Mail Call: Competing Schools

Owen Matthews is absolutely right in his analysis of the conceptual and ideological rebirth of the U.S.S.R. under Russian President Vladimir Putin ("Back to the U.S.S.R.," Aug. 20/Aug. 27). Not only was it naive on the part of the West to assume that Russia would embrace a free democratic system after the self-inflicted implosion of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 but the West did everything to schmooze Russia politically, diplomatically and economically as if it felt guilty for the Soviet Union's demise. The fact of the matter is that Russia's past is alive and kicking, and President Putin is determined to restore his country's status as a true superpower.
Karl H. Pagac
Villeneuve-Loubet, France

Russia's inevitable re-emergence AS a geopolitical power has unsettled the West because we wanted a client state led by a Boris Yeltsin-like political class. Western leaders branded Russian behavior as unacceptable when Moscow interrupted natural-gas supplies to Ukraine. The only acceptable behavior, apparently, was that the Russian taxpayer should have continued to subsidize Ukraine's natural-gas consumers. Another instance of so-called unacceptable behavior is Russia's attempt to wrest Slav-populated Trans-Dniestra from Romanian-speaking Moldova. Stalin's gift of Trans-Dniestra to Moldova was arbitrary and cynical, but it was deemed immutable by the West. So an acceptable Russia is one that dares not pursue its national interest.
Yugo Kovach
Twickenham, England

The Aftermath of a Genocide

Rwanda's terrible genocide affected all its people—but especially the women who were raped or contracted HIV. Many children were born as a result of these rapes, and people are still traumatized by them. It's laudable that Jonathan Torgovnik traveled to Rwanda to obtain the stories of those numerous victims ("Children of War," Aug. 20/Aug. 27). Genocide is a problem that concerns all of us because it can happen anywhere—it is important to learn about people who unfortunately experienced this.
Daniela Calva Ruiz De Chavez
Mexico City, Mexico

Thoughts on Tamil Terror

Your survey of terrorism in Asia and the use of increasingly sophisticated IED technology by terrorists provides extensive and interesting insights ("How to Beat Terror," Aug. 20/Aug. 27). But I was surprised that you made no reference to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka, a brutal group banned as a terrorist organization in most democratic countries of the world. For the past 24 years, the LTTE has been refining its IED technology, which it has deployed with devastating effect—killing hundreds and destroying places of worship and economic assets. The most recent IED attack resulted in the deaths of more than 70 civilians in a bus loaded with schoolchildren and expectant mothers who were going to their clinics. The LTTE's suicide-bomb technology has also reached an alarming level of effectiveness. Despite the threats posed by this group, Sri Lankan security forces have progressively curtailed its effectiveness (without spending billions of dollars) through a combination of intensive training, carefully organized foot patrols and coordinated search operations. The extensive program to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil minority has led to most of the detections of IEDs in Sri Lanka. They result from information provided by Tamil civilians. Perhaps the techniques used by Sri Lankan security forces could set a standard for other security establishments as they deal with their own terrorist problems.
Ravinatha Aryasinha
Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo, Sri Lanka