Panama Invasion Media Coverage

An open letter to Jesse Jackson:

The world has changed since we both walked behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a quarter-century ago. Still, we share that shining memory and, I suppose, a common allegiance to our country and its people. Beyond that, we differ on many issues.

Sadly, I have to say I find your column on Panama not only mean-spirited but riddled with error. Let me point out the most egregious. Do you really think that “democracy is not created at the point of a bayonet”? What did Washington’s brave, beleaguered army carry on their bayonets in 1776, then? What did the GIs splashing ashore in Normandy and across France into Germany bring, if not democracy? What brought democracy to Japan, if not bayonets? What but bayonets brought down Ceausescu, and may yet bring democracy to Romania? You deplore bayonets in Panama? Perhaps you preferred Noriega?

Not only do the Panamanian people appear to disagree with you, but the General Assembly of the United Nations, for the first time in years, failed to muster a majority condemning the United States in a vote on this issue. Think about it.

CHARLTON HESTON

Beverly Hills