Life Under the Influence of the British Monarchy
Regarding the Opinion page column "The British Monarchy Struggles to Retain Its Dignity," Dec. 17: The monarchy today has little tolerance for the vast majority of British and Commonwealth citizens. Indeed the monarchy has perpetuated a rigid sense of tradition and hierarchy that has undermined social and economic reform in Britain.
The monarchy's current troubles seem to highlight the inadequacy of that institution as a moral and cohesive force. The monarchy must become more open and democratic, and it must be fiscally responsible if it is to have a serious role in the government of the United Kingdom. Alistair Budd, London Taking action in Bosnia
Every night on TV we see the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnia-Herzegovina is a recognized republic in the Balkans and is a member of the United Nations and other international organizations. Despite this international legal backing, the Slavic Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina are being massacred.
The world community looks on just as it did with the massacre of Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus from 1963 to 1974. But the Turkish army intervened in July 1974 and put an end to the massacres. In the middle of Christian Europe, Bosnian Muslims are being massacred in the thousands - and we thought Europeans, Americans, and Christians were the people who respected and upheld human rights and national law.
The world community should lobby, in every level of government, for military intervention by the UN into Bosnia-Herzegovina to stop the massacre of innocent people before it is too late. Atilla Ottoman, Sydney
It's downright scandalous that to this day nothing has been done and nothing will be - except occasional food shipments - to help besieged Bosnians. An estimated 30,000 women have been raped, and one would think that those statistics alone should be reason enough for intervention. By remembering past and observing present troubled spots around the globe, it is getting harder to define the United Nations' reason for existence. Does anyone believe that Britain, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia and a few other prominent countries would be left for so long in similar circumstances? I think not. Angela Barac, Mentor, Ohio The `war paradigm'
Regarding the Opinion page article "It's Time to Junk the `War Paradigm,' " Dec. 14: While it is unquestionably the hope of most of us in the world to live in peace and harmony with one another, I believe it to be, just as the authors deride, a "naive fantasy."
What the authors, as well as most pro-peace liberals fail to recognize is mankind's fundamental inability to carry out the only requirements necessary for world peace: humility. Because mankind views humility as a weakness, the natural byproducts of humility - the ability to compromise and to defer one's preferences for the benefit of the common good - are abdicated.
Our nature must change, and that is an act that cannot be accomplished by legislation or education but rather by replacement entirely. Thus, to wholly abandon the "war paradigm," though greatly desirable, is not practical or wise. To a degree, the war paradigm is a necessary ingredient for our ultimate survival. Neil Uchitel, Los Angeles
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