Re: "Front-page article was pointless", Letters, August 3.
I sympathise with George Cuppaidge's outburst against The Nation in the matter of the unfair legal judgements against Thaksin.
He and I are not the only ones to consider them unfair. The report on Thailand by the International Crisis Group (Bridging Thailand's Deep Divide, July 5, available online), contains a whole section on the subject, gives a list of six recent proceedings against Thaksin, and says "The use of judicial power to influence political changes during this conflict has been unprecedented".
When I first read about the ICG report, in another newspaper, there was no reference to the legal proceedings or to several other matters a bit close to the bone. On the other hand, I can hardly say I was surprised. It is of course a fact that certain things cannot be said, but all the same they can be communicated.
How different things were for The Nation during the people power uprising against the Suchinda dictatorship of 1991-92. In retrospect this was a simple conflict - the dictator familiar from previous incarnations, a new model of resistance imported from the Philippines, the villains just a few rogues in the Army doing their play for power. The Nation of that situation was quite different from today's. It reported everything straight down the line. And when things got really tough, its brave response to print censorship was to leave white space where news articles had been taken down.
I cannot help thinking that if the 2006 coup had been by Thaksin not Sonthi, the reporting of The Nation would now be quite different. In other words, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that The Nation, like other newspapers, is to some degree partis-pris, and that its position dictates its reporting.
The Nation used to have a wonderful epigraph that began something like "The Nation will not shrink from..." and was followed by some grand words about truth. I don't remember seeing it for quite a few years. Perhaps the time has come to dust it down and stick it up again and reclaim some old values.
RICHARD SPROAT
BANGKOK
Hamas is the cause of most Gaza woes
Re: "The Gaza Prison", Opinion, August 3.
Chris Patten's piece is rich in empty propaganda, weak on arguments and extremely selective in the simple quotation of facts - and their convenient omission.
One wonders how a person with such proven intellectual abilities can possibly write such a biased, one-sided and unjust article.
It might be instructive to review what Mr Patten has forgotten to include in his arguments. The Gaza blockade is in place because Hamas rule is illegitimate, obtained by what the Palestinian Authority itself called a coup d'etat.This is in stark contradiction to Mr Patten's assertion that Hamas won an election in Gaza. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union (including Mr Patten's own country, the UK), the USA and many other countries. It is treated as an illegitimate entity by most of the moderate Arab camp, notably Egypt, which is part of the blockade of the Gaza Strip. But of course Egypt is not to blame for Gaza's status as a "prison", according to Mr Patten, although the Egyptians are much tougher on Hamas than Israel.
Another inconvenient truth is that Gaza gets its water and electricity from Israel, not from Egypt. These supplies were never cut, not even at the height of the barrage of rockets aimed at Israeli civilian targets, fired by Hamas and its proxies from Gaza. These rockets, which have been terrorising hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians, are not worth even a passing mention in Mr Patten's piece.
While Israel's actions are deemed uncivilised, the firing of rockets is not criticised, so by implication is acceptable, not to mention the captivity of an Israeli soldier for over four years now, who has not been seen by anyone during this time, not the Red Cross or any other organisation.
If Gaza is indeed a prison, only Hamas is to blame. Gaza can easily get back to its previous status by re-establishing the Palestinian Authority as the sole legitimate ruler of the strip.
It would be advisable to stop the blame game and accuse Israel of all that goes wrong in Gaza.
ANDY LEITNER
PATTAYA