‘U.S. Record of Intervention’

One of the letters to The Times (June 23), “U.S. Record of Intervention,” claims that when it comes to “global intervention, we have at least held our own with our competitors.” Granted that we have intervened many times in other countries, there still are significant differences between our intervention and that of competitive totalitarian regimes.

We may have militarily gone into other countries as often as the writer claims, but the pressures in a democratic society make policies that are opposed by the majority difficult to maintain, and therein lies the contrast.

With the possible exception of tiny Grenada, there is not one country where we maintain military control. We went in, but we also went out.

In conjunction with our allies, we made a massive invasion of Western Europe, but none of the countries that we temporarily occupied, were deprived of their right to govern themselves. The same can hardly be said of Eastern Europe, where the Kremlin determines all policies. There are no “Iron Curtains” in Western Europe.

The Soviet Union is currently engaged in a five-year-old invasion of Afghanistan, utilizing every modern weapon against an underdeveloped country. This may not make an impression on the critical letter writer because he is counting numbers, and after all this is only one invasion.

JACK MARGOLIN

Marina del Rey