Pol Pot

When Pol Pot says that his conscience is clear despite his having caused the deaths of approximately 1 million Cambodians (“Ailing Pol Pot Looks Back on Reign Without Remorse,” Oct. 23), we laugh or shake our heads in skeptical disbelief. When even such a one as Robert McNamara expresses regret over only our 50,000-plus casualties (conveniently forgetting the possibly 2 million Southeast Asians killed by our weaponry), we, for the most part, experience little or nothing in the way of conscience pangs.

Question: How can we, after stripping away all propaganda and political rhetoric, truly distinguish between our reaction and that of Pol Pot?

HORACE GAIMS

Los Angeles