Paying for War and Peace in Persian Gulf

In response to “Who’s Sharing That Burden Now?” by Jeffrey E. Garten (Commentary, Feb. 4):

Devise a “new Marshall Plan”? Why? To redistribute America’s wealth abroad. To rebuild an aggressor nation. To fuel a demand for eager German and Japanese industries, thereby rewarding those countries for their middle-of-the-road Gulf policy? To increase the war deficit from $15 billion to $30 billion. Even if the United States did not have economic problems, its moral course of action should prevent it from squandering wealth on nations which regard it as the “Great Satan.”

America’s interest in the war is securing the semi-free trade of oil, communicating a staunch anti-aggression stance to any would-be aggressors as well as preventing a future war involving deadlier weapons and increased casualties. The goal is not and should not be the liberation of the Kuwaiti people, which is a sophistry. America’s responsibility is America and its interests, not every semi-free country or dictatorship on the globe claiming misfortune and expecting to cash in on America’s virtues and prosperity either through a “new Marshall Plan” or otherwise.

MICHAEL MARTZ

Redondo Beach