I refer to the article Legal battle against piracy sails into uncharted waters (January 30). Piracy has been around for centuries.
Why is the world standing around and allowing these Somali pirates to create chaos in and around the Gulf of Aden, which is a major shipping lane for some 21,000 ships, vital to world commerce?
There is talk of changing shipping routes and providing armed guards onboard vessels. These are only short-term fixes and are probably not sustainable in the long term. We should be taking the fight to the source of the problem. If we are going to win the war on piracy we have to strike them on land and eliminate their strongholds.
The US forces are changing their tactics from large-scale assaults to raids, which saw the recent rescue of hostages and this should be put on the table as an option.
As an alternative, the world's financial institutions should find ways of cutting funding. Ransoms must be transferred to a bank account.
It is clear that the Somali government is not capable of dealing with the problem, which has become a threat to world commerce and justifies the intervention of an external force, even if it requires authorisation from the UN Security Council.
The Somali pirates continue to represent a clear and present danger to innocent lives; the time is now to take the fight to them.
Randall Mohammed, Dubai
Protect civilians from brute regime
The news about Syria is sad and unacceptable (Syrian army strikes back at rebels, January 30).
In spite of Arab nations' appeal and UN intervention, Damascus is still adamant in its attitude towards civilians.
It is high time Syria changed its strategy for better governance. Civilians should be protected.
K Ragavan, India
Team India must keep up pace
After miserably losing the three previous test matches of the series to Australia, team India surpassed all expectations and turned in a brilliant performance at Adelaide (Michael Clarke thrilled as Australia whitewash India, January 28).
They finally took a test match into the fifth day.
In both innings the team managed to cross 200 runs and in fact in the second innings they outscored Australia's score of 167 for 5 declared.
India also played brilliantly to not lose a third consecutive test match by an innings.
They also almost lasted a full session without losing a wicket (Kohli and Saha in the first innings).
Only for the second time in the eight innings of the series, Rahul Dravid did not get clean bowled in the second innings.
As a diehard fan, I hope that team India and its formidable players will maintain this kind of form consistently even when playing at home.
Amitabh Saxena, Dubai
London remains fashion capital
In regards to From Dubai to London: the UAE's designing women (January 28) in M magazine, there is a sentiment from the subject of the article that is perhaps a misguided one.
Remuneration in the UK is competitive with most fashion cities, especially among the top designers.
It is a shame that the designer in question seemingly would choose a fashion role in Dubai over one in London because the "pay is awful" in London.
Would the salary of Stella McCartney or Paul Smith (London-based designers) really be "awful" compared to the top designers in Dubai or elsewhere?
Disregarding pay, anyone with genuine ambitions to make a name for themselves in fashion would cite London, Paris, Milan and New York as the fashion centres to make their mark.
Niccolo Castellano, Dubai
Quality hospitals remain challenge
Congratulations on this accomplishment ($2 billion hospital for Abu Dhabi next year, January 30).
The quality of the facility will match world-class standards. The real test will be to attract and maintain a world-class level of healthcare provider.
It must be more than the Cleveland Clinic signage for it to accomplish this.
Eric Sandler, Dubai
Madrid victories must be with style
I refer to article Jose Mourinho has grown tired of perpetual power struggle at Real Madrid (January 29).
What people don't understand is that more successful managers have been sacked by Madrid because their style doesn't fit it.
In Madrid, not only do you have to win, you have to win with style.
Wael Wahbeh, Dubai
