CIA Knowledge of Chemical Weapons

Your April 11 editorial, “A Waste of Intelligence,” merely states the obvious. What justification is there for the existence of the CIA? Benefits of winning the Cold War should include that, since we no longer need the CIA, we should no longer have to pay for the CIA.

Put an end to one of the darkest chapters in American history. Dissolve the CIA. Delegate its domestic responsibilities to the FBI and the Secret Service. Delegate its global responsibilities to an appropriate international or U.N.-sponsored agency.

Expose all its deepest secrets so we all can fully account for its anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-democratic activities for the past 50 years. Hold its agents responsible in criminal courts for their individual acts of illegality, immorality and inhumanity.

SAM H. CLAUDER II

Garden Grove

* We have become somewhat jaded and shrug off much that should inflame us--scandals and questionable fund-raising practices by both political parties--but that the CIA should have knowledge of weapons that would endanger our soldiers and fail to bring it to the attention of military commanders is treason of the worst kind and should call for an immediate cry of outrage (April 10).

A mere apology by Robert D. Walpole on behalf of the CIA is an insult to the veterans who were exposed to chemical weapons and trivializes a serious situation. The families of our sons and daughters sent to fight a war on our behalf have every right to expect the best in equipment and protection, not deception by a branch of our own government that could put our soldiers in harm’s way. It is time to disband the CIA and start over with new personnel and a new philosophy that puts service to our country and citizens first.

NINA VANCE

San Fernando