The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Turmoil in Iraq ; Reasons for Optimism

FROM READING the headlines, one would assume that the American military position in Iraq was deteriorating beyond the point of recovery. There is no denying that in the short term the situation is deteriorating, but it is far from clear that it is unrecoverable. War is complicated and things are not always as they seem.

Harsh Reality ; United Nations Should Take Charge in Iraq

IS IT time to start thinking about an exit strategy in Iraq? The Bush administration is still saying it will hand over sovereignty to an Iraqi government on June 30, just 11 weeks from now. But given the battles raging across Iraq, nothing can be certain. With such deep divisions, a representative interim government may not even be possible. Rather than sending in more troops, as President Bush may soon consider doing, he should make an urgent appeal to the United Nations to take over in Iraq...

Your Views

'Stop whining and vote' Regarding former Staff Writer Tara Kane's "Dear candidates: You want the youth vote? Earn it" (Other Views, April 6):

The Silent Toll of Africa's Agony

THEATERS SHOWING "The Passion of the Christ" will be packed this weekend: Tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter. But rather than dwell on the gory details of Mel Gibson's movie, why not use Holy Week's commemoration of Christ's passion to call attention to suffering that is going on today, suffering that we can do something about? The one unifying element in all of the world's religions is compassion. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and other faiths all teach that we are called...

Cost Benefits?

It's time to look behind the price tags at Wal-Mart Stores and ask whether those bargains are worth the cost. The latest revelation of an insane policy is the practice of locking overnight workers in the store, without a manager on site to let them out in case of an emergency. There are fire doors, but employees are ordered to use them only in case of fire. If a worker is badly injured, goes into labor, or has a family emergency, he or she has to wait for a manager to get to the store with a ...

Turmoil in Iraq ; Time Is Running Out

IT IS STILL possible for President George W. Bush to escape from Iraq before it destroys his reelection bid. It is also still possible for Iraq to emerge from all this as a more or less democratic and united country, though that will be trickier. Both things depend on the same man: Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, has to break the stranglehold of the neo-cons who surround the president and persuade him that to save his presidency he must ditch their policy. There is no sign of it ha...