Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

‘Friends Like These’
Congratulations and full support on your Robert Dean Stethem editorial – we need to keep the pressure on Germany. Stethem’s case has not left my heart and mind since that day in June of 1985 when the news reached us [“Friends Like These,” December 22, 2005].
The July 1, 1985, now-yellowed Wall Street Journal editorial is even more heart-rending. Several days ago, I sent a letter to the German ambassador, very restrained yet because the dirty details of their dirty deal your paper brought out were not known.
We have to press Germany on this, because they are as guilty now as Mohammed Ali Hamadi.
ROBERT P. HELD
Manhattan
‘Media Blackout’
I read your “Media Blackout” editorial with interest and couldn’t agree more concerning the need for the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to address pension reform [December 27, 2005].
That said, and in the interests of full disclosure, I want to stress that I, too, am a beneficiary of early retirement, having chosen that option when the city offered certain incentives to some of its longtime workers in 2002.
I had been in the system for 28 years at that point and, with incentives, qualified for 32 years of service (although I lost a year by choosing to retire one year short of my 55th birthday).
I had paid into the pension throughout my career and had other reasons for wanting to leave when I did, of course. But I believed then (and now) that I was simply exercising my rights under the terms of the existing understanding between the city and its workers.
However, I doubt such generous terms are really in the city’s interest, overall. The mayor was anxious to rid the city of certain high cost workers at the time I left, and I qualified. Personally, I think they lost more in my departure than they gained, but bureaucracy is rarely equipped to make such fine distinctions.
While as a citizen and taxpayer, I oppose the agreements that the city has historically entered into to support exorbitant pension benefits, I recognize that each individual must do what’s right for him or herself, within the letter of the law.
I cannot fault the workers or their unions for wanting generous pension benefits … or for taking advantage of them when they’re available. But the city now needs to renegotiate the terms of its pensions, even while honoring existing commitments. Still, current commitments need not be the same as what is offered in the future, and that is the crux of today’s debate.
STUART W. MIRSKY
Belle Harbor, N.Y.
Mr. Mirsky is a former assistant commissioner for Operations of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
‘Bush at Year-End’
Although The New York Sun has published many articles and editorials on the importance of democracy in Iraq, I was motivated to write my letter after reading your December 20, 2005, editorial, “Bush at Year-End,” which contained the following comments:
“If we have a criticism of Mr. Bush’s leadership in the war on terror – and overall it has been inspiring – it is that he has been not moved aggressively enough against the terrorists and for freedom in redoubts such as Iran, Syria, Egypt, the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. He could easily ask more of ordinary Americans by way of a contribution to the war effort than merely ‘patience.’
“Even so, the results are remarkable. Freedom House yesterday released its annual survey of freedom and found that ‘the number of electoral democracies increased by three, from 119 to 122. This represents 64 percent of the world’s countries – the highest number in the survey’s 33-year history.’ The survey found improvement in Lebanon, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, among others.”
MARTIN H. LEVINSON
Forest Hills, N.Y.
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.