As the British captain said to the Italian major who had captured him during the Abyssinian campaign, “No one likes war, but you chaps don’t even make the effort.” After reading the June issue of Chronicles (“Manifest Disaster“), I get the feeling that not only do you chaps not like the U.S.A., you don’t even make the effort.

The conduct of the United States in World War II and in Vietnam was certainly not irreproachable, but at least one could argue military reasons for Dresden and Hiroshima, which the Germans could not do for Auschwitz. And regarding our behavior vis-a-vis Serbs, Croats, and Muslims in former Yugoslavia, it seems either ill-considered or downright perverse, or both. We seem to support non-Christians against Christians and Muslims against Christians and increasingly against Jews, or at least Israelis.

But reading your June issue one might get the impression that our government’s policy is based on the desire to do as much harm as possible without being too obvious about it. If this really is our policy, then pointing out flaws and errors will only encourage the scoundrels; but if it isn’t, these massive, detailed, badtempered attacks are hardly likely to influence anyone to change.

        —Harold O.J. Brown
Deerfield, IL