Tragedy in Littleton

NEWSWEEK, your excellent report on the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado, where two high-school students killed 12 fellow students, a teacher and then themselves, was thorough and thought provoking (“Anatomy of a Massacre,” Special Report, May 3). Unfortunately, it missed one key point. American kids are spending their childhood in something that, judging by the photos and drawings in your article, resembles a huge factory or warehouse. Isn’t it inevitable that a childhood spent in such a vast, impersonal and crowded environment will result in some degree of antisocial behavior? Christine Uriarte Paris, France

Before even opening the May 3 issue of NEWSWEEK, I want to say thank you to the editors of the magazine. You wisely decided not to glorify the mass murderers in this sad drama by putting them on the cover–unlike some of your competitors. As a high-school teacher, I strongly believe it’s the students and faculty who endured the agony who should receive any media credit, including national-magazine covers, for their bravery. Peter T. Burnash Watertown, New York

Blame Doom, goth music or the internet if it somehow comforts you, but as long as America has more than 200 million firearms circulating, killings like these are inevitable. An honest slogan for the National Rifle Association should read: “Guns do not kill people, but they do make it easier.” Tirdad C. Belfort, France

No Simple Answers

Your analysis of the Colorado high-school shooting was interesting (“Why the Young Kill,” Special Report, May 3). Looking for the psychological makeup of killers and the influence of economic and social deprivation makes fascinating reading, yet it is not central to the spate of school killings in the United States. All countries have a small number of disturbed, crazy or plain evil teenagers, yet we do not hear many similar stories from other countries. The key factor is the availability of guns in America. Since 18-year-olds can easily buy guns, it is not surprising that some of these weapons fall into the wrong hands. The NRA, which has a great influence on politicians, has a lot to answer for. Brian Savage Chiang Mai, Thailand

In your article, “Why the Young Kill,” you stressed the fact that we should not look for a simple answer. But computer games make too easy a scapegoat. The demand for violent entertainment is a result of our youth’s present attitudes–not a cause. It is futile to remove the supply, in the hope that the demand will disappear. We must get to the root of our youth’s discontent. Sukhi Barber Kathmandu, Nepal

The fact that Andrew Golden–one of those who carried out last year’s school killings in Jonesboro, Arkansas–and millions of other children are brought up by their grandparents does not necessarily mean the parents are neglectful. Many parents simply cannot afford to be there for the children after school is out. So the kids sit at home alone, watching TV. All they need is low self-esteem, access to weapons and a friend from the wrong crowd–and a killer is born. Don’t confuse bad parenting with trying to make ends meet. If you want to point a finger, thank our politicians for making it harder for the lower and middle class to survive. Judy Simmons Caliano Basel, Switzerland

In your May 3 issue you rightly devote a page to the need to reduce environmental pollution (“A Non-Fuzzy Earth Day,” World View). Some pages into the magazine the story “Why the Young Kill” blames mental pollution–“the ubiquity of violence, the easy access to guns and the glorification of revenge”–to be the trigger that turns children with a neurological vulnerability into killers. If the third millennium is to be worth waiting for, shouldn’t we have a crusade against mental as well as environmental pollution? Good analysis points the way, but paralysis stops our will to act. Allan Bula Bexhill-on-sea, England

Americans, please stop fooling yourselves about who is to blame for the Columbine mass killers. We would have mass killers, too, if we could buy weapons as easily as we buy chewing gum. Remember, we all have videogames, the Internet and violent music. Blaming the media will not help anyone tackling the real issue or save any lives in the future. Pedro Alves Martins Cascais, Portugal

Growing up in rural New England, I’ve been exposed to guns my whole life. I support the right to bear arms (but I do support tougher gun laws). I see violent movies. I listen to violent songs. But I have never shot anyone. The media have forgotten something in reporting this story. Properly raised children do not commit these types of crimes –this is not normal behavior. The problem is not guns, movies, music or media. The problem is the people who didn’t take notice or do anything to stop this behavior. Raymond Turner Poznan, Poland

After reading about the background of the boys who engineered the terrible act at Columbine High, I reflected on how, out of every pain, we can grow. Due to my father’s employment, I went to 14 different schools, including five high schools. It was wrenching to be a new student. Only once did a popular student attempt to welcome me. My junior year I spent every lunch in the bathroom because I had no one to sit with. Perhaps we can grow in compassion for the newcomer who desperately needs to be welcomed into a new community, whether it be in our neighborhoods, schools or jobs. Brenda Lerner London, England

While the U.S. government spends a lot of money fighting Milosevic, two crazy teenagers kill and injure innocent students in Colorado. I ask myself: is the enemy abroad or at home? It sure is ironic. Ixca Cienfuegos Mexico City, Mexico

We’re in serious trouble when the student body of one American school sustains greater casualties than NATO soldiers in the Balkans. Ethan Zames Montreal, Canada

Regarding the terrible tragedy that occurred in Littleton: as long as we adults insist on trying to solve the world’s problems with guns and bombs, our troubled youth will want to do the same. And some will cross the line from fantasy to reality. Mary F. Seaver Estes Park, Colorado

Playing With Fire in Kosovo

The sentiments expressed in the article “A Military Myth,” discussing the capabilities of the Yugoslav Army, sound remarkably similar to those we heard before Vietnam and Somalia (Europe, May 3). Even without artillery and tanks, the Serb forces have more than 10,000 portable surface-to-air missiles and antitank weapons. They will be far more mobile. The argument that NATO forces would use helicopters to outmaneuver Serb forces is misleading if NATO is still flying at 15,000 feet. How can helicopters then be safer? NATO can turn Serbia into a 10 million-person military camp, but at what cost regarding relations with Russia, the trust of other nations and the region’s economic stability? Beating the Serbs will not solve anything–there are far too many dangerous ends. Alexis Gerratt Brussels, Belgium

NATO and the western governments are playing with fire in the Balkans. They tamper with old religious and ethnic divisions and demonstrate that they can at will start bombing a sovereign country–as long as it’s small enough for NATO to maintain the illusion that ground troops won’t be necessary. The strikes’ effectiveness isn’t clear; on the contrary, the Serbs–even those who at one time opposed Milosevic–are flocking behind him. While the U.S. government assures us of its determination, some European leaders are starting to have second thoughts. Shame on us Europeans for being incapable of maintaining peace on our own continent without NATO’s intervention. Nicolas A. Spengos Paris, France

Why are we Americans in Kosovo? This is a civil war. Kosovo is a part of Serbia, and despite the despicable treatment of the Kosovars, we have no business getting involved. We have already worsened the plight of the Kosovars by attacking Serbia. Our fearless leader chose not to fight in a similar situation in Vietnam, but does not hesitate to send our sons and daughters into a quagmire that has the potential to become even worse than that war. If we get involved in an impossible situation, there is no disgrace in cutting our losses and withdrawing. Walter W. Merriman Throckmorton, Texas

Allowing Milosevic to stay in power might be legally right, but it is morally wrong. President Clinton should remove this obnoxious bully and not make the same mistake Bush made in allowing Saddam Hussein to stay in power. Tunde Awolalu Lagos, Nigeria

But What About… ?

Henry Kissinger asks why there is no intervention by NATO and the United States in other regions of the world where ethnic groups are fighting, such as Kashmir and Kurdistan (“Doing Injury to History,” Europe, April 5). For obvious reasons, at least for the time being, there can be no intervention in some regions due to the strong military powers behind the ethnic groups: Kashmir (India), Tibet (China) and Chechnya (Russia). Also, it is not a double standard to notice that there is a difference between Kosovo and Sri Lanka in the sense that the first is situated in Europe, at the doorstep of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization–which is not an Indian Ocean Treaty Organization. Boris Valchev Sofia, Bulgaria

Passing the EU Test

In your article “A Nation Turns Inward,” you point to the EU’s rejection of Turkey last year and Turkey’s subsequent turn to nationalism as the reason for Turkey’s not yet being democratically ready to enter the EU (World Affairs, May 3). The only country to be blamed for Turkey’s not being a member of the EU is Turkey itself. The countries that wish to join must be willing to accept at least a minimum of regulations on human rights. Poland and the Czech Republic are also way behind as far as such rights are concerned (they have not yet handed back the private property of Germans expelled after World War II). But at least they do make efforts to come into alignment for the future. Turkey, on the other hand, wants Europe to make the changes. Kenneth L. Ingle Bielefeld, Germany

The Vietnam Legacy

Central Vietnam’s tragic legacy of the war, as outlined in your article “Of Peace and Poison” deserves greater consideration from those responsible for the widespread use of Agent Orange (Society & the Arts, May 3). The ongoing misery caused by toxic chemicals must be mitigated. Those responsible for manufacturing and delivering these chemicals should play a major role in this rehabilitation process. To argue there is no evidence is an effort to avoid legal and financial responsibility. We need only look to health problems among military families to get evidence. Alternatively, we could suggest that a suitable area in the United States be selected and subjected to the same quantity and range of herbicides as used in central Vietnam. I suspect the people in the area would not be pleased. Stuart Alpe Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Reforms in North Korea?

Your May 3 report on the economic reforms in North Korea brought more light over the situation (“Green Buds in the Mud” Asia). North Korea is a bad appendix to the cold war. Strongman Kim Jong Il spends a lot of money on the military, although the North Koreans can barely feed themselves. Officially there are no dead bodies due to the rampant famine–but who can prove they are not being thrown into concentration camps? Luiz Eduardo Oliveira belo horizonte, brazil

Slavery in Sudan NEWSWEEK, in your story “Out of Bondage” on slave trade in Sudan, your stereotyping of Muslims goes too far (World Affairs, May 3). The slave trade in Muslim countries is not, and has never been, state-sanctioned. It is like the lucrative drug enterprise of today–a lawless business. It has never been a keystone of the system, as it once was in the Euro-Christian world. Recently you published a cover story called “2000 Years of Jesus.” When will you do a similar, well-informed, unbiased article on the rich and colorful history of Islam? Sabina Yasmin Miah London, England

McCarthyite Tendencies? The Chinese nuclear-spy episode shows that in the United States there are still a significant number of right-wing conservatives who find it hard to live with even a relatively peaceful, prosperous and powerful China (“Open Secret” Asia, March 22). After years of investigation by the CIA and FBI, the Chinese scientist Wen Ho Lee has not yet been proved guilty of any professional misconduct or charged with any high crime. But a new wave of McCarthyism is on the rise, due to a reforming China’s playing a role, albeit marginal, on the center stage of world affairs. After the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, American conservatives are left bereft of a powerful communist enemy. As a substitute, China is invented as an imaginary enemy. It is obvious that the spy story is politically motivated. J. K. Lee Penang, Malaysia

Alternative Fund-Raising I must say that the lead about torah letters’ being exchanged for a 25-cent contribution to the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, which represents the Sephardic Jews in Israel ("‘They Say Ugly Things About Us’" World Affairs, March 29), sounds like a much more democratic way of fund-raising than the American method of $1,000-per-plate dinners. Charles Steiner Jersey City, New Jersey