Opinion: Refusing Saudi prince's gift may be a mistake

Okay, I give you that the situation is traumatic and anyone can make a mistake in judgement, so I can give Mayor Rudy Giuliani a little slack. However, I think he missed a great opportunity to show a sense of statesmanship rather than a knee-jerk reaction to a bona-fide compassionate gift. The United States doesn't have a lot of friends in the Middle East and the ones we have are mostly because of economics. Why shouldn't we look for the causes of such animosity and try to negotiate, not with terrorists, but with legitimate countries, to resolve this unbelievable tension around the world?

While I have a good idea why the "world" looks at us as belligerents, I must leave it to our elected officials to look beyond the United States' current attitude and develop a more intelligent and broad-range perception of our goals in the rest of the world. We have been isolationists, contributors, world policemen, and out and out bullies. Remember the Contras, Vietnam, Haiti and many others.

Granted, we have come to the aid of many countries, peoples and coalitions with righteous ideas and goals, but we trained the Taliban, the Iraqis, the Iranians, and many others in the art of war and helped them win their causes. Now it is these same countries we must fight to rid ourselves of dictators, whose aims we have supported with taxpayer funds, as well as all forms of terrorism.

We have bases and troops in Saudi Arabia whose presence is resented even by the people we are there to protect. Any average diplomat would have graciously accepted the check with much fanfare and tried to make a positive thing out of the event. I am concerned that we have again proved ourselves to be schoolyard bullies and provided more ammunition to the cries of terrorism.

I realize that many people of the United States have never traveled to foreign countries outside of Canada and Mexico, and don't know what is expected of them by the various cultures of the rest of the world. This ignorance makes us vulnerable to narrow-minded rhetoric of self-centered and sometimes misguided politicians. We have a right and an obligation to question our leaders' positions in foreign affairs and require them to strike a balance in all the countries of the world, not in just an isolated few.

I am a flag-waving American and have put my life on the line for my country. I support my country with all my heart. That is why I felt compelled to examine the good in Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's gesture and not jump on the anti-anybody-but-American bandwagon. Thanks to all the Americans who gave their lives so I could have this opportunity to express my opinion.
-- John Parchman, St. Petersburg

Heartened by chutzpah

As a native born New Yorker, I was heartened by Mayor Rudy Giuliani's chutzpah for rejecting the $10-million relief check from Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, tendered during his visit to Ground Zero. The statement released by the prince displayed total arrogance and lack of respect to the memory of the victims. He may be a prince by birthright, but as a human, he lacks class.

His statement, linking the criminal attack to U.S. Middle East policy is disingenuous to say the least. I am glad that he and his oligarchical entourage have left the United States. His comments should be a wakeup call for our elected leaders.

It is of paramount importance to our national security that our elected leaders develop and implement a bipartisan energy policy now as part of our war on terrorism strategy. We need to free ourselves from dependency on foreign oil sources. We must develop an integrated approach now, to include conservation, responsible development of domestic sources and use of alternative energy resources.
-- James M. Previtera, St. Petersburg

Keep up the good work

We really enjoy the fact-filled and human interest communiques filed by your senior correspondent, Susan Taylor Martin. Martin's Tea breaks tension in a small town (Oct. 8) is a gem, taking the reader into the dark streets of a little Pakistani town on the eve of the allied air attacks on Afghanistan. Keep up the good work.
-- Bill Elizer, Palm Harbor

Taking risks for the story

Thanks to Susan Taylor Martin, her photographer Jamie Francis, and to the St. Petersburg Times for the excellent report, Rescued from an angry crowd (Oct. 9), filed from location in Pakistan.

When this reader snaps off a nasty letter to newspapers, news magazines, or news television shows, the one thing that restrains me from being really critical is knowing that so many professional reporters, such as Martin and Francis, are willing to take great risks to get the accurate, on-site story.

It is a real shame that in (economic) "good times," the American media generally settle for "fluff" sensationalism, and 24/7 scandal coverage. Well, the world sits still for no one (not even a superpower) and misdirecting our resources (and, worse, settling for biased, less-than-accurate and outright deceptive information) has its costs. Fortunately, there are those up to the challenge of providing excellent reporting, even at a high level of risk.

Thanks to the St. Petersburg Times and reporters for expending the time, resources and risk to get the up-to-date story.
-- Lawrence Brokahn, Boca Raton

A career is a woman's right

Re: Rescued from an angry crowd, Oct. 9.

I would like to commend Susan Taylor Martin and Jamie Francis on an excellent piece of journalism. The article was well-written and they did a great job of placing the reader in the middle of the action.

I found an interesting juxtaposition in the opinion section of Oct. 11 regarding this feature. On the same page with Ellen Goodman's column, Women's freedom is a central issue, about the domination of women by the Taliban, there is a letter criticizing the choice of sending a woman to Pakistan because of the danger involved (Travels in poor judgement). The letter writer questioned, "What possible feature article could this lady have derived that would have been worth her life?"

Without knowing Martin personally, I would like to take the liberty of theorizing on some of the possible reasons. Perhaps it was a great opportunity for her career (a career that might possibly support her family, as many working women today are doing). It is also possible that she was best suited to do this article. Maybe she felt that the personal firsthand knowledge she gained from the experience was worth the risk. Or maybe she just ran out of diapers to wash at home.

It will be nice when everyone, in this country at least, stops questioning a woman's right to make a career choice.
-- Lee-Anne Shoeman, Spring Hill

True freedom of religion for women

Re: Women's freedom is a central issue, Oct. 11.

I take exception to Ellen Goodman's article about women's freedoms. You cannot equate the subjugation of women in Muslim countries to a few denominational rules, i.e. Baptist women not becoming pastors and orthodox Jewish women praying in a different location than men. There is a tremendous fundamental difference. The Muslim women in a Muslim country have no choice. They must be covered from head to toe in a burqa, even while their husbands, fathers and brothers are free to wear shorts or short-sleeved shirts in such warm countries. And her husband is free to beat her, according to the Koran, if she rebels. Also in some Muslim countries, she is not even allowed to go out of the house alone -- cannot go to school, cannot work as a doctor, teacher, etc.

If the Judeo-Christian woman does not care for some slight denominational rule, she is free to change denominations. She also is free to pursue her happiness (guaranteed by our Constitution) in any field of work that she chooses. This, my liberal friend, is true freedom.
-- Mary Cullinane, Clearwater

Stop coddling criminals

Re: Fleeing car hits boy, Oct. 10.

Once again, innocent people (in this case a father and his 3-year-old son) have become victims of our liberal judicial system. Lorenzo Young, at the tender age of 20, has already compiled a lengthy criminal record, including convictions for fleeing from arrest, possession of marijuana, obstructing an officer and trespassing. But is he where he belongs, in jail? No, he's out on our streets driving under the influence and with a suspended license.

Had our liberal courts not been so diligent in their efforts to coddle criminals, Lorenzo would have still been behind bars. Alas, if history is any indicator, Lorenzo (with the help of a taxpayer-funded public defender) will be back out on the streets within 30 days. Will we ever learn?
-- Bob Lindskog, Palm Harbor

Harvard's slippery, sliding scale

Re: Harvard's wholesale honor roll, editorial, Oct. 12.

It appears the editorialist is a Garrison Keillor fan.

As a student of Tufts University in the late '40s, there was no doubt, at that time, most of the New England colleges were in the shadow of Harvard University.

From my own personal experience, the Harvard students were no more above-average than students in other colleges in the area and in more respects the Harvard students were not chosen for their academic expertise but rather because of their family connections.

When I attended undergraduate school, many college professors graded on a "sliding scale" which created proportionate grades for that class.

Your observation is entirely accurate and one need not be an honor student to know 90-percent honor students of a senior class in any undergraduate college is a fallacious representation of academic achievement.
-- Russell Lee Johnson, St. Petersburg

Elijah Gosier for commissioner

Over the years I have read Elijah Gosier off an on with limited interest. Though I usually agree with what he has to say, I generally feel somewhat tepid about the way he says it. That was until his Oct. 9 column, Baseball purists can still be proud.

This was simply the best piece of newspaper writing I have run into in a long time. I was simply floored by what he wrote. My first thought was he should be considered the Times' leading writer. Then I thought again, and decided that it would be better if he took over as general manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. My final thought was that I would like to Elijah Gosier's name on Major League Baseball right where Bud Selig's name currently is.
-- David Horning, St. Petersburg

Share your opinions

Letters for publication should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. They also can be sent by fax to 893-8675.

They should be brief and must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Please include a handwritten signature when possible.

Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length.

For e-mail users: Letters can be sent by e-mail to letters@sptimes.com.E-mail messages must be text only and cannot include attachments. If you're using a word processing program to write the message, you must use its ''Save as'' function to save it as a text file, then import it into your e-mail program. Please include your return e-mail address, as well as your name, mailing address and phone number, in the text of the message.

Back to Opinion

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

From the Times
Opinion page