Gunter Grass’ Reading of American Conduct

Re “The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values,” by Gunter Grass, Commentary, April 7:

The comments by Grass reveal that he and the Germans he speaks of have not learned the lessons taught by the past. Before the generous Marshall Plan could rebuild Europe, thousands of brave American soldiers had to die in the war to defeat Hitler. And now, before Iraq can be rebuilt, an evil dictator will again have to be overthrown and Americans will have to die.

If Grass had truly learned his lessons from history, he would have volunteered his services for the worthy cause we are now engaged in.

Gregory J. Colman

Santa Monica

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I fervently thank The Times for having the guts to publish Grass’ eloquent essay. In this time when Americans are suffocating in a sea of hubris and misplaced patriotism, we need to hear voices of reason that point in the direction of truly righteous behavior.

We are a nation that has lost its moral bearings. We are killing innocent people to rule the world. What has become of the meaning of the principles on which this nation was founded?

Anthony Shay

Los Angeles

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After reading Grass’ piece, I am curious as to what the German word for chutzpah might be. After 10 years of Saddam Hussein’s thumbing his nose at the United Nations, and resolution after resolution demanding that this tyrant disarm, a condition of the 1991 Gulf War peace settlement, Grass accuses the United States of ignoring the U.N. Security Council.

It is well known that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, for crass political reasons, fell in with France by threatening to veto any further U.N. resolution that would provide for the forceful removal of Hussein if he did not disarm totally and immediately, as demanded by U.N. Resolution 1441. This German author, even though he is from the nation responsible for two world wars and the Holocaust, has the nerve to accuse President Bush “for his disdain and scorn” of the United Nations.

William H. Smith

Palm Desert

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Max Boot (“Forget Vietnam -- History Deflates Guerrilla Mystique,” Opinion, April 6) states that we have defeated the Taliban, and that “paramilitary troops are unlikely to pose much of a long-term threat.” Is he living in the United States, where the terror alert is “high” and people are laying in emergency supplies?

More likely, he is living in the curiously unreal nirvana of neoconservatism, where the invasion of Iraq is viewed as a mere bump in the road on the way to domination -- er, “liberation” -- of the Middle East, and where pesky considerations like orange alerts don’t cloud his messianic vision. How pleasant that must be, to disconnect at will from reality. For the rest of us, the increased threat of terrorism posed by this invasion does, unfortunately, present a long-term problem.

Lisa Harris

Sierra Madre