Battling for Hearts, Minds in Afghanistan

Now ensues the battle for the world’s hearts and minds. As opposed to warfare exclusively, can the refugees be fed, clothed and sheltered in a timely manner before the bitter onset of the Afghanistan winter? Coupled with our military victory, this would irrefutably argue and demonstrate our superior strength.

Harlan Baird

Hollywood

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To all the well-meaning folks who urged the president to stop the bombing two weeks ago: If your advice had been heeded, every woman in Afghanistan would still be locked indoors and wearing a burka; the eight missionaries would probably be on trial facing death sentences or have been executed; humanitarian aid would be accomplished only by high-altitude airdrops rather than by truck convoys; and the Taliban and Al Qaeda would have a whole country in which to plan, fund and train for future terrorist activities. Every so often our defense establishment does know what it is doing.

Edwin H. Jaffe

Los Angeles

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On the front page of Sunday’s Opinion section was a photograph that illustrates the conundrum we face and for which we can accept much of the blame. In the foreground of the photo is a poor, young Afghan boy sitting on a donkey; behind the boy is a tank.

The message: If the wealthy industrial nations had furnished humane resources to the peoples of the Third World after World War II, rather than weapons, the obsession of the military-industrial complex, the photograph may have portrayed a less disturbing picture.

Mayer Gerson

Northridge

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Your Nov. 18 front-page photo, “Prisoners in the Dark” (by Carolyn Cole), is so gut-wrenching that I began to feel sorrow for the fate of those prisoners. How could anyone hate such terrified human beings? They should be granted the rights of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

They should be brought to America. They should be fed three meals a day. They should be allowed to sleep eight hours a day. And then they should be taken to the hellish hole of what was the World Trade Center. And made to dig. With their bare hands. Until every single one of the dead is accounted for.

Jean-Claude Demirdjian

Los Angeles

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Yee-haw! As a former member of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st U.S. Cavalry Regiment, I was thrilled to see the picture of the Special Forces on horseback, cavalcading across the Afghan countryside (Nov. 17). Of course, my unit rode main battle tanks, not horses, but I still feel a part of the tradition that these brave new troopers are continuing.

Ron Samuels

Studio City