Mail Call

Japan's Generous Benefits

Even though I am not a permanent resident of Japan, I am covered by its national health insurance--coverage that enabled me to have a hip operation at a cost well below what I would have had to pay in my own country, the United States ("This Is the New Japan," Sept. 11). I plan to remain here because I can look after my health at an affordable price. At 60, I find that an important consideration.

Michael Driver

Ichihara City, Japan

Oil Isn't the Answer

America is obsessed with getting the price of oil down to earlier levels to tackle the unhealthy regimes in Iran, Syria and Venezuela ("Oil's Dirty Laundry," Aug. 21/Aug. 28). But let's be clear, America is not going to win this war by just bringing the price of oil down and relying more on ethanol for its fuel needs. Remember, North Korea, a nation with a repressive regime, is flourishing without the possession of a benefit like the OPEC cartel. This war is going to be won not by lowering the price of oil to $40 a barrel, but by something more strategic--alliances, a term that George W. Bush should get familiar with in the remainder of his second term. In the last six decades, it has never been as costly to be an American ally as today. It is no coincidence that religious fanatics in the Middle East and leftists in Latin America have regained prominence during the era of Bush and his misguided policies. For the West to regain lost ground, it needs to convince the world that it is in everybody's interest to participate actively in a quest to make the world a better place. So far, the U.S. president has failed in that regard. Perhaps he thought like Tip O'Neill, who once said that "All politics is local." Unfortunately, in a globalized world, nothing is local.