U.S. FEAR OF DEFEAT

Re "America's other perpetual war: $40 billion a year to deny
defeat," column, Aug. 22:

The last paragraph of Pierre Tristam's column is, in my opinion, an
absolute descriptive gem of an all too prevalent American attitude,
"fear of defeat." The paragraph should be required reading for anyone
trying to figure out why we, as a nation, continue to follow failed
policies at home and aboard.

Worse yet, when you couple this bad idea with its close relative
hubris, "arrogance caused by excessive pride," another common
character flaw we seem to share with many other great nations of the
past, it will further explain why our leaders are so out of step with
most of the world on many issues.

Sometimes it takes an "outsider" like Pierre, a man of profound
insights, to show us the error of our ways, because rarely, if ever,
do we see ourselves as we are.

Theodore T. Luciano

Palm Coast