LETTERS

Does the Guardian bear responsibility for the death of Danny Pearl? Plus: you take me on on boxing and campaign finance reform.

SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE: “Since it obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 – cities, not military targets – the United States has bombed 18 countries, and invaded still others, with no declaration of war nor any possibility of retaliation, at least until Sept. 11. In the case of Afghanistan, the United States launched a unilateral war of revenge against a brutal regime of its own creation, although none of the 19 hijackers were Afghan and none of the thousands of “detainees” held in the United States and abroad have been charged with any participation in the crime. Furthermore, the alleged “mastermind,” still at large, might well have been turned over to the United States through negotiations – which President Bush rejected outright from the start.” – an op-ed by Richard B. Du Boff and Edward S. Herman, Philadelphia Inquirer.

LEFTIST HOMOPHOBIA WATCH: “There’s something about Bush Junior that just gets the ladies of Washington all hot and sweaty. Maybe it’s his slightly bowlegged cowboy gait, or his plain spoken puerile babbling, but the Girls of the Beltway are breathing heavy over the prez. First Maureen Dowd and Peggy Noonan shared their naughty fantasies about “real men” and the larger than life manliness of President Wyatt Earp. Why, even lil’ Andy Sullivan couldn’t contain his maidenly vapors when writing about the masculine perfection of our supreme commander of troops and testosterone.” – “Digby”, a contributor to the left-wing site, MediaWhoresOnline.