Beirut Ablaze

To the Editors:

The image of the Palestine Liberation Organization hiding behind the children of Beirut [Aug. 16] reinforces Golda Meir's words, "When peace does come, we will, perhaps in time, be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons. But it will be more difficult for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons."

Charles Thaler New York City

Prime Minister Begin's blatant disregard of U.S. efforts to negotiate diplomatically the withdrawal of the P.L.O. from Lebanon is infuriating, especially since we have given Israel $7.15 billion in economic aid since its founding. All we ask is that Israel recognize its obligation to cease the killing and wounding of innocent civilians.

Deborah J. Lockhart Boston

Even though Prime Minister Begin defies the whole world by refusing to stop the massacres in Beirut, the Israeli people should have the courage to tell him that Palestinians and Lebanese, like Jews, deserve the right of not having to kneel except to God.

Sami W. Habiby Houston

Among all the verbiage and glossy photos of bombs exploding in Beirut, one must not forget that the shelling has been brought about by the P.L.O.'s tactic of establishing itself amid the civilian population and refusing to leave the city. The disunity and weakness of the Lebanese as well as their unwillingness or inability to expel the terrorists must also be viewed as some of the factors leading to the present situation.

Eugene Schoenfeld Warwick, R.I.

Who ever heard of an army besieging a city and at the same time supplying its enemy with water, food and electricity, in addition to ample time for bargaining?

Mati Alon Jerusalem

Place for Prayer

TIME'S article "The Politics of Prayer" [Aug. 9] raises some questions that have not been fully considered. Our country is increasingly multiracial, multilingual and multireligious. There is no way a public school can satisfy the religious needs of all. The solution is to let the churches, synagogues, mosques and ethical-culture organizations provide the prayers and religious teaching on Saturday and Sunday, and allow the public schools to do the job for which they were designed in the remaining five days.

Ina C. Brown Nashville

We need prayers in our schools. If it is all right to pledge allegiance to a nation under God and sing God Bless America, why not a simple daily prayer? In starting its day, Congress asks for God's help. Surely it cannot be wrong for our children to do the same thing.

Doris K. McCoy Lake Elsinore, Calif.

Rescuing Weirton

It would be wonderful if the people of Weirton banded together and successfully purchased the faltering Weirton Steel Co. [Aug. 9]. Watching Weirton Steel rise from its own financial ashes would inspire other companies in similar predicaments. With much hard work, Weirton might pull it off.

Ned Mamula Herndon, Va.

You described the Weirton buyout as "a kind of homespun socialism." Rather, the story appears to be about a heartening attempt at grass-roots capitalism that could be good for us all.

Kevin W. Free

House of Representatives

State of Delaware

Dover, Del.

Taster's Choice

Miller Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch spend millions on advertising to convince us of how tasty, macho and light their beers are [Aug. 16]. Nevertheless, with all the additives in American beer, it tastes as if it were squeezed through dish towels. Many drinkers say they can down a gallon of Danish, German, Mexican or Japanese brew, but after three American cans they feel acidy and bloated. Like the U.S. automobile and television industries, the brewers will learn the hard way that we're not as stupid as they think we are.

Allen Stokes New York City

You overlooked a notable boutique brewer, Jos. Huber, Monroe, Wis. It brews the very fine Augsberger beer, in which one can taste the hops and malt.

Fredrick A. Linde Wichita, Kans.

Your article on the U.S. beer brawl had several analogies with events in Britain over the past decade. In the early 1970s the big companies monopolized the United Kingdom markets by buying up many smaller breweries, with the result that many beers became bland, sterile and uninteresting. This led to an enormous consumer backlash. Subsequently, the surviving small breweries, which used traditional techniques for producing flavorful rather than pasteurized beer, have flourished.

Jan Orme Saranac Lake, N. Y.

Urban Forests

In your article "New Danger in the Wilderness" [Aug. 16], pot growing is mentioned along with such crimes as murder, rape and robbery. Surely a story on crimes like satanic disembowelment of animals, assault and dead-body dumping should not include the cultivation of a plant that is consumed by 25.5 million Americans and that one week earlier you noted was the fourth largest cash crop in America. The only crime committed by the marijuana growers is the profit accrued and the taxes not paid.

Biddy Gleeson Freiburg, West Germany

Administrators of our national wilderness have erred by promoting the idea that parks are for people. The problems discussed in your story are caused mainly by our having made these areas too accessible to the average citizen. By allowing our parks and forests to become part of the commercial tourist industry, we have urbanized a region where man should be only an occasional visitor.

John Lewis Taylor Gallup, N. Mex.

Zack Zapped

Richard Schickel wondered how the screenwriter ever thought up such a name as Zack Mayo for the lead character in An Officer and a Gentleman [Aug. 9]. So do I.

Zachary Mayo Manhasset, N. Y.

Richard Schickel writes that Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) "emerges as a man worthy of having a few million bucks' worth of F-111." Zack is in the Navy, so he should be flying Navy. Why not give him an F14? The F-111 belongs to the Air Force.

Rocky Grant Tucson

Camera! Action!

It was not Cable News Network Reporter James Allen Miklaszewski who photographed the American military advisers in El Salvador, as your article indicates [Aug. 9]. Freelance Cameraman Howard Dorf shot the videotape while working as an independent contractor for CNN in El Salvador.

Linda L. Dorf Miami

War-Horse Repertoire

You say it is stultifying for orchestras at summer festivals to play the same favorites again and again [Aug. 2]. Why not perform the music that most people want to hear? It would be depressing if programs consisted mainly of works in which audiences have little interest.

George W. Crongeyer New York City

Beethoven also made the top of our charts here in Honolulu. A year ago, we asked our subscribers which composers they wanted to hear. The top five were Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Bach and Tchaikovsky. Hardly mentioned were Berlioz, Ives and Bruckner. When faced with our current economic realities, an orchestra must often make the safe choice. It is like ballet companies who have to do hundreds of performances of Nutcracker, driving dancers and musicians wacky, so that other, more inventive works may be underwritten.

Robert S. Sandla, Executive Director

The Honolulu Symphony

Honolulu

Freedom for Haitians

In response to Letter Writer Ilene Matthews [Aug. 16], who "refuses to feel responsible" for the Haitian refugees: these people have come to the U.S. to escape poverty and starvation. Refusing them entry is selfish and racist. We have a moral responsibility to anyone fleeing from such terrible conditions.

Lyle Glenn Ferguson Pittsburgh

Someone should remind Ms. Matthews that in 1915 it was the Americans who went to Haiti. They were uninvited and unwanted, yet they stayed for 19 years. When they left, Haiti was a political shambles, the only power remaining being the police. Since then, this force under many guises has ruled the country ruthlessly.

Jean Maxwell Cyprien Khaitan, Kuwait

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