Military spending

Re “ ‘Pursuit of happiness,’ ” editorial, Dec. 18

Your otherwise excellent editorial inexplicably left out two items in the federal budget: the war in Iraq and the Pentagon’s budget in general. Generations will pay for Iraq to the detriment of our national infrastructure and health. Do we need all our overseas bases? Whom do they benefit? Is it possible that if we change some of the ways we behave toward others in the world, hostility toward us may go away?

Bevan Manson

Santa Monica