If wishes were fishes, or a pot of gold lay at the end of the rainbow, perhaps a $6.4 billion bridge that took some 25 years to repair after the 1989 earthquake (“Abandoning the bridge” Thursday), would be affordable, but in reality is being abandoned during times of high tolls, construction delays and problems, safety issues, state cap-and-trade legislation and a policy to get gas-powered cars and drivers off the roads.

Then the eastern span of the Bay Bridge will have bike lanes, and bicycles could replace cars. But with a state that is losing jobs and its highest-taxed residents rapidly to other states, who will be responsible and able to pay for the bridge construction, operation and maintenance costs?

No, not a bridge to nowhere, but a Democrat’s political statement bridge not affordable today.

Frank Norton, San Francisco

Dangerous new Iraq trend

An Iraqi man killed his 19-year-old daughter after he discovered al-Qaida recruited her as a suicide bomber.

This is significant for three reasons.

One is that the father placed societal safety above family loyalty, which is encouraging.

Secondly, it points to a disturbing new trend — of terrorists using women to do their dirty deeds, as they can conceal explosives from authorities more effectively beneath their traditional loose black cloak, which may point to an increase in the near future of suicide bombings.

Finally, it unfortunately shows the low status and poor treatment of women in Iraq, as the father would rather take the matter into his own hands and kill his daughter than turn her in to legal authorities.

Kenneth L. Zimmerman, Huntington Beach

Pope’s words wrangled

Regarding the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s official clarification of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent comments regarding prophylactics:

I commend the Vatican for clarifying the pope’s recent comments while affirming that condoms can never be used — even in exceptional cases to prevent the spreading of AIDS. The pope’s words were deliberately manipulated and perverted by a secular media for selfish ends and interests that are entirely foreign to the Catholic Church and Catholic belief.

The Catholic Church clearly teaches that one can never do something that is evil in itself to achieve something good or to avoid some evil, even a greater evil. All the pope was saying in claiming that condom use “can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility” is that God can come to us at any time and in any circumstance and enlighten our consciences as to what is right and wrong.

Paul Kokoski, Hamilton, Ontario