Ask Deeper Questions About Grenada Invasion

True enough: For a privileged few, Grenada is a popular Caribbean island tourist destination. But there is something profoundly insular, even obscene, about “20 Years Later, Grenada Opinion Still Divided Over U.S. Military Invasion” (Oct. 25), whose starting point and main perspective is that of American tourists. It reduces serious historical questions (Was the invasion justified? Were principles of democracy and international law upheld?) to facile sightseer sound bites.

If a story rates four columns, a picture and a map on Page A3, then surely one paragraph could be devoted to the rise of the Grenadian Marxist Party and the reasons for its popularity. This might flesh out the account of the “dour” Marxist “killjoys,” the U.S. role in “shield[ing] the tiny country from further communist recruitment” and the Marxists’ alleged unpopularity with the “sun-seekers [and] the rum-punch crowd.”

Paul Morsink

Los Angeles