Letters to the Editor

Stricter immigration laws needed

In regard to the article “White House rejects clauses on immigration” (Page 1, Wednesday): Section 3006 of H.R. 10 (the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act), in simple, Constitution-compliant language, says that an immigration officer who finds an illegal alien to be inadmissible, illegally in the United States, shall immediately order the removal of that alien without further hearing or review. We need Section 3006 right now to deal with vicious, violent gangs, such as Mara Salvatrucha, that are often made up largely of illegal aliens.

We have needed Section 3006 for a long time. I represent a woman whose husband was killed, according to police records, for the pleasure of the killer. The indicted suspect is now in El Salvador, protected from extradition to the United States by the Salvadoran constitution. If only Section 3006 had been in place and the illegal had been deported before the killing.

JAMES G. MCDONALD

Attorney at law

Alexandria

Koran: Pro women’s rights

As a comparative religion teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools, I was disturbed to read Heather J. Carlson’s article “Women win rights by relying on Koran,” (Page 1, Monday). Her characterization of the Koran as an “unlikely source” for women’s rights was not only a breach of journalistic ethics insofar as she mixed personal opinion with the objective demands of reporting, but, worse, was historically ignorant as well.

In the history of the world, the Koran represents a pro-woman irruption. Its verses quashed the misogynistic culture of pre-Islamic Arabia by ending the practice of female infanticide and affording women the rights to divorce, conduct business and control their own property, among many others. The latter, it should be noted, was not achieved in the United States until the Married Women’s Property Act of 1848, more than 12 centuries later.

I hope that I have misread her article and that what she meant was that women’s advocates have sadly not drawn on the Koran enough. Were this done more thoroughly, many of the abhorrent cultural practices found in pockets of the Muslim world — the denial of access to schools for girls in Afghanistan, female genital mutilation in Egypt and a prohibition on driving in Saudi Arabia — would be promptly ended.

It is an exciting prospect to contemplate a society that embodies such sayings of Muhammad as “The most perfect believers are the best in conduct, and best of you are those who are best to their wives.”

SAMUEL ROSS

Vienna

Kerry’s liberal burden

Sen. John Kerry’s dependence on his feminist base, which Gary J. Andres mentions briefly (“A liberal’s burden for Kerry,” Op-Ed, Thursday), continues to harm everyone (except feminists) touched by divorce: children, fathers, noncustodial mothers, grandparents and second spouses of noncustodial parents.

A Kerry presidency will not remedy these harms nor join the worldwide paradigm shift in divorce reform. The new view is that all parties to divorce will benefit from instituting the presumption of equal physical custody, legal custody and child support (with exceptions for mutually agreed-upon alternative parenting plans and clear evidence of parental unfitness).

Mr. Kerry will not join the mainstream because his liberal feminist base profits from the current system: Half of all first marriages end in divorce; two out of three divorces are initiated by wives; in most cases, the mother receives physical custody while the father receives visitation and orders to pay child support and alimony; and the children receive an enhanced risk of negative developmental outcomes.

GORDON E. FINLEY

Professor of psychology

Florida International University

Miami

We need more oil

Your editorial “Energy realities and the election” (Sunday) hits the oil barrel on the head. We need more oil. There are, by many estimates, 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and it can be pumped out at about $12 a barrel, whereas we pay the Persian Gulf nations more than $50.

Only the likes of Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry stand between us and cheap oil. President Bush should give a major address on energy and our Alaskan oil in which he promises to immediately send all necessary equipment to Alaska, including drills, seamless oil tubing, pumps and piping connecting to U.S. refineries so that Alaskan oil can be shipped at the flick of a switch. He should then call a special joint session of Congress demanding the immediate repeal of every law restricting the pumping of Alaskan and offshore oil to benefit the American public, and every law restricting the development of natural-gas resources.

Then watch the crude-oil speculators dump their contracts. Watch oil prices fall to $25 a barrel. Watch gas prices decline at the pump. And best of all, watch Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Kerry head for the hills as enraged voters chase them.

JUAN DEL CASTILLO

Potomac

Iranians need West’s support

Arnold Beichman’s “Iran ran away with the bomb” (Commentary, Tuesday) correctly points out that Iran can and will get away with an A-bomb as a result of appeasement. European countries and some officials in the United States have offered generous incentives to Iran during the past 25 years. Despite all that, Iran pursued a secret nuclear program for more than a decade, continued financial and material support to fundamentalist terror groups and continued to fuel the insurgency in Iraq.

More negotiations only give the mullahs the precious time they need to obtain nuclear weapons. Engagement also angers the Iranian people, who are struggling to get rid of the fundamentalist theocracy and oppose the West supporting and offering more incentives to the murderous and corrupt mullahs.

In the course of protests and uprisings across the nation, Iranians have made it clear that they despise the regime in Tehran. In contrast with Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has a well-organized resistance. The West should deal firmly with the mullahs and support the movement of Iranians for democracy and freedom in their country.

The power of the Iranian opposition should be set free by taking its name off the terrorist list. If the West stops supporting the mullahs, the Iranian people will topple the tyrants in no time.

HEDAYAT MOSTOWFI

Executive director

Committee in Support of Referendum in Iran

Washington