Correspondence
Correspondence TALKING TURKEY CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL'S insightful analysis of Turkey ("The Turkey Paradox," July 26) deserves amplification. Turkey's democratic blossoming is irreversible as,...
...It seems likely to me that plame was responsible for Wilson's trip to Niger...
...No serious person questions Israel's right to self-defense...
...of course, I doubt that any of the mainstream media figures who trumpeted his lies will step forward to apologize and correct the record...
...BRUCE FEIN Washington, DC HATFILL'S DAY IN COURT THE ONGOING CASE OF Hatfill v. Kristof deserves far more than just a mention in your Scrapbook (July 26...
...To wit: The CIA's original decision to send Wilson to Niger was odd for several reasons...
...He was a well-known and vociferous critic of the Bush administration, so the agency would have to treat his conclusions with due skepticism...
...But self-defense does not justify extending this barrier into palestinian territory...
...If, indeed, Kristof and the New York Times had to spend one day in front of a jury without some strained First Amendment-based defense to protect them, they might have a very different outlook on tort reform...
...Whereas the diplomatic types were almost always very political and had little use for the military, CIA operatives were generally politically circumspect to a fault...
...With regard to Wilson, he is clearly a self-serving liar who loves himself more than he loves his country...
...But, as the court points out, the fence is tantamount to a virtual annexation of palestinian land...
...Turkey's push for greater recognition of Islam in public life testifies to its growing democratic maturity and confidence...
...While the whole ordeal says much about Wilson and the seemingly willful gullibility of the mainstream media, it also speaks volumes about the CIA...
...If an employee of McDonald's or Halliburton, for example, had defamed Dr...
...HENRY CLIFFORD Wainscott, NY THE WEEKLY STANDARD welcomes letters to the editor...
...Has the agency become an openly politicized organization...
...JOHN EIKELBARNER Daly City, CA MATTHEW CONTINETTI has written a fine article on the Joe Wilson affair...
...All letters should be addressed: Correspondence Editor The Weekly Standard 1150 17th St., NW, Suite 505 Washington, DC 20036...
...Letters will be edited for length and clarity and must include the writer's name, address, and phone number...
...If so, this is outrageous...
...Aside from the fact that Wilson knew two people in the Nigerien government, he had no expertise on the subject at hand...
...But just imagine if Kristof and the Times were actually held to the same standards as everyone else...
...You may also fax letters: (202) 293-4901 or email: editor@weeklystandard.com...
...RICHARD DINARDO Stafford, VA WALL OF SHAME...
...For generations after Ataturk's abolition of the caliphate, traditional islamic garb communicated belligerent opposition to the trappings of Western civilization (including democracy, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech...
...I WOULD LIKE TO APPLAUD MATTHEW Continetti for his terrific article on the Joe Wilson scandal ("'A Little Literary Flair,'" July 26...
...WILSON...
...As it is, Kristof may hide behind the First Amendment to excuse his slandering of an innocent man's reputation...
...IN REGARD TO Max Boot's article on the West Bank barrier ("The Moral Low Ground," July 26): If the fence were built wholly within the boundaries of Israeli territory, there would be no reason for the World Court, or any other body, to condemn it...
...In addition, by hiring Wilson, the CIA was basically subcontracting its own business to someone outside the agency...
...I mention this because it seems to me that a silent but apparent thread running through the Wilson story is the political activism of his CIA wife, Valerie Plame...
...All in all, the agency's choice of Wilson as unofficial envoy to Niger made very little sense...
...In the hands of a good trial lawyer, the Hatfill case would be a perfect opportunity for a jury to, in the parlance of our times, "send a message" to "Big Media" by way of a multimillion-dollar judgment...
...It is by far the best piece on the subject I have read to date...
...Thank goodness we have writers like Continetti to help get the truth out...
...KURT REIGER Oklahoma City, OK HEY, MR...
...Hatfill in such a way that he could not find work, that employee would face a very different day in court than Nicholas Kristof...
...It is a perfect example of how freedom of the press blinds journalists and press institutions such as the New York Times to the problem of trial lawyers...
...Time and experience have largely stripped headscarves and veils of this overt political connotation...
...As a retired military intelligence officer, I had plenty of dealings with CIA and State Department types during my 17 years of overseas duty...
...Turkey's democratic blossoming is irreversible as, independent of European Union membership, it rests on an overwhelming popular consensus...
...I find this shocking, just as I find shocking the release of an anti-Bush book by an "anonymous" (but active) CIA employee...
Vol. 9 • August 2004 • No. 45
