Skewed Priorities

Raid Qusti (“Little Girls Wearing Abayas”, Sept. 22) has no reason to feel offended by the sight of seven-year old girls wearing abaya when they themselves are happy with it. Girls can have fun even while wearing an abaya. Of course, the question of abaya arises only because girls insist on wearing the latest trendy clothes, which are often quite revealing and make even children look sexy. If all girls and women wear modest clothes which cover the whole body and hair, then abaya is not necessary. Hijab, which is another word for modesty in dressing, is our identity. We should be proud of it and should encourage our children to wear it from an early age. If we explain the merits of hijab to our children logically, they will willingly opt for it.

Our most important concern now should not be that girls are not wearing revealing clothes; it should be ensuring that they get a good education and are allowed to work afterward if they opt for a profession. The most important problem women and children facing here today is not abaya, black or otherwise, but boredom. Having nothing constructive to do, they just watch TV all day or talk over the phone for hours mainly gossiping about such things as the latest trend in clothes. So, instead of worrying if in 20 years they will be forced to cover their hair, worry if they will become insane out of boredom.

Protection is better than cure — even in social behavior. Protect girls from prying eyes and their own evil inclinations. Of course, all Saudi men are not sexual maniacs, but why give chance in the first place at all? Child rape is increasing by the day, and children as young as 10 are experimenting with sex, the world over. No part of the world, including this country, is immune from this trend that has spread from the great West to the rest of the world. And as for children being innocent, they are in some ways; but in some others, they are not. Little ones as young as five or six know more about matters that only adults knew about 20 years ago, thanks to satellite channels and the Internet. And don’t think I am an “Arab extremist”; I am a young Indian mother.

Fatima Khan • Dammam published 29 September 2004

Getting out of Iraq

I thank Tariq A. Al-Maeena for his column “Get Out, America!” (Sept. 25). Oh, how I wish George Bush and his henchmen — and “henchwomen” — could read this commentary and take it to heart. I am horrified at my government and its complete immersion in evil. Bush may tell himself and the world that the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein. I think the world would be a better place without George Bush, and I pray that he loses the election in November. Maybe John Kerry is not the best alternative, but he is all we’ve got, and the American people need to do whatever little they can to change the course that our country is headed in. Believe it or not, there are plenty of Americans who understand the situation in Iraq and they want more than anything for the United States to “get out”.

Mary Shepard • United States published 29 September 2004

Getting out of Iraq [2]

The article contains the “typical” Arab response: Blame America for everything. Who was it that released over 100,000 criminals from Iraqi jails just before the US attacked Iraq? Saddam. Who trained and maintained the Iraqi Fedayeen? Saddam. Who planned the postwar chaos as part of the “resistance”? Saddam and his cohorts. Who is responsible for all the suicide car bombings killing Iraqis? The so-called “resistance.” Why is that in Iraq, a country of almost 100 percent Muslims, there is such rampant and blatant lawlessness when Islam is a religion that consists of the Shariah — laws governing every area of conduct? Most important of all: Who is responsible for all the horrific brutality that emanates from the Arab psyche?

M. Labera • United States published 29 September 2004

Getting out of Iraq [3]

One of the most frightening aspects of modern American life is that the Bush administration had planned the invasion of Iraq before Sept. 11. Then, by pretending that there was a link between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden, it was able to make its strike. Afterward, the rationales shifted, and the occupation threatens to become permanent. Realistically, there is no way that public opinion can influence the situation. The Bush government has “classified” almost all information it does not wish to release, and the corporate news media have been bullied into submission. It is as if the Bush government and the terrorists groups are working in parallel to drive a wedge between the United States and the Islamic world. Every bombing by the “coalition” forces and every beheading by the terrorists make moderate Muslims and Americans pull further and further apart. Common ground disappears; future violence looms.

More and more, I am persuaded that an eventual showdown will take place. Another Sept. 11 catastrophe in the United States, for instance, would provide the justification for another invasion — this time Syria? Jordan? Iran? It’s horrifying to look to the future in this era. I hope I’m wrong.

Daniel Martin Christianson • US published 29 September 2004

Tribute to Determination

Brian Lara and his entire team deserve congratulations on the West Indies’ winning the prestigious ICC Champions Trophy, beating England by two wickets in a dramatic contest. While all team members contributed to the victory immensely, tail-enders Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne deserve special appreciation for their unforgettable innings. Their 71-run ninth-wicket stand was a testimony to their perseverance, determination and patience which should serve as an object lesson to all teams, especially those of India and Pakistan, that the will to win and the determination to work for it can turn possible defeat into glorious victory.

It must be hard for so powerful a cricketing nation as England to live with the fact that it is the only major nation in the cricketing world that has not won either the World Cup or the Champions Trophy despite great performances — as in the present tournament. That makes it all the more impressive that the British crowd behaved with such sportsman spirit even while their team was losing. Such self-discipline is another example for other countries to emulate.

Mohammed Abdul Hadi • Alkhobar published 29 September 2004

Population Explosion

In his letter “Population Explosion” (Sept. 25), A.J. Wilkinson stated, “It was with dismay that I read the report on population explosion.” On behalf of our tortured planet, I will now compound his dismay by exposing “Wilkinsonian Thought” as nothing more than escapism.

Wilkinson began by making a stunning refutation of the laws of physics and the rules of math by calling upon “various studies” which show that there is “no direct link between overpopulation and poverty.” Foolish me! And here I was thinking that when 10,000 people live on land that can only support 5,000, the consequence would be poverty. Why do I have a feeling that Wilkinson’s “various studies” were conducted by the last of the great medieval thinkers?

Wilkinson says that overpopulation isn’t the problem, rather the problem stems from a host of human errors such as: poor administration, corruption and putting money in the wrong places. Nonsense! History has never recorded a time when the beneficial endeavors of civilization have been at such a peak as they are now. So, why aren’t we living in a virtual paradise? Could it be that overpopulation actually does exist and that the tidal wave of humanity is simply overwhelming the system? Not according to Wilkinson.

A population increase of 100 million a year is good news to Wilkinson who welcomes this newly arrived horde by stating, “A population of millions will be of positive benefit to any society. People are not just consumers who eat up the nation’s wealth; they are its producers ....” That would be just fine if we were living on a planet that was simply a gigantic, factory that could expand forever into infinity. The Earth is a finite place which can only support a certain number of any species. According to the UN, there are now over six billion people on the Earth, 3.5 billion of whom are living at or below the poverty level. The application of simple math might reveal just how many people the Earth can effectively accommodate. By the way Wilkinson, since people are “producers”, just how do they go about producing new rain forests, oceans and animals to replace the ones they’ve destroyed or driven into extinction?

Wilkinson comforts us with a quote from David Osterfeld! “The catastrophists have been predicting doom for centuries ... their predictions have never materialized.” I’m sure the 3.5 billion people living in poverty will find great comfort in that. Environmental catastrophe is happening right before our eyes. It’s not some Hollywood disaster movie where everything happens all at once for the convenience and entertainment of the audience; rather it’s like the sinking of the Titanic. The first-class passengers didn’t even know what was happening until the third-class passengers were all dead and the water was seeping into their rooms.

Steve Corcoran • Alkhobar published 29 September 2004

Luggage Carts

I wonder why those who are passing through King Fahd International Airport, Dammam, have to pay for the use of luggage carts. This has been the rule at the airport ever since it became operational. The luggage cart is a facility provided free by airports in all parts of the world — including Riyadh and Jeddah. What is so special about the Dammam airport that passengers — whether arriving or departing — must have with them one Saudi riyal in change and, in case they don’t, they have to, presumably, carry their luggage on their back? It is the arriving passengers who are inconvenienced more by this rule. You may have gold or silver credit cards or 100-dollar bills; but if you have no change, you can’t get a cart.

It is not the money, but the inconvenience. So, if this is revenue that the airport cannot do without, why not collect one more riyal along with the cost of tickets? Passengers, who are paying thousands of dollars for their tickets, will not object. They will prefer it to being forced to beg the porters for a cart or complete strangers for a riyal. I hope the authorities will look into this.

Aftab Ahmad • Dammam published 29 September 2004