On two recent posts, a fellow Trojan writes:

You know, I have you all figured out. You secretly want and believe that the Lakers are going to win on Sunday. However, your pride won't let you admit it publicly. You have to save face just in case the Lakers lose. So, you post all this crap about the Kings winning and being the better team but I know you don't believe that. You ought to be a man and wear all the purple and yellow regalia that all the other Laker pansies wear. I am willing to bet that sale of Kings jerseys in La La Land will rival the sell of Lakers jersey WHEN the Kings win the championship. Your post is indicative of the wishy-washiness that makes up this town.

On another issue ...Why must we assume that because India and Pakistan have the ability to use nuclear arms that they will actually use them? It upsets me that the media is focused on these countries nuclear capability and have tacitly created this view that "those savages in the Middle East are going to destroy the world ... they don't know the rules of war ... they are not civilized in their approach to war." What the f***?! I mean what makes anyone think that the Pakistanis and Indians WANT the consequences of using nuclear weapons anymore than the rest of the world? Using nuclear weapons isn't the first option for either of these countries. It is baseless it think otherwise.

The United States does not have the right to scold or demonize other countries for having and/or wanting nuclear weapons because the US has led the charge to develop defense technology designed to dominate and destroy more so than to protect and advance peace. For example, even though US representatives signed an agreement with Russia to reduce nuclear arms, the US is in the process developing small-scale nuclear arms for the "common theater". I fear the United States' attempt to create an everyday use nuclear weapon that is good for all occasions more than I do these two bratty nations in the Middle East. Mind you, I am no history scholar but the US is the only country to use nuclear weapons and we are maybe the foremost country helping other democratic nations develop them. The world shouldn't fear an armed conflict between Pakistan and India. The world should fear the United States of America's historic development, use and sale of nuclear technology and weponary. The world should fear the contradictory messages that the United States of America sends when it comes to war, peace and a civilized society.

How can someone be so perceptive about basketball and write such piffle about the Indian subcontinent. Just kidding...your comments about the Lakers are piffle too. More seriously, while I agree whole-heartedly with your questioning the moral credibility of America when it comes to nuclear proliferation, I am less sanguine about the situation as it is developing between India and Pakistan, and what it is the U.S. can (or should) do. The entire reason India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons is each other; even more specifically, it is because of the Kashmir region. I'm just getting up to speed on this issue, but it is my understanding that India governs a significant portion of this area, which is predominantly Muslim (India, of course, is predominantly Hindu), a situation not unlike Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza. "President" Musharraf (I use quotes because his election had all the credibility of W's) has been rattling his sabres, although he now calls the use of nuclear weapons "unthinkable". It isn't the fact that the U.S. has sufficient moral credibility to be an honest broker; it's the only candidate, short of the EU taking up responsibility.

Good letter, Storm, and inform your friends that its ok to e-mail their political views and honest disagreements with the site.