Panama Canal

I read R.M. Koster’s “Monument Changes Hands, but Where’s the Fanfare?” (Opinion, Oct. 10), regarding the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama. I hoped that he would give a rational reason as to why it was such a good idea and how the U.S. would benefit.

It was President Carter’s proposal, and it appears to have been a thankless act of generosity. Koster thought that President Clinton should make a big PR event and appear on a podium with President Mireya Moscoso of Panama in Panama. Koster doesn’t know how savvy our president is. Bill Clinton knows how unpopular this event would be, viewed by U.S. citizenry. It is an insult to President Theodore Roosevelt, who had the Panama Canal built.

BARBARA THOMAS

Palm Desert