Fighting Soviet ‘Imperialism’

Wheeler claims various rebel groups are fighting Soviet imperialism for “free market democracy and individual liberty.” I think it’s more likely that most are fighting for tribal or national independence and the power to impose their own religious, ideological or economic agendas on their--perhaps somewhat freer subjects.

This is most obviously true of the ex-Somocist contra leadership in Nicaragua and the Muslim patriarchs in Afghanistan. Wheeler mentions women taking up arms, but, it is predominantly males who will wage these wars and enjoy the spoils of victory.

I detect in Wheeler’s writing more of a zeal for “fighting,” “armed” insurgencies and “overthrow,” than a rational attempt to discover the means to advancing individual liberty. Like too many “freedom lovers,” Jack Wheeler tends to do his thinking with a gun.

CAROL MOORE

Los Angeles