Italy’s Inept Rulers Your Feb. 25 cover story on “Italy’s Mess” highlighted the country’s current bleak economic and political plight. These effects have started to take their toll on people’s lives to such a degree that they can’t be ignored. Economic data released by reliable, unbiased international watchers, showing a decline in all major economic indicators, have been almost completely ignored by the ruling political parties over the past decades. Their aim has been to hide the truth from the masses with the same old elusive promises. An absent and distracted old political guard doesn’t help when an entire country is confronted with widespread dissatisfaction over the handling of domestic questions such as unemployment, inflation, wages and taxes. In addition, the thorny Italian political scene—made up of dozens of small parties (with diverging agendas and sometimes founded overnight by prominent politicians)—is of no help to voters in making a carefully considered choice. The uncollected garbage, piling up in several southern Italian cities, reflects the powerlessness and total lack of interest of the government in meeting the basic needs of the people, who are forced to live in an environment that threatens their health and, thanks to rampant organized crime, their physical security. A cost-effective garbage-recycling process should have been implemented through an efficient collecting program, a preventive analysis of the environmental protection for the dumping sites and a clear financing program for state- and privately owned recycling firms. Basta! The time has come for Italian politicians to get out of their golden shells, land on Earth and start confronting the real world. Giulio Cicconi Teramo, Italy
If somebody were to visit Italy after reading your article “Italy’s Mess,” he would definitely be shocked to face reality: simply put, Italy is one of the richest, most advanced nations on the planet, ranked near the top in terms of its citizens’ true quality of life. Problems with corruption, crime and state inefficiency are well known, but they should be put in the context of this nation’s level of development. I am disappointed because this article is the latest in your endless series of negative articles about Italy. Labros Skartsis Marathon, Greece
Your cover story on “Italy’s Mess” showed me that every country has its troubles, and my country’s problems are certainly not the worst. Family life is great here and most people are satisfied with their lot. Thanks for the article. Ilana Drori Rehovot, Israel
I am an American journalist, married to a Venetian, living here since 1995. I read your cover story “Agony and the Ecstasy,” and found two statements that are appallingly incorrect. First, it is gratuitous to say “Venice is sinking” without saying how little, and whether there are any solutions. Second, you say: “… the city is flooded nine months a year,” which is preposterous. The city has never, in its recorded history, been flooded for nine months of the year. And when it is, the “flooding” is not a rampaging torrent but a calm, predictable phenomenon connected to the rise and fall of the tides. The water that covers the pavements then remains there for two hours—hardly the catastrophe that the word “flooding” connotes. This tidal event is governed by meteorological factors (phases of the moon and month of the year—between September and April), but it does not occur with any regularity. The city of Venice is not at a uniform height above sea level; some areas (the Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in the city) have high water, but other neighborhoods never do. So, to refer to the city as a uniform entity is wrong. If the entire city were submerged day and night for nine months a year as you imply, it would be impossible to live here. And since almost 20 million tourists come to Venice every year, word would have gotten out if the city were drowning. On the other hand, this is not to say that Venice has no problem with water—the real problem is the waves caused by motorboats. As the motorboats increase, the waves are gradually pounding the city to rubble. I have seen palaces with holes in their foundations larger than a Hula Hoop, holes that are invisible when the tide is in, but are appallingly evident when the tide is out. Venetians call this “the cancer of the city.” It is this city’s most urgent water problem. Erla Zwingle Venice, Italy
Kenya’s Election Politics You called Kenya’s voters “immature,” but I think that, by voting down those implicated in corruption, Kenyans showed how alert and aware they are (“Messing With Success,” Jan. 7). The man you praised, Mwai Kibaki, has turned out to have stolen the election. Your report is full of errors (the wrong age for Kibaki, the wrong constituency for Raila Odinga) and has one of the most condescending statements about democracy in Kenya: “On a deeper level, the popularity of Odinga—who as president could undermine Kibaki’s reforms—reflects the immaturity of Kenya’s voters, and their preference for tribal politics over quiet competence and a 21st-century state.” I’m speechless at your utter disregard for the democratic process in Kenya. You don’t like our free and fair choices and don’t seem to know much about the history of politics in Kenya. As a Kenyan, I am so proud of the millions of Africans who went to the polls and voted. Beverly Lwenya Nairobi, Kenya
Meeting Ahmadinejad? My jaw dropped when I read the following in “The Fox Is Hunted Down” (Feb. 25): “In January [2006], U.S. intelligence services received what they now say were credible reports that [Imad] Mugniyah had traveled with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Damascus for a high-profile meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and other regional leaders. Then in June of that year Hizbullah men kidnapped two Israeli soldiers along Lebanon’s southern border, touching off a 34-day war widely viewed as a victory for the Islamists.” How did a bombshell like that escape the attention of the press—then and now? When candidates for the U.S. presidency proclaim that they’ll meet with leaders like Ahmadinejad without preconditions, should they not be called upon to respond to a credible report that these leaders are attending secluded meetings and planning kidnapping operations with mass murderers like Mugniyah? Daniel Abramson Singapore
Shrinking a Once Mighty Sea By placing three pictures from different times in the past 50 years side by side (“Losing Our Lakes,” Feb. 25), you highlighted the gravity of the problem of climate change and its effect on the world’s shrinking lakes. These images speak volumes for the danger of global warming, as the water in many other lakes around the world is also evaporating at a quicker rate. The once mighty Aral Sea in Central Asia has shrunk into a pathetic “pool.” The Aral was abundant with marine life, and fed those inhabitants who lived around its periphery. Problems aggravated by the withdrawal of water for irrigation and no replenishment because of a lack of rainfall—no wonder the Aral is drying up. In order to survive, people have been moving away from there in search of better places. The photographs are a wake-up call for those who do not believe in climate change—they should jolt us out of our complacency. Titan Monn Bangkok, Thailand
The Forgotten Pogrom of the Sikhs Fareed Zakaria refers to the 2002 Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat as the “first genuine pogrom in independent India’s history,” (“What People Will Die For,” Jan. 14). Surely that dishonor belongs to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi? Thousands of Sikhs were brutally murdered over a 72-hour period, with the police and other law-enforcement agencies turning a blind eye at the massacre and even assisting those carrying out the atrocities. Businesses and the property of thousands of families, along with Gurudwaras (Sikh temples), were burned down, and to this day, several of those families live like refugees in their own country. The shame associated with the incident was again highlighted in 2005, when the Sikh prime minister, Manmohan Singh, admitted the role of the Congress Party and apologized to the country and to the Sikhs for their pain and suffering. How could Zakaria forget one of the most shameful incidents in the history of modern India? Karambir Anand New Delhi, India
India’s Little Wonder The “Little Wonder,” which is green, global, 100 percent Indian and costs only US$2,500 has sprung out of the Tata stables and is called the Nano (“Small. It’s the New Big,” Feb. 25). Gone are the days when driving a car in India was a luxury and a status symbol. With retail bankers wooing customers to avail themselves of loan facilities for everything, affording a car is no longer a big deal. Automobile manufacturers have long been targeting the middle-income group in our country, but with the spiraling costs of manpower and raw material (compounded by the ever-escalating prices of oil), they have been unable to meet their desired goals. And, the Maruti, which hit the Indian market some decades ago as the “people’s car,” is fast losing that tag, thanks to sustained efforts by manufacturers who devised a whole new marketing strategy of competitive forays into that domain. Now, with the introduction of the Tata Nano, the premier business house of India has achieved an important milestone in the history of automobile manufacturing. In the present scenario of soaring fuel costs and climate changes—both of which have become a matter of grave concern globally—the fact that the Tatas have managed to roll out an ecofriendly, fuel-efficient four-wheeler is a tribute to their perseverance and ingenuity. For those Indians who brave riding a scooter or motorcycle to the market, a joy ride for a family of four in their own car has now become a reality. Thanks to the visionary foresight of a concerned few, who never doubted the capabilities of our engineers and designers, we now have an authentically Indian car. The biggest cause of concern, however, will come from the increased stress of still more traffic and pollution that are bound to result from the ever-growing numbers of vehicles on our already overcrowded roads. Pachu Menon Goa, India
Sizzling Sarkozy Apropos your Jan. 14 report on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s first eight months in office, it is indeed true that he hit the ground running when he was elected, and he overwhelmed the French public with an unprecedented number of reforms (“All Sizzle But No Steak”). But it is too early to try to distinguish between style and substance. France is a deeply conservative, if not stubborn, country which is exceedingly difficult to govern. Sarkozy knows that only a break with ossified systems and beliefs, his so-called rupture, can bring about real change, and this needs time. Only if Sarkozy and his government stay the course will a déjàvu syndrome be avoided. Politicians who advocate “change” (Barack Obama, listen carefully) must announce new policies and strategies to accomplish their objectives early, if they want to achieve anything. Otherwise, the old mantra of plusça change would, unfortunately, come true. Sarkozy’s modus operandi extends to his private life as well: he is the first French president to get divorced in office and remarried (to former model and composer-singer Carla Bruni) before you can manage to say, “Liberté, fraternité,égalité.” Karl H. Pagac Villeneuve-Loubet, France
Stale Ideas From Aging Pols I loved your Dec. 10 article “Same Old, Same Old.” I know that most European countries have problems with their population because most of the inhabitants are old people. But I was surprised to read that, in Italy, all politicians are older than 50. This is terrible because it is better for a country to have young people with new and modern ideas in politics rather than only old people with the same stale ideas. Nowadays our world is changing very fast, and if a country can’t come up with new ideas, then it is lost. Fernanda Hernandez Mexico City, Mexico
