LETTERS: A CHANGE OF HEART?

To the editor:

Imagine my surprise in reading your newspaper Friday morning and finding articles reporting two more Clinton administration's foreign-policy flip-flops only nine days after President Clinton's re-election. Surely our president would not reverse his commitment to withdraw our soldiers from Bosnia. And can it be true that this administration would send America's finest to Zaire after saying for months that we would not do so?

To tell the truth, I was not surprised to read these articles. I have become accustomed to President Clinton's way of doing business: tell the American people what they want to hear and then do whatever he wants to. I do not pretend to know what the right thing to do is in these situations. However, I do know two things that are pertinent. The first is that we do not have a national-security interest in either Bosnia or Zaire. The second is that American soldiers have died and will continue to die in Bosnia. The potential for American blood to be spilled in Zaire is enormous, similar to the ill-fated, so-called humanitarian mission our soldiers were committed to in Somalia. Lest we forget, 18 American Rangers died in Somalia on one day because of the Clinton administration's refusal to allow heavy armor to be deployed.

I cringe when I read of a State Department spokesman, Glyn Davies, saying he doesn't believe "the militias (in Zaire) would be reckless enough to take on an international force of considerable size." Are we kidding ourselves? Are these militias more well-behaved than the ones in Somalia, Bosnia, Lebanon and other hot spots around the world? Are these the same militias that have slaughtered thousands of their own countrymen?

I do not consider myself an isolationist. I realize that the world's last remaining superpower must be a force for the ideals we believe in. However, I believe that the American people must believe in any endeavor that we commit our soldiers to. I can't believe that our country can make this decision yet. After all, 10 days ago (read before the election here) our president's positions on these issues were completely different than what they are today.

I pray that our latest forays into armed humanitarianism bring our soldiers home alive, but I regret that I do not believe this will happen.

DAVID FOSSE

Cape Girardeau