Letters

The Most Amazing Inventions of 2004

"Burt Rutan has opened the door to relatively cheap travel to outer space. His creativity exemplifies the blaze of the American spirit."

TOM WILSON Libertyville, Ill.

I was excited to read about the coolest inventions of the year [Nov. 29]. With his innovative SpaceShipOne, Burt Rutan hit the ball not just out of the park but right out of the atmosphere. I was disappointed, however, that many of the creations you chose were impractical, half-baked ideas. Consider the Snow Boat, which, by means of an aluminum boat welded around a snowmobile, is supposed to solve the problem of the vehicle's falling through the ice. That's like making a safer motorcycle by carrying it in a U-Haul. Coolness is hard to define, but ridiculousness isn't part of the concept.

DEXTER FORD Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Congratulations to Rutan and his team for privately developing SpaceShipOne. That's American ingenuity at its best. But your article portrayed Rutan as harboring a smug arrogance directed at NASA, an agency whose daring innovations in space flight and exploration long ago provided the coattails that Rutan latched onto. It is true that NASA's ventures have cost lives, but those were lives of pioneers who died while daring to explore. For Rutan to imply that NASA is "an airline that kills 4% of its passengers" not only misses the point but is also graceless. I hope NASA will return to manned flights and capture our imagination by pushing the envelope in space exploration.

BRAD BANGLE Houston

It is wonderful to see that global ingenuity is thriving, but within a few years we will be throwing away 2004's innovative gizmos and gadgets for the next round of amazing inventions. There was not a word in your report about reuse, recycling, sustainability or even compatibility with existing or future products. Each of the inventions seems to be a stand-alone technology, and some are even designed to be disposable. As wonderful as it may be to have plastic tattoos on my iPod and rubbery tubes to keep my shoes tied, how will I explain to my grandchildren that it was this kind of thinking that filled the world's landfills and depleted our limited resources?

BRIAN A. PILLE Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Federation of Iraq

Unless the U.S. is smart enough to make the right decision soon, it is going to have one Fallujah after another for years to come [Nov. 22]. Sunnis and Baathists were able to control Iraq for decades under Saddam Hussein. They will fight forever, since the Shi'ite majority would defeat them in a general election. Why not create an Iraq federation of three states--Shi'ite in the south, Sunni in the middle and Kurd in the north? Each state would govern itself, and the Iraqi federal government would be in charge of the oil industry, defense, foreign diplomacy and smoothing over religious differences. What other scheme will get the U.S. out of Iraq anytime soon?

MARTIN MICHAELIS Amherst, N.H.

After Arafat

No matter how much Yasser Arafat's death has affected the conflict in the Middle East [Nov. 22], isn't it somewhat disrespectful for the media to focus primarily on the benefit that his passing brings to the peace process? His death is a major event and heralds change, of course, but shouldn't we concentrate more on what Arafat gave to the world during his life? It is the respect that everyone deserves.

MICHAEL FOSTER Fareham, England

Although I strongly support the goal of peace in the Middle East, I disagree with certain ideas about how to achieve it. Are Palestinians such a threat that the Israelis have to build a wall around them? The wall not only violates human rights but also imposes on innocent people the same kind of restrictions that the Jews endured 60 years ago. I'm disappointed that Americans don't seem to care about the world outside their borders. People need to be more aware. Not only has the future of the U.S. been affected by the re-election of President Bush, but the whole world will have to bear the consequences.

DEBORAH MATHIJSEN Ghent, Belgium

I was unhappy about the way the U.S. dealt with the death of Arafat. There should have been more respect and sympathy shown for the passing of the Palestinians' leader. The world community must recognize the good things the man has done.

DAVID MURRAY Durban, South Africa

Rethinking Fallujah

It is no wonder that Fallujah is a murderously dangerous city to fight in [Nov. 22]. Killing has become a day-to-day occurrence in Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator, but at least he controlled the Iraqi people and the level of violence in the country. What is happening now is worse. The Iraqi people are being butchered and dominated by U.S. occupation forces.

BIBHABARI RATH Cuttack, India

Although many in the media are gloating over what they consider to be the U.S. failure in Iraq, the game is not yet over. The Americans are approaching their objective: to change the basic parameters in the Middle East by introducing democracy. The millions of voters who turned out in Afghanistan are a prime example. Why not talk about the courage of the Iraqi Prime Minister and his team, who are constantly at risk? The strength of the Iraqi people, despite the suffering they have endured for so many months, illustrates their yearning for democracy and political maturity. Some say the American adventure in Iraq has multiplied the number of fanatics. But Iraq has become the gathering point for pre-existing fanatics; their destruction in Iraq will be all the more resounding and mark the decline of their influence. French diplomacy has been heavily mistaken in opposing U.S. policy. Let us hope that France will pull itself together and actively join its natural allies, the U.S. and Britain, in the great battle for democracy being waged in Iraq.

JOSEPH HAZAN Paris

Innocent American lives should no longer be wasted in Iraq. The U.S. should stop sacrificing its soldiers for a cause that the Iraqis are not willing to fight for themselves. The U.S. cannot secure Fallujah against further attacks from insurgents if the Iraqi police don't stand up and fight for their own freedom.

TUNDE OGUNJANA Lagos

Better Safe Than Sorry?

Re "A shot seen round the world," about the videotape of a Marine apparently killing a wounded Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque [Nov. 29]: It's amazing that we don't hear more stories like that. I hold no ill will toward the Marine, because I cannot begin to fathom what he and others endure in Iraq every day--car bombs, roadside rockets and booby-trapped bodies. To all the armchair generals who criticize what happened at the mosque, I say grab a gun and try living a Marine's life for a few weeks and see how you would react. The U.S. holds its soldiers to a higher level of moral behavior, but war is war and sometimes mistakes are made. If that Marine is found guilty of a crime, he will be held accountable. But where was all the Middle East outrage at the beheading and shooting of unarmed civilian hostages?

JOHN RILEY Atlanta

It is admirable that U.S. troops have shown any restraint at all while fighting Iraqi terrorists. The fact that the military is ready to punish American soldiers who cross the line only reminds me that we still have the moral high ground. The behavior of any group will always be publicly defined by its worst members. In a good group, the other members will police and correct bad behavior. But among terrorists every despicable act is applauded, rewarded and encouraged.

PAT ORSBAN Fairview, N.C.

Stress Fractures

"Wounds That Don't Bleed" [NOV. 29], on the severe stress that is taking its toll on U.S. troops in Iraq, was an excellent article on an aspect of the war the daily media rarely cover. One of the most depressing situations facing our troops is that they can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. So many Americans are having their terms extended that a service member cannot count on any date to go home. That makes it difficult for even the most patriotic and committed troops to hang on.

JAMES A. EMBREE Sacramento, Calif.

Bush Unbound

In his essay "Why Bush Has No Fear" [Nov. 29], Charles Krauthammer argued that the President has no need to be concerned about the political fortunes of an "heir" and so can do without popular approval of his actions. That is wildly incorrect. First, Krauthammer forgets the royalist tradition of the Republican Party and a certain politically prominent Floridian. Second, he forgets that Bush's political success will be judged in part on whether a Republican succeeds him. Krauthammer is correct that Bush is quite bold. But the President is by no stretch of the imagination reckless. Bush simply possesses a more subtle and perceptive political mind than most of his adversaries or friends realize.

JOHN BLECK Richardson, Texas

Bush has a mandate, and he should use it. I would like to take a percentage of my Social Security tax deduction and invest it in stocks to earn higher interest than is earned by funds in the traditional Social Security retirement program. Bush's plan to reform the tax code is another brilliant course of action.

SAM HOFF Clarkston, Mich.