Which side needs therapy?

A reader says the Taliban, so divorced from reality, made him laugh by saying Prince Harry has mental problems. Other letter-to-the-editor topics today: mortgages, recycling, Syria, Algeria and the Gandhis.

Britain's Prince Harry, right, said recently that killing Afghan militants from a helicopter was like playing a video game; the Taliban responded that he must have mental problems, which a reader found ironic. John Stillwell / APShow less

Gandhi family has no genetic lock on leadership
Is the Gandhi dynasty finally coming to an end? Your comment article The Gandhi brand loses its lustre in India's new politics (January 23) presents Rahul Gandhi as a young man who has few political gifts, being offered to the voters by cynical party bosses.

Leadership qualities, not to mention moral clarity and nobility of spirit, are not genetic and not automatically passed from one generation to the next. Mr Gandhi may be a fine person, but the voters in India are about ready to move beyond automatic support for anyone with that last name.

VJ Mehta, Dubai

Ask consumers about mortgages
Referring to UAE banks stick with Central Bank's old loan limits (January 23), I agree that the Government is responsible, through the Central Bank or other authority, for the policies and parameters guiding the mortgage and real estate markets.
But the Central Bank should find a way to consult consumers' representatives, as the banks are going to see and recommend only policies and parameters that are in their own interests.
It is impossible to make everyone happy, but at least broad consultation and consideration could result in compromise positions that reasonable people can accept.

Elan Fabbri, Dubai

It is surely a great relief to many people that the new mortgage rules are not yet in effect (Banks stick with old loan limits, January 23).
But many people, including my brother, have had a bad few weeks as they tried to refinance their homes during this uncertainty.
Regulatory agencies have a duty to be clear and to refrain from surprises which can upset markets and discourage transactions. I hope there will be no more such misunderstandings in future.

Mohammed Rasheed, Abu Dhabi

More packaging than we need

Your editorial Pitch in at every level of recycling (January 23) made sense.

It's not just supermarkets at fault. I recently went to buy a burger from a well-known chain, and was shocked at the amount of packaging.

The burger was wrapped in paper, then put inside a cardboard box that for some reason was then inserted into another cardboard box. Then the whole thing was put into a plastic bag.

In many other countries, the paper wrapping suffices, and it should be that way here, too.

Tim Mawson, Abu Dhabi

History will blame us all for Syria

We have become callous to the great suffering of Syria. History will be unkind to us for this.

Forget, Russia and China, we all need to act now in Syria. And we are already far too late.

G Kafantaris, US

Radical elements are true winners in Syria's stalemate (January 22) makes some good points.

The great fear is that Syria will descend into such an abyss that the minimal conditions for resisting extremism (simple welfare, peace, a chance for education and jobs) won't even exist.

Even before the Arab Spring, Syria was a poor country. The economic toll of the war must be astronomical. The more this war goes on, the further Syrians will be from a functioning civil society.

Name withheld by request

Taliban no judge of mental health

It is hilarious for the Taliban, with their own limited touch with reality, to say that someone else has mental problems (Prince Harry has 'a mental problem' for comparing killing with video games, Taliban says (January 23).

Frank Burkhardt, USA

Why recycle if it all becomes trash?

Unlike our neighbours in Al Bateen, we recycle, keeping our green bin in the garage to prevent others filling it with unsorted rubbish.

However, I don't know if it really matters since I have watched both green and black bins being emptied into the same rubbish lorry (Abu Dhabi residents not sure which bin is for recycling, January 20).

The same thing has been witnessed by several of our friends.

If you are going to educate the residents about recycling and sorting rubbish, perhaps you need to start with educating the collectors.

J Wilson, Abu Dhabi

Bloodshed was unpardonable

Victims executed in cold blood (January 22) brings out the brutal inhumanity of Mali's militants.

This was in no way an act of religion or faith. How can these militants roar in the name of Islam?

Jafar Nizami, Abu Dhabi