Letters

Comment on The defence of liberty (28/06/2003) It was disappointing to find The Spectator toeing the official pro-war line in this editorial, especially when even a periodical as supportive of the war as The Economist has issued withering criticism of the blundering incompetence of the occupation when such criticism was warranted. As someone who has opposed this war, and the general policy of pre-emption, I take no pleasure in the usually foreseeable setbacks and problems that are besetting American and British soldiers in Iraq.

Comment on Crippling burden by Rod Liddle (21/06/2003) Your tawdry article on those of us who are disabled adequately shows us that you are indeed genuinely disabled - by blindness to the facts, arrogance, facetiousness and selective deafness amongst others. You chastise us for almost daring to claim what is the birthright of every citizen: to be judged on what can do, rather than what we cannot. Do you want us to remain objects of pity when we could be taking a full part in society? Is it only for the non-disabled "elite" to claim life's rich pickings? It isn't as if we want anything special - just the means to be able to compete on equal terms. Is our money disabled, too? Is it not of sufficient value that premises shouldn't install ramps etc - all with Government money, I might add?

Comment on The noble feat of Nike by Johan Norberg (07/06/2003) Though I would not describe myself being anti-globalisation, I do think some qualification of Johan Norberg's article (the noble feat of Nike) is required. Admittedly, I have no information on the conditions in the Vietnam factory that Norberg refers to, but such conditions are far from universal. If, as he says, workers are so desperate to work for Nike factories, why were 300 striking workers beaten by police in riot gear outside the Kuk Dong factory in Atlixco, Mexico in January 2001? Apparently because they wanted to form a union for better wages and food. In the same country, workers in the Puma factory Matamoros Garment in Puebla, Mexico had not been paid for three weeks, and went on a one-day strike.

Comment on Television creates terrorists by Patrick Sookhdeo (31/05/2003) Dr Patrick Sookhdeo is the second Spectator contributor in the past few weeks to express the view that the world should hear and see a good deal less about the world than he thinks is right. What we can do about the stuff that concerns Dr Patrick Sookhdeo isn't all that clear: bomb the TV broadcasters he disapproves of? Already done in Belgrade and Iraq and Kabul, and we must be running out of nations that have little choice but to grit their teeth ad take it. Qatar, which your correspondent correctly names as the home of Al-jazeera, is a "friendly" nation used as general headquarters for the recent unpleasantness in Iraq.

Comment on Are whites cleverer than blacks? by Sean Thomas (24/05/2003) Sean Thomas is right to condemn left-wingers for dishonestly shouting down discussion of IQ and race (article, 24 May 2003), but despite their bad faith, 'The Left' has a point. I studied at several institutions where we all had high IQs, and the more kinds of intelligence I see in life, the less sure I get. The appearance of creativity tests in corporate recruitment in the 1960s showed that many in the private sector (never mind politically correct socialists) were already dissatisfied forty years ago with what IQ tests test.

Comment on The reek of injustice by Emma Williams (17/05/2003) Whilst I commend Emma Williams' for painting a graphic picture of the hardships endured by the Palestinian population, she is wrong to suggest that Israelis are deluded over this fact. Unlike that of its neighbours, Israel's media is diverse and objective allowing a clear perspective of the conflict. I myself have watched numerous documentaries on Israeli television chronicling the suffering of the Palestinians. Far from being deluded, Israelis view the current quagmire in terms of a trade-off, for as harsh as the reality is, the IDF's tactics have (to a measure) succeeded in bringing the Intifada under control.

Comment on Your Problems Solved by Mary Killen (10/05/2003) I see that a couple of unidentified actors have asked Mary Killen if she can tell them - 1) Is it a Brazilian custom to go to the loo for half an hour at a time? and2) How they can tactfully tell their Brazilian help that they wouldappreciate his doing his business in his own home before coming to them? Mary Killen has, as usual, offered an ingenious solution to the supposed problem, but I cannot understand why the enquirers would expect Brazilians to spend less time in the loo than do English people, nor can I understand how the enquirers can imagine that a Brazilian, unlike the English, is capable of effectively using the loo at whatever time his employer, and not his own constitution, deems appropriate.

Comment on with friends like these . . . by Simon Heffer (03/05/2003) Could you please inform Simon Heffer, the next time you speak to him, that the French banned British beef as a result of the British Christmas time ban of French turkey a few years previously. If he cares to research the matter more thoroughly, he may find more reasons for France's actions towards its neighbour, rather than a presupposed Inferiority complex that is surely an alien concept to anyone but Mr Heffer.Simon Woodhouse. 'Dieu et mon droit', and 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' are two of the sacred mottoes of the British state, but wait, they're French! So is the emblem of three lions on the England cricket team's cap or the British Lions jersey, these are lions of the Dukes of Anjou!

Comment on Why I nearly resigned by Mark Steyn (26/04/2003) I have only recently come across Mark Steyn and have been impressed by both his insight and wit - I'm delighted that he has decided to stay on at the Spectator. Reading the archives, his predictions post 9-11 have proven almost prophetic on the UN topic. On the latest article I agree with the argument that the UN lacks any sort of coherent vision and is incapable of decisive action, either in war or post-war. However I do understand, if not agree with, the psychological steps taken by people who say that now is the time to attend to the rifts that have emerged in the West.

Comment on The dawning of a new Europe by Tim Congdon (19/04/2003) What an excellent article by Tim Congdon. It is so good to see a coherently argued case for UK withdrawal from the EU. I agree entirely that the case must be made in a way that is not narrow and jingoistic so that its advocates are seen to be forward looking and positive. However I do not agree with Professor Congdon that the UK can keep its Treaty of Rome obligations as a matter of "good form". The Treaty of Rome makes UK law subsidiary to EU law and hence impinges upon the sovereignty of Parliament. The UK should withdraw from the Treaty of Rome too. It would be good to see many more articles in The Spectator making the respectable case for withdrawal.

Comment on The end of the beginning by Michael Ledeen (12/04/2003) Michael Ledeen's analysis of how the United States will approach other 'evil' states, namely Syria and Iran, shows signs of hysteria from the start. Ledeen tells us that 'Today, both Iran and Syria are engaged in a desperate terrorist campaign against coalition forces in Iraq.' Yet the evidence suggests that Iran has shown a complete lack of interest in events over the border, and that Syria has helped a few hundred zealous young men to their deaths in Baghdad. This hardly constitutes a 'desperate terrorist campaign'. He claims later that Iran and Syria will kill us in Iraq and Afghanistan and in our homelands; again, where is his evidence?

Comment on The case for colonialism by Daniel Kruger (15/03/2003) Daniel Kruger invokes the authority of Isaiah Berlin as he opens his case for an American imperium:.

Comment on Village idiots by Amrit Dhillon (26/10/2002) Amrit Dhillon's article on the village panchayat paints a very horrifying picture of grass roots democracy in India. Indeed, by his account, it looks no better than a macabre and cruel parody of what those who framed the constitution had in mind when they thought about introducing this traditional Indian form of village-level government. I think Dillon is quite right to suggest that where there is ignorance and illiteracy, there can be no real democracy. Nevertheless, in the way Dillon piles up the horrors, he seems to let his investigative zeal get the better of his journalistic balance.