Letters to the Editor [Archives:2002/40/Letters to the Editor]

First, govern your country right
May I suggest you take a long and thorough tour of your own country, if you come back alive, I would be amazed.
The reason you do not have a good quality of life in Yemen is not the fault of the USA.
You live in a backward and uncivilized country, and your people appear to be incapable of even governing the small piece of land you inhabit. Do not encourage the spread of your unlawfulness outside of your borders by editorials critical of a successful and prosperous nation. If you do, you will only reveal yourself to be a bad journalist and a bad example to your countrymen. Please learn how to govern your small country before giving advice to others.
Larry Welsh
[email protected]
Not all Americans are behind their government
As a 26 year old Californian American citizen I applaud you for your criticism of American foreign policy, particularly with regard to the Middle East region.
While it is true that our country touts the ideals of freedom and democracy, many of us recognize that our government does NOT represent these ideals. In fact, many American’s, like myself, protest the Iraqi war, and foreign intervention and nation building in general. Many of us know that recognizing the sovereignty of Middle Eastern nations is a critical component to the peace process.
What is often misinterpreted about America is that we stand wholly behind our government. While Gallup polls may suggest strong support for the current administration, few Americans would argue that we have any real representation in government.
Totalitarian regimes rule through the threat of force, democracies rule through creating public apathy. This is evidenced by the fact that few American’s even knew who Osama bin Laden was until after Sept. 11th 2001, despite his earlier terrorist actions or his declaration of war on the U.S.
Like any nation, we are subject to tremendous propaganda from our government. The U.S. government suggests that Iraq presents a real threat with its weapons of mass destruction. A few American’s like myself, are more inclined to believe it’s still about the oil, and creating a strategic foothold in the Middle East.
Sadly, we do not belong in the Middle East, with or without UN resolutions. Iraqis and Americans are both falling victim to the political ambition of the Bush administration.
Thank you for providing a great insight into Yemeni life, and I applaud you for including English translations. In a small way you are doing your part for the “globalization” of information. That will ultimately undermine the validity of government propaganda.
Nathan Ricks
[email protected]
Thanks for raiding al-Qaeda suspects
As a Christian American, I want to thank those brave souls who took part in the raid on al Qaeda activists in Yemen. It is bravery of the highest order to risk your lives.
Thankfully, we are all in favor of jailing killers of innocents.
In the holy land we have a difficult situation. I firmly believe the mechanism of change was in effect, but people who are impatient felt murder would help. They were wrong. The problems in the holy land will only get worse under a situation where the citizens of the US distrust Islamists. Division only accentuates the differences. What has such violence accomplished in the past? Can you look and find good things accomplished by terrorism in the past?
Getting the American people on your side is done by appealing to their good sides, not in the murder of innocents. We are a good and honest people. You cannot defeat the USA in war, so learn from the Japanese and compete, not fight. Capitalism works in any religious climate. What could be more different than the US and Japan?
Jim Gammon
USA
Many Christians also dislike US policy
I want to say that even though I have been reading a lot about Muslims and Arabs disliking US policies, I want to point out to the fact that there are Christians as well and from different countries around the world, who dislike US policies.
Any person, who follows political news should already be familiar with and has a great understanding about the US policies.
Believe me, there are millions of people around the world that understand the US policies. The sad part is that American citizens aren’t even aware of what their country does.
Larry LP.
[email protected]
9/11 cannot be justified
As an American and a Muslim but not Arab, I do agree that America shows almost completely biased towards Israel, and this is wrong. However, most of the Arabs I know seem to think that this policy is directly responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Nothing could be further from the truth.
You may try to use that as an excuse, but when Israel fire’s a rocket into an apartment building in Gaza, trying to kill one Hamas leader, but knowing they will kill innocent civilians, like babies, isn’t that terrorism? Yes it is.
When Hamas members blow themselves up and kill innocent Israeli civilians, like babies, isn’t that terrorism? Yes it is.
All these acts are acts of terrorism. The key word here is innocent civilians. You see, there is no justification in killing any innocent people anywhere at any time. This applies to our government too.
To imply that 9/11 happened because of U.S. policies and justify the act, is like saying Israel should be able to attack innocent Palestinians because last month the Palestinians did it to them. It’s all wrong.
Steve Stephenson
[email protected]

——
[archive-e:40-v:2002-y:2002-d:2002-09-30-p:./2002/iss40/letters.htm]