‘Weiner Poised To Move Ahead’

Andrew Wolf, in a column on the Democratic mayoral primary, praised Congressman Anthony Weiner, now running fourth in the polls [“Weiner Poised To Move Ahead of Miller As Council Considers the Nuclear Option,” New York, April 27, 2005]. Mr. Wolf wrote: “Can Mr. Weiner do it this year? It has been pointed out that he is doing better now than Edward Koch was at this point in 1977 – against a much stronger field.”

Mr. Wolf’s wording is ambiguous as to who was running against a stronger field. Readers should know that in 1977, my opponents in the Democratic primary included Bella Abzug, Herman Badillo, Abraham Beame, Mario Cuomo, and Percy Sutton. Every one of them was a political icon, then and now. Mr. Weiner’s rivals in 2005 are Fernando Ferrer, Virginia Fields, and Gifford Miller. Judge for yourself who faced stronger opponents.

My own prediction on the outcome of the 2005 Democratic primary is that there will be a runoff, and the two candidates in it will be Ms. Fields and Mr. Weiner. In the general election in November, I believe that the voters will turn to the calm, sure, experienced hand of our current mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and re-elect him, as they should. He has done a superb job, in the nonpartisan tradition of Fiorello La Guardia. None of his rivals has any comparable accomplishments.

EDWARD I. KOCH
Mr. Koch is a former mayor of New York
Manhattan

‘Ostrich like Behavior’

Alicia Colon imagines that film buffs watching “The Interpreter” will call out, “Flaw in the plot,” when the dictator-villain is “about to be charged with genocide in the World Court” [“Ostrich like Behavior at the U.N.,” New York, April 22, 2005].

Indeed, a year ago, when Sydney Pollack and his crew were filming at the United Nations, it might well have seemed unlikely that the Security Council would refer a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) any time soon. But truth can be stranger than fiction, or at least as strange.

On March 31 the Council did refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC (strictly not the “World Court” since that name denotes the International Court of Justice that adjudicates disputes between states). A few days later, Kofi Annan handed the court’s prosecutor the sealed list of people identified by an international commission as responsible for the horrific crimes committed in Darfur. Whether some of those crimes do indeed amount to genocide will be for the court to decide, but perhaps “the idea that the real United Nations will ever do anything about genocide in an African nation” is not quite as unbelievable as Ms. Colon thinks.

EDWARD MORTIMER
Director of Communications
Executive Office of the Secretary-General
United Nations
Manhattan

‘Weiner Poised To Move Ahead’

Re: “Weiner Poised To Move Ahead of Miller As Council Considers the Nuclear Option,” Andrew Wolf, New York, April 27, 2005. I will vote for Anthony D. Weiner for mayor.

During America’s World War II 50th Anniversary Celebrations, Mr. Weiner led the support for the establishment of the New York City Council Veterans Committee. In addition, Mr. Weiner met with Pentagon officials to plan for veterans to receive their proper recognition. The deputy undersecretary of the Army, Lieutenant General Claude M. Kicklighter, wrote it was his pleasure to meet with Mr. Weiner in City Hall.

Behind the public effort, Mr. Weiner organized a veteran desk in his office. Elected and community officials consulted with Mr. Weiner and followed his examples. My dad, Joe Faraguna, benefited from Mr. Weiner’s effort and was able to retire to St. Albans Veteran’s Medical Facility. We are grateful to Congressman Weiner.

JAMES F. FARAGUNA
Brooklyn

‘Coordinated Bombings’

Re: “Coordinated Bombings Kill 21 Iraqis,” Thomas Wagner, Foreign, April 25, 2005. As the Iraqi insurgency directs its terror toward mostly civilian targets and the Shiite majority, why is there no denunciation of these horrific actions from the Islamic clergy, both inside Iraq and throughout the world, whether Shiite or Sunni?

It is inconceivable that the leadership of the other major world religions would remain silent in the face of wanton slaughter administered by one faction to another of the same religion.

IRA SOHN
Manhattan

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