‘Condolences Not Enough’

Re: “Condolences Not Enough Anymore,” Alicia Colon, New York, July 8, 2005. I absolutely agree with all the points expressed by Ms. Colon. However, referring to the words said by President Putin of Russia in connection with the terrorist attack in London as “saying it best” really grated on my ears. If you had fluently spoken Russian, you would have recognized the faint notes of malicious pleasure in condolences by the Russian president and his cronies, as well as you would have heard them just after September 11.

In fact, Russia is an absolutely unreliable ally in the war against terrorism – helping terrorists (in practice) rather than fighting against them (orally); it sells (probably having paybacks) nuclear materials and technologies to Iran and missiles to Syria – the two greatest terrorist-supporter states. Despite Russians’ loud voices against international terrorism, their anti-terrorist rhetoric is politically motivated – they often name any of Mr. Putin’s political opponent a terrorist, as well as any prominent Chechen not under Putin government control.

Actually, Mr. Putin’s Russia itself constitutes a mob and a semiterrorist state. Do you really consider the former KGB officer a trusted ally in the war against terrorism, especially in light of the serious indications that Russian secret police FSB (the incarnation of KGB) were involved in the apartment building bombings in 1999? (Cheka-NKVD-KGB was always a terrorist organization, carrying out terrorism all over the world, and not only against Russian citizens.)

LENNY APTEKAR
Staten Island

‘Schumer on the Sidelines’

Re: “Schumer on the Sidelines,” Editorial, July 7, 2005. Is Senator Schumer “awfully nice”? Is his head “capacious”? If so, give us unpleasant politicians with minimal cranial capacity.

L. GEORGE RIEGER
Greenwich, Conn.

‘Infectious Hospitals’

Re: “Hospital: Seven Cases of Legionnaire’s Identified Since 2004,” New York Desk, June 22, 2005. Why is the New York State Health Department (and the powers above them) against health? An estimated 6,000 New Yorkers die annually from infections they get in the hospital.

The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID) and other patient advocates worked hard to win legislative approval for a bill providing the public with hospital infection report cards. These report cards are needed. If you must be hospitalized, you should be able to find out which hospital in your area has the highest infection rate.

At the final hours of the legislative session, the health department insisted lawmakers delay making the report cards public for four years!! That’s outrageous. Every delay will cost more lives. It’s time government was on our side, instead of on our backs.

BETSY McCAUGHEY
Founder
Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths
Manhattan

---

Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, New York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.