Kissinger on Somalia

As one who holds a graduate degree in international relations, I fully agree with Kissinger in his opinion that the United Nations, not the United States, should assume any prolonged undertaking in Somalia.

At the same time, as a retired military officer, I rebuke Dr. Kissinger for his offhand use of the phrase “the cult of military realities.” If he meant the political distortion of military concepts, he should have said so. Among military leaders, there is no “cult” of strategic or tactical belief. There is hard-won knowledge of the successful, as against unsuccessful, ways to engage the enemy in battle. These are the realities.

SAMUEL S. WRAY

Newport Beach