A crucial moment in human historyDear Sir,The killing of civilians in Africa, the Middle East and now in Ukraine must stop. Brutal military conflicts are raging across the globe. Some of these wars are crimes against humanity. The global community looks on silently as thousands are slaughtered in an endless orgy.Even when competing for food and territory, animals typically do not kill members of their own species, so why do humans? What has happened to propagate the large-scale killing and violence exploding around the world today?We have harnessed the power of computers to help process vast amounts of information, but we cannot correctly process our personal problems. Scientists have discovered much about the size, magnificence and precision of the universe, but we cannot discover the way to peace.We are closer than ever to the moment in history when the choice of our planet is no longer a choice between violence or non-violence; it is a choice between non-violence or non-existence. We can choose as we have in the past, to answer violence with violence, or we can chart a new and life-affirming course.Farouk Araiefarouk.araie@telkomsa.netBetter conditionsDear Sir,With reference to the report “Indian embassy flays misuse of death figures” (Gulf Times, February 20), it is obvious that the number has been hyped. Many countries don’t provide even basic facilities to its workers. But Qatar is far, far better compared to those countries as most workers are given reasonable pay and facilities like regular leave. In summer working hours are in the evening to avoid heat during the day. Sunitha Nair(e-mail address supplied)Formula for sales success Dear Sir, Thank you so much for the wonderful articles, “Eight steps to effective goal setting”, “The first step towards successful marketing”, both written by Ahmed al-Akber (Gulf Times, February 18) .They were really helpful for a sales agent like me. Now I understand the things I should do to succeed in my sales career.Krish(Full name and e-mail address supplied)