Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Weak response

Sir, __ The very first question deftly posed to Condoleezza Rice by Malini Parthasarathy, touching the morality of the anti-terrorist campaign and subsuming in it the issues of Iraq and Israel, makes the interview an interesting reading. Equally deftly, Dr. Rice in her answer does not fail to stress the moral aspect of the anti-terrorist movement led by the U.S. Government. However, on Iraq, Dr. Rice is not on sure ground. She accuses Iraq of amassing weapons of mass destruction, paying $ 25,000 to each parent of the Palestinian children being used in the suicide squad against Israel and resiling from agreements entered into with the U.N. No doubt, Iraq had been consistently adopting an anti-U.S. stance. But such accusations may not suffice to equate Iraq with the Al-Qaeda or call it a terrorist state. At the end of the interview, Dr. Rice urges both India and Pakistan to desist from coming to military blows, as it is in the interests of neither country. Besides, it will hinder the on-going anti-terrorist campaign of the U.S. The two armies should immediately de-escalate and the two countries must begin parleys in right earnest.

S. Ramanathan,
Chennai * * * Sir, __ Malini Parthasarathy's exhaustive interview with the U.S. National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, was quite informative. Asked why the United States has not been forthcoming in its criticism, unlike the European countries, of the happenings in Gujarat, she has complimented the Vajpayee Government on leading India well and hopes it will do the right thing when it comes to investigating acts of violence. I disagree with Dr. Rice's views as the Prime Minister himself has admitted the other day, while replying to the censure motion against his Government, that he "should have done more.''

Mani Natarajan,
Chennai

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