Letters

The Tale of the Ancient Bones

Although the skeleton of Kennewick Man was unearthed 10 years ago, Native Americans kept scientists from examining the 9,400-year-old remains until last summer. Our report on the fight and the findings caught the eye of readers eager to learn what such bones can tell us about the settlement of the Americas

Personal experience as a Japanese American has always led me to believe early man in America came from Asia, as one theory posits in your story "Who Were the First Americans?" [March 13]. As a youngster I saw a picture of an Eskimo girl in a book, and my younger sister looked like her twin. When I flew into Buffalo, N.Y., on business, the cabdriver who picked me up thought I was from the Indian reservation up the river. When I was relocating my family from one Chicago suburb to another, a moving-company worker appeared to be Japanese American, so I asked him if his father might be someone I know. He said it wasn't likely because his family lives on an Indian reservation in Wisconsin. Those observations aren't science, but for me they are proof enough.

TOM MURA Las Vegas

There are theories that say cultures and nations began forming identities and differentiating themselves long before we previously believed they did. New evidence suggests that a coastal migration could have taken people from anywhere along the Pacific Rim, or the North African coast for that matter. The early adventurers who came to the Americas created the original melting pot. It's hard to imagine one particular race laying claim to the discovery of this place we call the Americas. We shouldn't even refer to the western hemisphere. A planet, after all, has no east or west.

DAVID A. CZUBA Bellingham, Wash.

Archaeologists are arguing for the legal right to study the bones, and Native Americans are insisting on their right to respectfully bury them. Which takes precedence, scientific research or religious sensitivity? Can scientists delve into a lost past without defiling sacred remains? Both groups' respect for the past can be a springboard for compromise. Surely there is a means by which scientists can study the remains of Kennewick Man that the tribes agree is respectful. All remains and relics can then be honored in a way Native Americans see fit.

JESSICA DANCY Macomb, Mich.

Your story quoted Native American tribal coordinator Rochanne Downs: "We know where we came from. Our people were made from mud, and then the tribes were sent out." There is very little difference between her belief and the creation of Adam in Genesis. Even scientists ill disposed toward spirituality have to consider that life arose from inorganic matter (i.e., mud, dust).

STEPHEN VERRY Vancouver, B.C.

Rough Treatment

"One Life Inside Gitmo" [March 13] reported that Mohammed al-Qahtani, the Saudi accused of being the so-called 20th hijacker on 9/11, was coerced into confessing his ties to al-Qaeda. When we obtain information from prisoners by denying them basic human rights, then we are no better than the very organizations we are fighting. Against whom will the abusive interrogation techniques be used next--hardened criminals, drug dealers and political activists?

GILBERT LARAQUE Miami

TIME is overly concerned about issues like the interrogation methods employed in the prison at Guantanamo and warrantless eavesdropping on phone calls. It is a typical liberal attitude to criticize and second-guess the government's tactics in the war against terrorism. Thank God, the media do not dictate U.S. policy and the general public is more sensible than you are.

SAM THOMAS New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Sleep deprivation, exposure to cold, forced standing, denial of bathroom breaks, denial of clothing and emotional manipulation? That sounds like something I experienced recently: U.S. military boot camp.

JOSHUA MATTHEW FISHER SENIOR AIRMAN, U.S.A.F. Fort Edward, N.Y.

China's Gathering Storm

"Inside the Pitchfork Rebellion" [March 13] suggested there may be a revolution in the making in China. What will happen if 900 million oppressed farmers rise up to get justice and revenge? It would be naive to applaud such a development. History shows us that revolutions never lead to what is hoped for. Instead, chaos spreads, inevitably leading to new catastrophes in an increasing number of countries. Given the Chinese powder keg, the Bush Administration's preoccupation with Iran seems rather out of proportion. Washington should concentrate on how to help China's political and business leaders defuse the risks.

STURE GADD Helsinki

TIME's reporting proves that the Chinese farmers are afraid. Their protests are peaceful, but they are still beaten and killed by the police. If the government responded this way in the U.S., riots would break out. The Chinese seem almost to have accepted that they can't do anything. Their government controls them completely, and that is manifestly unfair.

AMRITA JAGPAL West Chester, Ohio

Security in the Global Market

Columnist Joe Klein's "It's Economic Security, Stupid" [March 13] hit the nail on the head. The U.S. response to the now defunct Dubai Ports deal was a global public relations nightmare. Although I agree with Klein that a "drastically revised social safety net for American workers" would ease the collective American insecurities and provide a more rational and less emotional view of the growing global economy, I don't see that becoming a reality anytime soon. Universal health insurance and government-subsidized pensions smack of socialism and would inevitably draw protest, even from those who would benefit most from the programs.

RICHARD S. RITSMA Haledon, N.J.

Klein says if we give middle-income Americans "economic security" in the form of government-run health care, "they might be willing to look at the rest of the world--and controversies like the Dubai Ports deal--less emotionally." It is a stretch to think that government-run health care would be satisfactory, and it would in no way affect the public's opinion toward foreign investment in the U.S.

MIKE VAN WINKLE Oak Park, Ill.

A Hawk's Regrets

Andrew Sullivan's Essay "What I Got Wrong About the War" [March 13], in which he confessed his errors in supporting the war in Iraq, was a step in the right direction. The next step would be to ask for the resignation of all those responsible for such a devastating failure.

AARON GREENE Santa Monica, Calif.

Should we commend Sullivan for confessing the neoconservatives' "huge errors" regarding Iraq, mistakes many of us identified years ago and for which we were branded unpatriotic, even while our children were preparing to be deployed there? No! Sullivan still attempts to justify the war and mentions the dead and wounded Americans only in passing. Now that he has confessed, he should go to a VA hospital, apologize to the soldiers there and then visit families of those who died in the name of incompetence, narcissism and cultural ignorance.

PAUL I. HETTICH

Antioch, Ill.

Sullivan captured the thoughts of many Republicans and Democrats. His honesty deserves respect, but we wish that our President had spoken those words to us citizens, as well as to the world.

RAY ROSS Montrose, Colo.

I applaud Sullivan's confession of his regrets about the war. It takes a sound disposition to criticize long-standing personal beliefs, especially when denouncing issues that have been so artfully aligned with American patriotism.

JAY B. TRELOAR Gainesville, Fla.

Sullivan made no mention of the intense international scrutiny and pressure building against Iraq in 2004. One wishes that he had acknowledged that if the U.S. had supported--instead of undermined--diplomatic channels, perhaps war would not have been necessary. Nevertheless, he should be strenuously commended for admitting his errors. There can be no productive discussion unless we have the courage to look at the world as it is, not as we wish it would be.

CHRIS KRAUSE Edmonton, Alta.