Letters

Terror Turmoil

To the Editors: Your article stressed "disarray in diplomacy" vis-`a-vis Egypt and Italy [TERRORISM, Oct. 28]. President Reagan is the elected head not of those two nations but of the U.S. His leadership correctly reflected his constitutional obligation to defend American lives at home and abroad. Marvin Alisky Tempe, Ariz.

Am I the only person in America who feels shame and revulsion, not pride and elation, over the U.S. capture of the Achille Lauro hijackers? I thought capers like this were called piracy at best, kidnaping at worst. Quinith Janssen Shepherdstown, W. Va.

As a citizen of Italy, I apologize for the behavior of my government. It has betrayed the simplest and most necessary principles of human living: justice and loyalty. Italy should have asked that Egypt immediately hand Terrorist Abul Abbas and his criminal gang over to us. Our government's readiness to accept the most infamous conditions forced the U.S. to intervene in the name of humanity and in order to ensure justice. Our country nonetheless managed to complete the betrayal by helping Abbas to escape. Franz A. Cavalleri Erba, Italy

The Italians and Egyptians are hoping that if they howl loud enough, it will hide the fact that they got caught trying to drop the Achille Lauro pirates like hot potatoes. If the U.S. had not acted as effectively as it did, four terrorists would probably be free now. Should the U.S. apologize for doing the right thing? Never. Sandi Morris Nutley, N.J.

The violent American response to the Achille Lauro incident has brought Italians and other Europeans to the realization that our relationship with the U.S. resembles one between a master and a servant. Your President is being referred to as the emperor or "Rambo Reagan." In a little more than a week, America has managed to offend and alienate three of its allies: Tunisia, Egypt and Italy. I think the U.S. action is a sort of Guinness record in diplomatic failures. Valerio Ciuffa Verona, Italy

I do not understand Egypt's wounded reaction to the U.S.'s diversion of its plane carrying the Achille Lauro hijackers. If Egypt were a true friend of the U.S.'s, it would not have been so quick to release the killers of an American into the "custody" of their P.L.O. comrades. Kenneth Gold Philadelphia

The "bold nonviolent stroke" to which you refer is about as nonviolent as armed robbery. What if the Egyptian aircraft had refused to comply with U.S. fighter pilots' orders? Robert C. Barker Fort Smith, Ark. Cowboy Style

Lance Morrow's article "Smile When You Say That" [ESSAY, Oct. 28], describing how cowboy logic figured in the recent terrorist incident, was most accurate when it depicted Theodore Roosevelt as a good guy doing battle with bad guys. This image of frontier justice has been a long-standing and powerful one in the American consciousness. After all, when T.R. succeeded the assassinated William McKinley as President in 1901, anguished Republican Business Leader Mark Hanna remarked, "That damned cowboy is President of the United States!" William M. Wemple Fort Washington, Pa. Sanctuary for Aliens

I, for one, am more afraid of the people who insist on providing sanctuary to refugees from Central America [RELIGION, Oct. 28] than I am of the Soviets. If the do-gooders in the Sanctuary Movement get away with obeying only the laws that please them, then even God won't be able to save us. James E. Spencer Tucson

Some of my ancestors came to this land to escape religious persecution and for economic reasons. Congratulations to the Rev. John Fife and Jim Corbett and his wife for providing sanctuary to refugees from Central America. May we always have separation of church and state and give sanctuary to the unfortunate, even those who only want something better to eat. Betty Kennedy El Paso Calling It Like It Is

In reference to your recent article on using instant video replays to help referees and umpires make rulings [SPORT, Oct. 28], I was alarmed that you failed to mention the U.S. Football League and its use of television replays in sports officiating. Last season the U.S.F.L. utilized such replay technology for regular-season and playoff games. Harry L. Usher, Commissioner U.S. Football League New York City

Baseball is a game that is played by humans, managed by humans, coached by humans and watched by humans. Therefore, it ought to be umpired by humans and not by some dumb machine. Veteran Umpire Ron Luciano said it well: "Umpiring is best described as the profession of standing between two seven-year-olds with one ice-cream cone." Randall Borow West Suburban Umpires Association North Riverside, III. Hazards of Toxic Waste

Your article on "The Poisoning of America" [ENVIRONMENT, Oct. 14] could not have come at a more critically important time. Industry, as you point out, now generates more than 300 million tons of hazardous and often cancer-causing wastes, while the Environmental Protection Agency is desperately seeking new places on our finite earth to put these mountains of toxic garbage. Unless we do everything in our knowledge and power to reduce, recycle and detoxify chemical wastes, we will soon find ourselves hopelessly engulfed in our own pollution. We must not let America the Beautiful become America the Poisoned. Toney Anaya Governor, New Mexico Chairman, Environment Subcommittee, National Governors' Association Santa Fe The United Nations at 40

I am a high school student, and it concerns me that the U.N. is having a "mid-life crisis" [NATION, Oct. 28]. This organization was founded to prevent worldwide conflict, and now it seems to be going in too many directions to be effective. Jill Reichensperger Portland

You state that in the U.N.'s General Assembly, each nation has an equal vote. This is not entirely correct. The Soviet Union has always had three votes: one for the U.S.S.R., one for the Ukrainian S.S.R., and one for the Belorussian S.S.R. Stalin had originally demanded 16 votes, one for each of the "union republics" of the U.S.S.R. (today there are only 15 such republics). A compromise was reached whereby the Soviet Union could have one vote each for "Great Russia," "Little Russia" (the Ukraine) and "White Russia" (Belorussia). Gary H. Toops Assistant Professor of German and Russian Pomona College Claremont, Calif. Preaching Hate

In his piece on Louis Farrakhan [ESSAY, Oct. 21], Roger Rosenblatt says, "The press may or may not 'create' Farrakhan, but it does not create the silent haters." This is true. The silent haters are produced by a nation that will not accept blacks as equals. If everyone in America were truly equal, Farrakhan would be delivering speeches to empty auditoriums. James L. Riddle Oviedo, Fla.

Louis Farrakhan feels we should hate Jews because they crucified Christ. But Farrakhan has not forgiven them, and therefore he is not comparable to Christ, as he pretends to be. True Christians do not hate Jews and will not join forces with those people who do. Steven and Carolyn Bray Rye, N. Y. Vend-A-Bait

I am shocked at the thought of minnows, crawfish and goldfish wasting their lives away as a product for sale in vending machines [AMERICAN SCENE, Oct. 21]. Has technology brought us to the point where we now equate living things with inanimate objects like potato chips and canned soda? Helene Starr Miami Criminal Traits

Your article about the new book Crime and Human Nature included references to Italian Physician Cesare Lombroso [BEHAVIOR, Oct. 21]. This reminded me of a course in criminal psychology that I took in 1922, for which Lombroso's work L'Homme Criminel was a textbook. One day the professor read to us from the book certain characteristics by which born criminals could be identified, some of which were "profusion of hair on the head, sparsity of hair on the face, and lean jaws constantly in motion," whereupon one of the students called out, "You have just described my wife!" Frank Jost Newson Edmonton, Alta.