. China is still haunted by the ghosts of Tiananmen Square, as the Communist Party continues to ignore the people’s best interests. Compared with the democratic movements in Taiwan, the 1989 Tiananmen uprising was hardly a call for radical change. And it shouldn’t have been ended with a massacre.
Song Xiaowen
Pingzhen City, Taiwan

The Business of War
Re “The Master Builder” [June 7]: it is astonishing how closely intertwined Halliburton, the biggest contractor in Iraq, and the Pentagon are. Wherever the military goes, Halliburton seems to be perched on its shoulder to scavenge profits from the rubble of war. And as if Halliburton’s mission weren’t unsavory enough, ex-employees intimate that the company has been gorging itself on taxpayer dollars via inefficient no-bid contracts. The Pentagon needs to dissociate itself from this bloated vulture ASAP.
Ulysses Lateiner
Somerville, U.S.

Your reporting raised serious questions about why the U.S. went to war in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney was an early and staunch advocate for the invasion. Then Halliburton, his former company, was given a huge no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq and run the oil fields. No wonder most of the world is appalled by what we are doing there. No wonder 50% of Americans are disgusted and angry with what George W. Bush has done to Iraq. The only wonder is why the other 50% think he is doing O.K.
D. Alan Caccia
Honokaa, U.S.

Pistol-Packin’ President
In “A Saddam Souvenir,” you reported that President Bush is keeping in the White House the pistol that Saddam was clutching when he was captured [June 7]. There is something incredibly disturbing and distasteful about the President’s proudly showing off such spoils of war. His pride in displaying Saddam’s gun is further proof that this war was part personal vendetta.
Donna Rochester
Tucson, U.S.

Apart from the fact that the only place for that souvenir is a war museum, there is another side to the story: the frightening reality that the leader of the free world has turned out to be a boy with a toy.
Dick W. van Donselaar
Tiel, the Netherlands

Fall from Grace
Re your coverage of the controversy surrounding Ahmad Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and a former U.S. ally [May 31]: The Bush Administration neoconservatives should be fired for their support of Chalabi, who misled American leaders into attacking Iraq. Now Chalabi is being investigated for telling an Iranian spy about our having broken an Iranian secret code. That’s a serious charge. Who revealed classified information to Chalabi, and will those people be fired? Or will Bush, as usual, not hold them accountable for their mistakes?
John Wisdom Dancer
Canoga Park, U.S.

Could the timing of Chalabi’s very public downfall be mere coincidence? It seems likely that the timing was determined by Bush’s political handlers to make it appear that Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress were to blame for drawing us into this ill-advised war. If that is their game, it will not work. Chalabi clearly had interests of his own to promote, but the Bush Administration was not without resources to verify the bogus information he provided. If it points to Chalabi as the source of our misfortune, the Administration will only reveal new depths of incompetence in dealing with the post-9/11 world.
Peter S. Marshall
Bellevue, U.S.

Plan for Prosperity
In “The Face of Reform” [May 31], you correctly stated that India’s new Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, faces immense challenges in his bid to improve the lot of India’s rural poor. The government’s efforts are diluted because of the vast issues they address. My humble suggestion is for the government to focus on four points: 1) limiting the birthrate in the rural population to just two children per family; 2) improving literacy among the rural population, particularly children; 3) promoting hygienic living habits; 4) increasing employment and business opportunities to supplement the country’s agricultural income. I hope that social organizations, industry and nongovernment organizations will extend their full support to the government in its stupendous tasks.
Homi Bhabha
Mumbai

Arrested Development
“What Makes Teens Tick” [May 31], on the new research into the brain physiology of adolescents, stated that “the last area of the brain to mature is the part capable of deciding, I’ll finish my homework, take out the garbage, and then I’ll IM my friends.” But I believe the last area of the brain to mature is the part capable of deciding, I’ll clean my room, put soiled clothes in the hamper and return those dirty dishes to the kitchen without being told to. From my own highly unscientific observations, this level of cerebral maturity occurs around age 30about the same time you discover that your parents were more intelligent than you once thought.
Gregory Bordelon
Chennevires-sur-Marne, France

Your article achieved a rich understanding of the health, functioning and well-being of adolescents. The ideas presented contribute to urgently needed scientific, policy, and public discussions about how we prepare our young people to become thoughtful, responsible and effective participants in their societies. Parents, teachers and professionals in relevant specialties should develop strategies to modify or mitigate the impact of the challenges, both biological and social, young people have to face. The answers to the optimal planning for producing the next generation of self-sustaining citizens have important implications for our own future, because the youth of today are the adults of tomorrow.
Angela Fan
Taipei

Blunt Man of the Book
When Roger Straus, the flamboyant co-founder and editor in chief of publishing house Farrar, Straus & Giroux, died in May at age 87, the literary world lost one of its most colorful characters [MILESTONES, June 7]. TIME profiled Straus in 1988, when his company was reaping prizes and profits [Feb. 8, 1988]:

“The outspoken Straus bluntly rejects the nostalgic notion that publishing was once a gentlemen’s business. ‘They were poor businessmen,’ he says of many of the resonant names of the profession, ‘poor marketers out to massage their own egos generation after generation.’ Straus shuns the bureaucratic style of those merged entities resulting from takeovers by huge conglomerates that demand a fast return on their investment. He works in close contact with his employees. When the air conditioning broke down, he dashed out to buy Good Humors for the entire staff … FS&G’s authors seem glad to forgo the ritual overpriced lunch (Straus takes writers to modest neighborhood restaurants) for the opportunity to work closely with underpaid four-star editors. [Scott] Turow, who turned down a proffered $275,000 advance elsewhere to take $200,000 at FS&G, says the house’s cachet ‘made it an honor to take less money.'”