Gadhafi and us
The headline Death Of A Pariah (Oct. 21) is disheartening revisionism. For years, the Gadhafi regime was the furthest thing from a pariah – tolerated, praised, supported and armed by countries from around the world.
We seem to have an offensive habit of ignoring such brutes until they finally drive their own people to revolution. Then we coat-tail on these sacrificial citizens we’ve heretofore ignored, and wrap ourselves in the convenient robes of belated moral indignation. And speak tendentiously of pariahs.
Our morality would be more convincing if we didn’t wait for others to act on it.
Peter Ferguson, Kimberley, Ont.
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Death Of A Fool would better describe Moammar Gadhafi’s end. And as a self-deceived, most dangerous fool, fortified by ridiculous profits from oil, he was a world tragedy, like an ugly spill of the black gold that gave him power. Oil fuelled a cruel childish petulance, not an uncommon trait as dictators go, and as dictators go, he went …
William Emigh, Victoria
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As a road contractor who worked in al-Beida in the ’80s, I was imprisoned, abused and threatened to make me continue work (from my personal funds) on the infrastructure contracts Moammar Gadhafi had stopped financing in order to divert funds to his $20-billon-plus Great Man-Made River project. I survived after great personal sacrifices and help from a local judge, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who stood up to Col. Gadhafi’s regime and ruled in favour of our company.
The courage of this judge was just amazing at a time when few were able to oppose Col. Gadhafi’s wishes. No wonder Mr. Abdel-Jalil, now the head of the National Transitional Council, was among the first good men who started this revolution that will give Libyans the opportunity to build their country on participatory and democratic principles.
Marcel Beitinjaneh, St-Laurent, Que.
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I was very upset by a photo posted online Thursday, as part of the live coverage of Moammar Gadhafi’s death, showing a close-up of his face, mouth open, bleeding profusely and apparently dead. The photo did not include enough context to teach me about the event, nor did the post tell me why the photo was essential to the reporting or in the public interest.
These days, citizens are able to report news through social media and smartphone cameras, and they do. Journalists have to explain how they are different from any teen with an iPhone. Journalists are specially trained and have superior judgment and access. Photos like this cast those assertions into doubt.
I believe strongly in the newsroom conversations that carefully weigh decisions about the release of sensitive or graphic material. Horrible images – of Col. Gadhafi, his victims or anyone else – need a compelling and considered reason for being on my screen. They must further the story, and they must not pop up unannounced in a Twitter feed.
This photo seems to exempt Col. Gadhafi from the basic respect you would pay other dead people. Is that because of his record? If so, the photo says more about us than it does about him.
Jennifer Kingsley, Almonte, Ont.
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Canada only
Your headline (With Libyan Liberation, A Victory For PM – Oct. 21) proclaims “a victory for PM” and the article suggests recent Libyan events may provide public support for Canada’s military buildup, the largest since the Second World War. While I, too, celebrate the death of this dictator, I question the premise that we should be sending our military halfway across the world to fight in other people’s wars.
The U.S. is close to bankrupting itself fiscally and morally with its constant wars. Stephen Harper seems intent on doing that to us, too, taking us down the road of increasingly interventionist foreign policy, with all the moral and security risks that implies. This is not to be celebrated. The military should be for the defence of Canada only.
John Shaw, Newmarket, Ont.
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Crisis 101
There is no doubt that the priority placed on research in universities is much greater today than it was 40 years ago, and there is no doubt that this has had a detrimental impact on the attention paid to undergraduate teaching, at least in the larger universities (Universities Get An F In Quality – Oct. 21). This has been correctly described, in your newspaper and elsewhere, as a “crisis” in university education.
However, no journalist I have read has been more consistent in praising the initiatives of the Chrétien and Harper governments in support of university research than Jeffrey Simpson, especially those initiatives that “commercialize research” in the interests of greater productivity. Perhaps we should add to the list of usual suspects responsible for the decline of undergraduate teaching – always including “the professoriate, with its collective bargaining agreements, tenure” etc. – those in the media who promote the need for ever more research that contributes to economic productivity.
Ken Dewar, Halifax
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Speak up
I disagree with tightening the rules on language competence for arriving immigrants (Freedom With Speech – editorial, Oct. 20). In my experience, immigrants are motivated to learn English as quickly as possible. They want to participate in mainstream events and listen to debates, as well as increase their earning power by having English proficiency. As landed immigrants or refugees, they can learn English before becoming citizens. There are many English (and French) language schools available to them.
I speak as an immigrant myself, albeit English-speaking when I arrived, and as a volunteer with one of these services in my community.
JoAn Lynch Maurer, North Vancouver
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If Canada is going to insist on language competency rules for those wanting to become citizens, shouldn’t we also require existing Canadians to take the same tests?
I suggest starting with Don Cherry.
Peter Shier, Toronto
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Speak out
Maybe it is time for the citizens of Ontario and all other underrepresented provinces to contemplate a Canadian Spring, come spring (Don’t Dilute Rep-By-Pop – editorial, Oct. 20). Only by vocalizing your displeasure can you ever get politicians’ attention away from their navels.
Tony Burson, Campinas, Brazil
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Donne in
Claudette Claereboudt’s letter about her high school English teacher’s recitation of John Donne’s No Man is an Island was moving (Class Dismissed – Oct. 21). Unfortunately, a repetition of that teaching moment is unlikely these days, when the poem could well be shunned as patriarchal (“No man”), Euro-centric (“Europe is the less”) and elitist (“a manor of thy friends”).
Philip Siller, New York
