Whether or not one agrees with the present U.S. response to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, there are certain points which should be considered. These have more to do with our perception of ourselves as a nation than they do with how we react to our current policy vis a vis Saddam Hussein.

When nuns, priests, and human rights workers are tortured, raped, and murdered in Central America; when black people are systematically oppressed in South Africa; when student protesters are massacred in Tiananmen Square, the response of our so-called leaders is characteristically “measured and restrained.” This is to say that, essentially, we do nothing but mouth a few pious phrases about our commitment to human rights and freedom. If the commitment is genuine, there should be corresponding action. It does not take a close examination of U.S. history to see that action has not been an attribute of our government’s responses to some of the most crucial human rights issues and events of the 20th century.

The swift and decisive moves taken against the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait clearly demonstrate where U.S. priorities lie. If it is a question of human lives and dignity, we tend to do nothing. But if wealth and property are at sake, we find ourselves on the point of war. Who are we kidding? Lewis S. Richards Orono