To The Editors:

Kissinger

Kissinger is brilliant, articulate, insightful, compassionate and courageous [March 1]. If President Reagan isn't consulting Kissinger at every turn in his foreign policy, he should be.

Jean Curtis Amboy, Wash.

Your installment of the Kissinger memoirs has caused me to raise my assessment of him from low to high.

As for my opinion of Sadat, I formerly considered him one of the great statesmen of this century; I now think he is one of the greatest statesmen of all time.

John H. Cone Pasadena, Calif.

Kissinger explains the U.S. strategy in the Middle East as one in which "U.S. policy was simply to frustrate Arab reliance on Soviet support." As long as that effort continued, says Kissinger, "American and Israeli policies would be identical. But once Arab states began to turn to us, differences in perspective or tactics might emerge."

It may not be the best approach, but it does help me understand AWACS, Hawk missiles, and why Mr. Begin gets upset. I'm impressed that we have been consistent with it through four presidencies.

PhilHaskell Easton, Conn.

Cabinet Conflict

Secretaries Haig and Weinberger find themselves frequently at odds [March 1] because President Reagan has not committed himself to a firm and reasonable foreign policy.

Mark Cohen Orange, N.J.

The Secretary of Defense is responsible for protecting this country. The Secretary of State, on the other hand, must build alliances, defuse disagreements between the U.S. and friendly nations and develop common goals with our allies.

Certainly we would not want the military to water down its efforts for defense, nor would we want the diplomats to diminish their attempts to make this a safer world to live in. The different viewpoints and responsibilities of these two major Cabinet departments make conflict inevitable.

Robert C. Avrett Jr. Littleton, Colo.

Bad Breath

TIME performed an essential public service with its article about the well-organized effort in Congress to weaken the standards of the Clean Air Act [March 1]. As the principal author of the law, I am delighted that interest in this issue is increasing. If anything, we need to expand the statute to cover new threats to our health and our environment--acid rain and airborne toxic pollutants.

Bruce F. Vento Representative, Tenth District, Minnesota Washington, D.C.

In your report on the current attempt to rewrite the Clean Air Act, you neglected to mention that a recent Harris poll determined that 80% of the American public believe that the law should remain as strong as or stronger than it is today.

Jay Addison Satz Seattle

Insane Decision

A question of sanity should not refer to Pilot Seiji Katagiri [March 1], but to Japan Air Lines' management for reinstating him in a position of responsibility with full knowledge of his deficiency.

Arthur H. Penrose Jr. Point Pleasant, N.J.

Bond for Bush

Contrary to the implication in your article "Bush Does It His Way" [Feb. 22], George Bush is a most effective Vice President, ably assisted by a loyal staff who are far from dispirited. I never told your reporter my recommendations on scheduling were overruled, as you state. Counter to your observation, I continue to be a Bush loyalist and deeply admire the Vice President for all he has done and is doing to support President Reagan.

Richard N. Bond, Deputy Chairman Republican National Committee Washington, D.C.

Pipes' Dreams

My worries about our foreign policymakers were confirmed in your article "Reflections on the Soviet Crisis" [March 1]. Richard Pipes, the Soviet affairs expert for the National Security Council, argues that the U.S. must raise "the cost of a Soviet expansion with a credibly strong military posture" in order to support moderate Soviet leadership. I hope there are still a few people in Washington who would argue that we would be better off encouraging Soviet moderation with a restrained defense budget and policy of our own.

Richard S. Schkolnick Haverford, Pa.

Richard Pipes' comparison between cancer and nuclear war is seriously flawed. Cancer strikes a minority of our population. Many victims recover. Nuclear war would afflict us all, and none would survive.

Carl Doerner Barnet, Vt.

Secret Service Sitters

Your story "The New Baby Bloom" [Feb. 22] stated that Senator Ted Stevens' wife "occasionally uses convenient Secret Service agents as baby-sitters for her six-month-old daughter." The Secret Service currently has no authority to provide security for either Senator or Mrs. Stevens. Even when the agents are protecting a family, parents provide for a child's personal needs.

Robert R. Snow, Assistant to the Director U.S. Secret Service Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C.

Weather Prints

In your story on new techniques for determining scientific evidence [March 1], you failed to mention weather reconstruction as one of the newest forensic sciences. My firm has provided juries with convincing evidence that wind blew a car into a lane of oncoming traffic, or that at the exact time a plaintiff claimed a road was under water, there had not been enough rain to cause a flood. Forecasting is always subject to variable factors; hindcasting treads a more certain course.

Sidney R. Frank Goleta, Calif.

Intoxicating Mesquite

I am an ardent devotee of the virtues of mesquite [March 1]. The aroma given off by this burning shrub is a little scent of heaven. If you have never had a steak char-broiled over an open mesquite fire, you haven't lived. And if you have never had soup made from the bones of that broiled steak, you really haven't lived.

Doris K. Flowerday Westland, Mich.

There is little mention of exactly why ranchers in West Texas, Arizona and other areas of the southwestern U.S. want to remove invading species of mesquite. Ranchers go to the trouble of burning, chaining and chemically controlling their mesquite to provide a more favorable growing climate for range grasses. When grass is reestablished, the soil is broken up, more water percolates into the water table, erosion lessens, perennial streams are re-established and, quite often, even wildlife returns.

Kenneth A. Lucas Phoenix

Wrong Bird

A robin hopped upon a branch

And had his picture taken

At TIME they labeled him a

starling But they are quite mistaken!

[March 1].

Grace Wavra Wheeling, W. Va.

Forgotten Heroes

In 1960 I went to Viet Nam as a 21-year-old Army nurse with stars in my eyes and trust in my heart. By the time I came back, the stars in my eyes had turned to tears and the trust had been replaced by heartbreak, anger, resentment and confusion. I also carried with me an overwhelming love and respect for the young men who, like me, carried on the best they could in the most miserable physical and psychological situations. If there is one monument [Feb. 22] to one soldier on the face of this, earth, there must be one for the G.I.s of Viet Nam, who gave as much as any who fought in earlier conflicts and, so far, have been rewarded only with medals of contempt and disinterest.

Kay Zorn Willow Springs, Mo.

Deaf Ears

Regarding your article "Auto's New Deal" [Jan. 25]: the U.A.W. agreement with GM may represent the first time in history that the union has thought of giving up its negotiated benefits to help return the auto makers to health. It is not, however, the first time we have acknowledged our stake in a healthy industry. Unfortunately, all of our previous attempts fell on reluctant ears.

As long ago as 1950, U.A.W. leader Walter Reuther told the manufacturers that their future was in the small, more fuel-efficient car. Management responded that they would run the business as they saw fit, and that labor should stick to representing its members.

Larry R. London U.A. W. Committeeman, Local 420 Akron

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.