Kosovo War and U.S. Meddling

Your June 10 headline quotes a Yugoslav general saying, “The war has ended.”

What war? I know war. In a war, you shoot, shell, bomb and kill people and they shoot, shell, bomb and kill back. In this shameful Kosovo exercise we have killed and brutalized a small country on the other side of the world that was unable to retaliate, until its leaders said “uncle.” This is war?

Please don’t mention those evil Serbs. They have been, are now and will be “their” problem--and “their” is defined as the ever-boiling Balkans and, at most, the neighbors on the Eurasian continent. If we keep up this meddling policy and irresponsible use of our military, we will know war!

LT. COL. N.C. BAYLEY

USMC Ret., Playa del Rey

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In 1997 the Clinton administration set a record for exports of arms and training to dictatorships. The U.S. leads the world with $10 billion per year in arms transfers to nondemocratic governments. These weapons often come back at U.S. troops and interests, not to mention the innocent people they kill, as in Panama, Somalia, Iraq and Haiti.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) should be congratulated for his leadership in co-sponsoring legislation (Code of Conduct in Arms Transfer Act) barring nondemocratic and human-rights-abusing regimes from receiving U.S. military support. The war in Yugoslavia is a prime example of what happens when we supply arms and military training to repressive governments. By stopping this type of military support we may be able to prevent further conflicts among nations.

DOLORES M. FISHER

Laguna Hills