Posted March 9, 2002

Numbers

A couple of months ago one of your headlines said something to the effect of 78 American troops killed in Afghanistan so far, the other day you had a headline that said something like 30 American troops killed in Afghan war so far. Which is it?

~ NA

Webmaster Eric Garris replies:

I do not ever recall stating that 78 Americans were killed. The only place I have seen such numbers is on one Afghani site and one Pakistani site. I was actually surprised that the number admitted to it had hit 30, but they itemized the list in that article.

Gays and Foreign Policy

Loved ... [Justin Raimondo's] article on gays and foreign policy. Perhaps we can now better understand why there is so little being said about the Christians being slaughtered in the Sudan. This would be a plus for people like Varnell.

~ Ed J.

Religious Imagery

I just read Joseph Stromberg's article on Robert Kaplan's latest book. It needs to be more widely disseminated. This guy (Kaplan) is evil. He is reported to have been a Clinton Administration foreign policy guru and now he's got the ear of the current war party. I'm not given to religious imagery but this guy is the antichrist.

~Robert Anglin

Inspiration

Wearing out the printer copying ... [Justin Raimondo's columns] for older family members who don't have computers. ...Your writing is an inspiration whether one agrees or disagrees with your views.

~ J. Dancey, new Etherzone columnist

Georgia

Interesting piece on the US move into Georgia by Justin Raimondo (February 1). A few differences of opinion, and some factual corrections: Aliev's regime in Azerbaijan is no democracy, but it is far from neo-Stalinism. There are opposition parties, opposition rallies, a relatively free press, etc. Turkmenistan could be described as neo-Stalinist but Azerbaijan is not remotely comparable. The figure Raimondo uses for prospective Georgian transit fees for oil is hugely exaggerated. Georgia's peak revenues from the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey pipeline will be only about $50 million per annum (that's 1 million barrels per day times 14 cents per barrel). There is nothing particularly mysterious about the AMBO pipeline venture. Some entrepreneurs are trying to raise money and build a profitable pipeline -- very ho-hum. In any case, this pipeline may or may not get built, and none of the major oil companies mentioned is involved at this point. The idea that the Afghanistan war is about oil does not take into account some important realities. Times have changed since Unocal looked into the idea of trans-Afghan pipelines. Back in the mid-1990s, Turkmenistan's gas was stranded, and Kazakhstan's oil was bottled up, and Afghanistan looked like a conceivable solution to both problems. Things have changed. Kazakhstan has more oil export capacity than it needs (with the completion of a new pipeline through Russia), and Russia is now again buying Turkmen gas and will be eager to keep doing so for the foreseeable future. The commercial reality is that there is no possible reason to consider Afghan pipelines.

~ L.R., Coventry, UK

Wonderful Service

I just had a look at your website. It looks to me as if you are performing a wonderful service to the American people.

~ HF

Ambassador Guest

Justin Raimondo is correct that a "gay foreign policy" is absurd, but he is way off base in criticizing the appointment of Ambassador Guest. Mr. Guest was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, including every conservative, and was welcomed by the Romanian Government. Yes, a couple of Romanians and the Family Research Council were upset that he brought his partner to the Marines Ball. Big deal! I'm not aware that they played kissy face in public or had sex in the back room during the event. Considering that there are people who dislike gay men in every country on earth, is Mr. Raimondo suggesting that an openly gay man should never be appointed ambassador to anyplace?

~ Mark D. Fulwiler, San Francisco, California