When Giuliani was growing up

Your profile of Rudy Giuliani doesn't mention that he went to NYU School of Law during the turbulent war years from 1965 to 1968. NYU had a distinctly liberal bent, and surely it must have had some impact on the young Rudy. Your suggestion that he came from a "second- or third-tier law school" is in error. NYU Law has always been a top-tier law school.
Richard M. Bronstein
Setauket, N.Y.

On ' A Director Confronts Some Dark Material '
"Philip Pullman was so vocal about the anti-Christian nature of his books, I can only hypothesize that his new defensive posture has more to do with ticket sales for 'The Golden Compass' than his true beliefs."
Kelly Dolan, North Haven, Conn.
Giuliani's Complicated Moral Code

Scientific Fix for Climate Change?
Sharon Begley's Dec. 3 "The 'Geo-Engineering' Scenario" is scary for three reasons. First: if the public comes to think that there are scientific fixes to the problem of global climate change, then it will have even less interest in supporting comprehensive and costly global programs to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. The second is that scientists tend to ignore Eric Sevareid's Law: "The chief source of problems is solutions." Geo-engineering could produce unimagined problems. Finally, global climate change is the direct consequence of overpopulation, and none of the offered solutions, including geo-engineering, addresses overpopulation. "Solutions" that fail to address the fundamental cause of the problem have little chance of success.
Albert A. Bartlett
Professor Emeritus of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colo.

Better News From Iraq
In Charles Peters's Dec. 3 opinion piece, "The Case for Facing Facts," he writes about liberals' not being able to acknowledge the progress that has been made in Iraq due to the change in tactics of American troops. In the process, however, he repeats one of the errors of the Bush administration that he condemns, which is to report only half-truths. While engaging enemies like the Sunni tribal leaders is a good idea, arming them adds to the long-term militarization of the country. Additionally, by now a good part of Baghdad has already been ethnically cleansed; hence there is less sectarian conflict. What processes does Peters offer when refugees return home to find their houses and communities occupied by another group that now has more weapons? In praising a strategy, let's be honest about its shortcomings as well. If the Bush administration could try that strategy in addition to providing greater accountability for grievous errors and wrongdoings, maybe it would get a fairer analysis from us liberals.
Mary Dudek
Chicago, Ill.

Charles Peters is troubled by the reluctance of liberals to acknowledge the progress made in the past six months in Iraq. The quiet brought to the villages of Darfur is the result of racial cleansing. The quiet brought to the neighborhoods of Iraq is due to religious cleansing. As a progressive, I find it a great contradiction to applaud the quiet gained as a result of aggression in the neighborhoods of Iraq while condemning the quiet in the villages of Darfur.
D. Kent Lloyd
Gladstone, Ore.

A copy of Charles Peters's "The Case For Facing Facts" should hang on the wall of every congressional member's office. We all need to face facts and not dismiss them immediately because they were quoted by the other side. We need understanding, acceptance and compromise by all to continue our way of government.
Richard Hoy
Lewisburg, Pa.