The American Spectator

Russ Harris br> Overland, MO /p>

George Neumayr replies: To Gary Gates’s letter, I would say that the injustice of killing a human embryo derives not primarily from the circumstances of the embryo’s origin, but from the nature of that act: to destroy an innocent human life is intrinsically unjust. It is “immoral trickery” for society to kill human embryos on the grounds that their creation conforms to modern medical ethics and no one appears to want them.

Russ Harris’s letter assumes that human embryos at Stem Cell labs are useless unless scientists use them as raw material for research. Whatever society gains in this research it loses in dignity. To place human embryos on the same level as lab rats is not “better” than treating them with the dignity due man.

p> SAUDI PARTNER br> Re: Lawrence Henry’s The Saudi Paradox : /p>

Mr. Lawrence Henry writes that the joint military exercises and other military ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States are a counter to the image of a double-dealing Saudi Arabia. He attacks journalists and other civilians for not understanding what good friends the Saudis are. Has Mr. Henry trained his keen military mind on the Khobar towers attack and the complete lack of cooperation from the Saudis there? Has the fine warrior camaraderie impelled the Saudis to give us full access to those in their custody who have killed or tried to kill our military men and civilians? Has that wonderful cooperation, which saved that country from invasion from Iraq, convinced the Saudis to allow us “their” bases to attack Iraq? No, rather it has compelled us to move our bases and abandon long planned routes into that tyrant’s land on Saudi whim. Further, could the disconnect between journalists and ex-military men have anything to do with the fact that so few journalists end up on the Saudi payroll when they retire?

p>Even on his own terms Mr. Henry’s defense of the Saudis is that once we are seen as winning the Saudis will side with us. I wonder what West Point teaches about the value of “friends” who only back you when you win and incite your enemies to violence when you are weak? Mr. Henry’s ability to identify friends seems about as good as Custer’s ability to count Sioux. br> — John J. Vecchione