Clinton at G-7 Summit

* We have been following the news about the Group of 7 (G-7) meetings with interest. An interest generated as much by who was not participating--Third World nations whose resources are basic to the wealth and success of the G-7 nations. These unrepresented countries provide natural resources, cheap labor, low or no taxation of international corporations; all of which result in no real economic growth for the poorest countries.

The impact of present economic policies is the transfer of wealth, which has been described as a vacuum cleaner taking from Third World nations and low-income peoples and providing riches in unusable amounts to fewer and fewer at the top, both multinationals and individuals.

We believe all countries should be participating in an economic conference. How can the world have a healthy economy while the majority of the people are experiencing destructive levels of poverty? As more and more of the world’s children die of malnutrition and treatable diseases, it seems a conference should be addressing how to support self-sustaining agriculture and economies. It seems developing and underdeveloped countries should have a voice in trade issues and impacts, not just the G-7 few.

LYNNE HALPIN

RAE WILKEN

Canoga Park

* I wish President Clinton well in his herculean efforts to change foreign conceptions of what a level playing field consists of in international economics. It will do us little or no good to merely bemoan our obscene balance of trade, especially with Japan.

Why have the Japanese been able to create such surpluses at our expense? While the answer is multifaceted, one readily comes to mind--the Japanese people themselves. They are showing us the true meaning of patriotism and discipline. They know that by buying Japanese goods they have been able to pull off the greatest economic miracle in recent history.

I find it hard to believe that American get-up-and-go got up and went. My advice to my fellow citizens, to paraphrase a successful political slogan of the recent presidential campaign: Buy American, stupid!

PAUL WASSERMAN

Northridge

* Judging by Kevin Phillips’ mean, ill-spirited attack on President Clinton (Opinion, July 11) one could easily believe that Phillips was himself a candidate for office, running against Clinton.

Among the other negative statements contained in the article are two irrelevant remarks about Clinton’s Vietnam War status. First, the President is maligned as one who outmaneuvered his local draft board and then he is referred to as “that draft dodger in the White House.” Phillips demeans the other G-7 leaders jointly with the President, describing them in the kind of insulting language you would expect of a nightclub comedian.

Does it appear that this journalist is more intent upon besmirching the President than in discussing the issues?

SIMON MILLER

Palm Springs

* About President Clinton, who is right:

“Six months into his term, an international performance that is weak on everything but public relations is becoming as big a threat to Clinton as his domestic miscalculations” (Phillips’ column).

“President Clinton, virtually untested on the international stage when he arrived here (in Japan) five days ago, made a triumphant exit today after dominating the seven-nation economic summit in both style and substance” (news analysis, July 10).

It is my impression that Phillips used a big hatchet, which probably reflected his own agenda.

HARRY DIAMOND

Santa Barbara

* While no great fan of Clinton’s foreign policy (even less so his domestic agenda), I was torn by laughter and anger at former Secretary of State James A. Baker III’s audacity in criticizing President Clinton’s international role (Opinion, July 11).

Dare we ask what were Baker’s and George Bush’s “accomplishments” in the international area: Saddam was allowed to retain power after our military victory in Iraq; the Chinese slave state was treated with kid gloves as U.S. trade representatives trooped back to Beijing days after the Tian An Men massacre; Israel, our one democratic ally in the Middle East, was repeatedly excoriated at the same time the Syrian takeover of Lebanon and massacre of Christians were overlooked; Boris Yeltsin’s rise and popularity were ignored, while we were the last Western country to recognize Baltic independence and the ensuing breakup of the Soviet Union.

And now Baker would have us assume a greater role in the Yugoslav caldron. Isn’t it time for a reassessment of Baker’s and Bush’s foreign policy “genius”?

CALEB GLUCK

Beverly Hills

* Six months on the job, with low performance ratings, and President Clinton has qualified for an R&R; in Hawaii. What union does he belong to?

GEORGE KAUFMAN

La Mirada

Asylum

* Any nation permitting illegal aliens to disappear into the population after merely uttering the word asylum probably ought to be in one.

ALAN BLIZZARD

Claremont

Agran’s 800 Number

* At the risk of creating an ad nauseam argument, I wish to comment on William McNally’s statement (letter, July 11) that he was the originator of Jerry Brown’s (800) CITIZEN number.

Democratic presidential candidate Larry Agran’s campaign initiated its own nationwide 800 number shortly after Agran announced his candidacy in July, 1991. Agran used his 800 number in campaign appearances and literature before Brown even announced his own candidacy.

Had the TV networks not excluded Agran from campaign coverage and candidate debates, perhaps history would have recorded him as the “800 candidate” and not Jerry Brown.

STEPHEN C. SMITH

Issues Director, Agran ’92

Santa Ana

Jerusalem Issues

* The article about my opponent, Ehud Olmert (“Israel’s Pit Bull of Politics Takes on Jerusalem Mayor,” July 6), is full of disinformation.

Olmert charges that I lack the “patience, the time and the interest” to deal with municipal issues--as if Jerusalem has been on autopilot. I invite him and anyone else to spend a working day with me to see just how involved I really am, even with tiny details.

And while it is difficult to quarrel with nameless surveys which purportedly show widespread voter dissatisfaction, the city’s unemployment figures are among the lowest they’ve ever been and the lowest in Israel; Jerusalem is developing at a tremendous rate (we are in the midst of a major and successful effort to attract non-polluting, high-tech industry which will help widen Jerusalem’s tax base and keep young, educated people from leaving); Jerusalem’s school system boasts the lowest dropout rate of Israel’s major cities and turns out higher matriculation exam scores than systems in far wealthier areas. This is not to say that all is perfect in Jerusalem. But things could have been even better if Olmert and the Likud, during 15 years of rule, had invested as much money in the city as they did lip service to its importance to Israel and the Jewish people.

Olmert speaks of Jerusalem’s Arab residents as our “poor relatives.” He is the Likud’s longtime cabinet minister responsible for minorities--meaning Arabs--and seems to be admitting that he did nothing to improve their lot in the spheres of housing, infrastructure and services. What’s more, the Likud did its best to settle Jews in Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods--spending sometimes millions on a few isolated buildings and in the process raising ethnic tensions. And no matter what Olmert says, he will forever be Likud.

Ehud Olmert may be one of Israel’s longest serving members of Knesset, yet not once has he spoken there on behalf of Jerusalem and its problems. One can’t help but get the impression that for Olmert, now just a rank-and-file parliamentarian, Jerusalem is merely a way to bide his time until something which he considers more important comes along. For me Jerusalem has been a life’s endeavor.

TEDDY KOLLEK

Mayor of Jerusalem

Weaver Acquittal

* In response to “Two White Separatists Acquitted of Murder,” July 9:

You don’t have to be a “right-wing extremist” to deplore the government-sponsored terrorism directed against Randall Weaver’s family in Idaho last August. What’s this about the family being barricaded for 18 months in their cabin? Vicki Weaver was picked off while standing in the open doorway of her home, holding her baby. Who’s going to answer for that? And for shooting her son, Sammy, in the back?

Government prosecutors didn’t have a case against the Weavers, but they labored long and hard to cover up their own criminal behavior. Let’s hope they learned something from this experience. It does make a person wonder if there are some government agencies we could do without.

F. S. RUSSELL

Burbank

* The Weaver acquittal shows the wisdom of the federal strategy in Waco. If we shoot or incinerate them all, we don’t have to worry about manufacturing enough evidence to convict anyone.

MICHAEL J. NOWLAND

Simi Valley

RTD Police

* A few months ago the RTD police were riding the buses on Vermont Avenue. I felt a sense of safety and security. But now I don’t see them on board. I really wish they were still there, due to the crime and violence every day.

JACKIE DuBOIS

Los Angeles