Wars

* Again. There are no more Axis powers, no more USSR threats, no fear of incursions by the Land of the Rising Sun. Saddam Hussein has been tamed and minor incidents about the globe offer scant resistance, so what’s next? The Defense Department needs a new bogyman to coerce the U.S. populace to financially support nebulous plans and hidden agendas.

Ergo: China. As a stratagem the security of secrets must be made insecure, even open to pilferage. Then there will be a basis for finger-pointing and blame. Having become aware of the ploys used to get us into World War I (the Lusitania) and World War II (Pearl Harbor), you can perhaps understand my cynicism.

JAMES J. MURPHY

La Habra