Still on nihilistic madness

It is extremely worrying that, rather like George W. Bush, Mr. Richard Lewis, in his letter published in The Jakarta Post on Jan. 5, 2001, not only shirks responsibility for his incoherence, but also for his primitive, simian urges, which he blames on evolution. Can this be why many Americans acquiesce to the atrocities perpetrated around the world by the Pentagon and the CIA? Furthermore, if Americans are really misguided enough to apply the concept of "survival of the fittest" to humanity, Charles Darwin must be turning in his grave with exasperation.

Making the rather tenuous assumption that Osama bin Laden has a nuclear weapon, one has to wonder at the wisdom of warding off an attack by "collaterally" killing and maiming thousands of Afghans (pictures and actual casualty figures have been suppressed by the Pentagon) through the intense bombing of caves and makeshift camps in a destitute country. If this vain attempt to apprehend bin Laden ("dead or alive" of course!) is intended to cower al Qaeda's worldwide network, one has to seriously question the I.Q. ratings of policy makers in Washington. What it is doing, however, is seriously destabilizing the region, causing rising tension between India and Pakistan, between Israel and the Occupied Territories as well as undermining the new Afghan government.

Despite making clear my total lack of faith in megalomaniac leaders like George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden, I am accused, by Mr. Lewis, of having a rather optimistic view of human nature. In fact, because of the U.S.'s sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut policies, I am very pessimistic and view George W. Bush as a far greater threat to world peace than his partner in crimes against humanity, Osama bin Laden.

FRANK RICHARDSON

Tangerang, Banten

Note: Thanking the readers for all their concerns and efforts to defend their respective arguments on the subject of nihilistic madness, we end the discussion.

--Editor