LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

MISDEEDS DISQUALIFY CIA

ALDRIDGE Ames was a mole in the CIA for how many years before he was
discovered? The agency failed to predict the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the Soviet Union, and evidence of its complicity in the drug trade
was confirmed by the recent release of the second volume of the
Inspector General's report on that subject.

The CIA regularly uses claims of national security to cover up its
failings and misdeeds. For these reasons, it is unreasonable to assign
the agency the job of monitoring relations between Palestinians and
the Israelis (Opinion, Nov. 10).

Monitoring of this type of agreement needs to be done by an agency
with a good track record and whose actions can be openly reviewed by
Congress, the press, and United States citizens.

Bill Michel
Mountain View

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady