Letters

In response to the story on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling of Guantánamo, our readers questioned the morality, legality and effectiveness of the highly controversial detainment camp

The reports about the treatment of suspected terrorists at Guantánamo Bay are deeply disturbing [July 10]. The practice of restraining a person in a padded chair in order to force-feed him via a nasogastric tube is revolting. As a doctor, I am shocked that our government would abuse someone in such a way; as a Muslim, I am frightened that presumed religious fundamentalists have been so psychologically and physically tortured that they have tried to kill themselves (suicide, according to Islam, sends one straight to hell); and as a U.S. citizen, I am upset and find it morally unacceptable that inhuman acts are committed in our country’s name.
Salem Samra, M.D.
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.

The detentions at Gitmo are immoral, illegal by international standards and profoundly un-American. It’s time to shut down this abomination before we create even more enemies than we already have. We should try the detainees we can’t immediately clear, punish the ones we convict and release the rest. Any possibility of extracting useful intelligence from the detainees passed years ago.
Ken Keaton
Lauderhill, Florida, U.S.

Guantánamo as a font of intelligence is a dubious notion, for the value of information obtained under torture is highly questionable. Believing that useful information can still be gleaned from some of the detainees after four years is as stupid, arrogant and shameful as continuing to detain those no longer facing regular questioning. But then Guantánamo has more to do with blind revenge and the display of unlimited power than with obtaining justice. The best way for Americans to fix Gitmo would be to close it and return Guantánamo Bay, a remnant of colonial imperialism, to Cuba.
Jean-Paul Debattice
Brussels

While I am a great believer in the U.S. as a force for good, the thought of Guantánamo Bay leaves me sickened and disillusioned. The detentions show that in some significant ways, the U.S. has become like its terrorist enemies. Gitmo exists because of a technicality: it is not on U.S. soil. It would have been dismantled long ago if it were in Texas.
Wayne Rosen
Calgary, Canada

Going into Gaza
“Search & Destroy” [July 10], on Israel’s raid against Hamas during the search for a kidnapped soldier, stated that “Gaza militants have fired homemade rockets at Israeli towns, usually missing but causing some injuries and great misery.” Women and children have been injured or killed by the shelling—to call that “great misery” is a bit understated. If the Palestinian authorities wish to have full control of their territories, they should act responsibly, the same as any modern country would: by identifying, capturing and punishing criminals and other types of evildoers.
Eyal Traitel
Cupertino, California, U.S.

Prior to the latest incursion, Gaza was still surrounded by the Israeli army, with checkpoints at exits, its coast patrolled and its airspace controlled. It is actually a large open-air prison. Israel’s continued occupation of territory beyond its legitimate borders is the problem.
Gilwee Walker
Palo Alto, California, U.S.

Liberty vs. Security
Everyone should read managing editor Richard Stengel’s “To Our Readers” column about the crossfire between the government and the press over the stories on the classified program to monitor bank records [July 10]. It was refreshing, in this era of knee-jerk vilification of the other guy’s point of view, for Stengel to urge us to listen carefully to the debate, since power politics may play a role on both sides. As he reminded us, we are the judges.
Audrey Mayville
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.

When a government official leaks classified information, it is a crime, and the person should be tried and, if found guilty, punished. Journalists should be held accountable if they aid and abet in the crime. The natural conflict between the government and the press should be resolved by the legislative and judicial branches. It would benefit our society to have those cases taken to court. Nobody has the right to reveal information that could threaten our national security.
Peter Smith
Castle Rock, Colorado, U.S.

Hawks and Kangaroos
Re “After Koizumi” [July 3]: you reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is known as a hawk and has even questioned the validity of the post-World War II Tokyo Tribunals war-crimes trials. I strongly support his position. Japan was forced to accept the judgments of the Tokyo Tribunals, a kangaroo court set up by the Allied forces as an act of revenge against Japan. It is high time that Japan declare it is not bound by the Tokyo Tribunals.
Misao Nakaya
Naha, Japan

Characters in Common
Re “Is It Too Late To Try?” [June 26]: I was intrigued to learn that Japanese is considered one of the most difficult languages for Americans to learn. When it comes to learning Chinese, however, we Japanese have a bit of an edge over speakers of other languages. Thankfully, we use Chinese characters our ancestors imported from China. In fact, on my solo trip there, I managed to communicate with a tea-shop owner for about an hour without talking. We did it, of course, by writing Chinese characters and smiling over cups of tea.
Tetsuro Umeji
Kudamatsu, Japan

Superpowers on the Horizon
Your reporting on the economic growth of India, [June 19], made plain that the world is changing at a pace we can’t control. Countries that have had nothing in the past are now fighting to assert their dominance on the world stage. No longer are Western nations the rulers of our planet. Eastern countries have seen what the West has achieved, and now they want a little of that for themselves. I don’t believe it will be long before China and India become the new superpowers. I wonder how the U.S. will cope when it no longer has the power to dictate to the rest of the world.
Owen Hollifield
Cardiff, Wales

Felling the Gentle Giants
I was distressed to read “Revenge of the Whale Hunters” [July 3]. Norway’s flouting of the International Whaling Commission rules is particularly offensive because it bespeaks the whalers’ pleasure in defying international opinion. This summer a group of tourists who had gone to Norway to see and photograph the magnificent animals were horrified to see a whale harpooned before their eyes. That bloody scene was followed by the grisly sight of the butchering of a carcass on another ship. With its income from North Sea oil, Norway has no economic reason to support its contemptuous stance on whaling. It is tragic that whales must suffer to satisfy the chauvinistic urges of a fanatical special-interest group.
Greta Frankel
Stockholm

Having read your article on the possible resumption of whaling by some countries, I am appalled at how we humans have not learned the lessons of the past. Whalers kill these gentle giants by shooting them with harpoons tipped with grenades, which explode inside a whale’s body. We, through our uncontrolled population growth and greed, are pushing to extinction the other wonderful life-forms that share this little planet with us. One remedy would be to boycott all goods from nations that persist in the barbaric practice of commercial whaling. I refuse to purchase any goods made in Japan or any other country that voted for a return to the murder of whales.
Jon Ralph
Cape Town, South Africa

Preparedness Pays Off
Re “Sharing the Load” [July 10], on the progress made in providing assistance to Africa since last year’s G-8 summit: When large populations are brought to the brink of crisis, international aid interventions are hugely expensive and logistically complicated. The solution is to give people the ability to be resilient in the event of natural disasters or armed conflicts. Small, steady cash transfers enable poor families to eat better and invest in equipment that will help them be more productive. Run entirely by local staff and villagers, the low volume of funds involved reduces the risk of corruption and doesn’t require helicopters or fleets of vehicles. These programs pay for themselves through the economic benefits they generate. They fail to catch the public eye, however, and hence remain desperately underfunded. By making modest investments in the world’s most vulnerable people, millions can enjoy better, longer lives. And the need for high-profile crisis interventions will be reduced.
Andrew MacMillan
Scansano, Italy

War Without End
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are an estimated 200,000 homeless veterans in the U.S., 10% of whom fought in the current conflict in Iraq or the 1991 Gulf War. About 40% fought in Vietnam. In a July 13, 1981, cover story, TIME reported on the troubled survivors of a war that the U.S. had been trying to forget:

“In the summer of 1981, the war in Vietnam is re-emerging as an item of profoundly unfinished moral and psychological business. It is not so much a nasty secret as a subject that Americans agreed not to discuss for a time. Some 2.9 million Americans served in Indochina. The majority of them managed to put their lives together after the war … But nearly 100,000 vets came back with severe physical disabilities: fast evacuation by helicopter and excellent medical care saved thousands of men—many without arms and legs—who might otherwise have died … BUT THE REAL DEVILS OF THE WAR WORK IN THE MIND. Something like a quarter of those who served may still be suffering from substantial psychological problems. They get flashbacks, nightmares, depression, startle reactions, and that wild red haze of rage in the brain when self-control goes and adrenaline shakes the whole frame, and some terrific violence struggles to cut loose. That is Vietnam combat doing its wild repertory in the theater of a vet’s nerves.” Read more at timearchive.com.