Letters to the Editor, December 16, 2004

Apology to the World for US Policies

Dear Editor:

Thank you for publishing the eloquent and extremely well laid out article by Dr. Craig Etchison. Indeed, he speaks for many millions of Americans who are equally appalled at the heinous, absolutely criminal and globally devastating policies of our wanton and utterly failed US government.

Barbara Ellis, New York, NY

Reforming the UN

UN Security Council has been constituted without any logical basis or consideration except that the members were self-righteous industrialized nations with nuclear arsenals, who participated in World War II. The UNSC has no representation from the second largest democracy of the world - India which itself shows it is not of representative nature!. Pity that it has no representation from Middle-East and Arabic speaking people. It has no representation from African and Australian continents! It has representation from Europe (France, Britain), America (USA) and Asia (Russia and China). For a long time China had no representation in UN but a small country, Taiwan was a member!! UNSC is controlled and dictated by USA with its supporters Britain and France, which forms a majority. In short, what USA feels will be the order of the day. Nowadays Russia is also toeing the US line due its economic conditions. Such is the story of the worl! d forum.

UNSC has no moral right to exclude Indians and Arabs or 2/5th of world's population. UN Charter should be altered to accommodate such changes, when adopted by UN General Assembly. I also feel that Veto power should be abolished once and for all, as it is beyond scope of principle of equality and justice. The Security Council should go by the majority vote. May be 75% of total members should agree to a particular decision, for implementation of such a decision.

To start with, India and one Middle East Nation should be admitted as Security Council members with full rights.

Dr Aboobakar Thwahir

William W. Baker

Dear Editor,

I was recently at a luncheon at the Holy Land Middle Eastern Restaurant in Palm Bay, Florida, where the featured guest was William W. Baker, founder and President of Christians and Muslims for Peace. He entertained and informed us for a good four hours on a subject that is quite relevant for our time - peace and justice for everyone. I was thoroughly amazed and delighted at the depth of knowledge and experience that Mr. Baker provided in his presentation and the captivating style of his moving talk on the grassroots foundation of humanity and compassion. He enlightened the audience with his recollections of humanitarian endeavors in such exotic places as Palestine, Iraq, and Kashmir, regions of the world which seem to be mired in endless conflicts. He has written books on such important topics as the Israel-Palestine conflict, Kashmir, and Christian - Muslim relations, which are available through Amazon.com for interested readers.

I wish there were more people such as William Baker. "Blessed are the peacemakers" is the basic teaching of all faiths, and here was a fine gentleman working on that concept without any ulterior motives. In a time of the season when many in the world are celebrating the birth of the most famous Palestinian in history whose message was love and compassion for all of God's children, Bill Baker's work is quite pertinent and inspiring. I encourage the readers of this newspaper to visit his website at www.campintl.org to learn more about his work for humanity. By the way, the exotic food at the restaurant was also delicious and higly recommended as well. There is no better blessing for me during this season than eating the food of the Prophets at a place with an appropriate name.

Sincerely,

Srinidhi Anantharamiah, PhD

West Melbourne, FL, USA.