IGNORANCE, DRUG WARS ARE NO ACCIDENT

Re "Tape Details Attack on Missionary Plane," August 3:

It is truly reprehensible that the CIA civilian agents cited in your
article would be so poorly prepared in Spanish for the military mission
they were assigned. This incident is not only an embarrassment for the
State Department but indeed another example of American naivete and
arrogance vis-a-vis the role of foreign-language instruction in this country.

The poor English skills of the Peruvian pilots in this case are irrelevant;
the Americans were flying the Peruvian skies and should be expected to give
commands in at least intermediate Spanish. Think about the American woman
and her infant daughter killed the next time someone says, "Everyone speaks
English, so why learn a foreign language.

Judith Terzi, Pasadena

Can someone please tell me that the CIA did not send agents to Peru with no
better Spanish than "brrrr" for machine-gun noises. What a travesty. Maybe
we should suspend the shooting war on drugs until the agents learn basic
Spanish.

Steve Gowler, Santa Barbara

Every time I read or hear the attack on the missionary plane shot down in
Peru with help from our CIA described as an "accident" it strikes me as a
lie, a weak attempt to varnish over the fact that my tax dollars are being
spent systematically murdering people by extrajudicial means. The idea
seems to be that if some or all of the people being shot out of the sky
without benefit of trial are involved in transporting drugs labeled
"illegal," then assassinating them is OK. In my mind this is a dangerous,
evil rationale that should appall people everywhere who believe in the rule
of law. What's more, it does little to solve the problem.

This is just the latest stupid page in the war on drugs. When will America
take responsibility and deal with drug-use problems at home using a sane
public health, demand-side approach instead of exporting terror and placing
the blame abroad. Let's be honest with ourselves: What happened to the
missionary lady and her baby was no accident--you and I planned and carried
out their killing according to U.S. government policy.

Michele Zack, Altadena