Letters

THE PRESIDENT'S CRISES

"If Iraq's close neighbors aren't that concerned about the threat of biological or chemical weapons, maybe we shouldn't be either." SCOTT FIESTHUMEL Utica, N.Y.

We have a President who is not free to focus fully upon complicated issues and govern this nation during a crisis like the one with Iraq [CLINTON'S CRISES, March 2]. He has been sacrificed by a judiciary bowing to political and prurient interest. America's hard-won heritage of freedom and privacy has been permanently excised, and there has been a rebirth of the Inquisition by an obviously partisan prosecutor. KATHLEEN NELSON Tucson, Ariz.

We should be proud of President Clinton and his many accomplishments in trying to keep the world at peace. He has supervised the best economy in decades and tried to reduce crime, cut welfare rolls, curb unemployment and improve education. Shame on those who have made his time in office unbearable! MARGOT HOYLEN Deming, N.M.

A simple solution to ensure Saddam Hussein's compliance with unfettered U.N. inspections: if he denies access to a suspicious site, bomb that spot. WILLIAM KOSTER Bedford, Mass.

I don't want my tax dollars used to murder Iraqi children, women and men. It is wrong to kill innocent people because of one evil person, Saddam. CHIH-CHANG CHU Ithaca, N.Y.

I remember British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's return from meeting with Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1938. Chamberlain said there would be "peace for our time." And in 1939 Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began. Let us remember why we have arrived at this point with Iraq. It is because Saddam and his clique have not kept their side of the bargain reached after the Gulf War. A signature on a piece of paper is meaningless. What matters is the character of the person signing it. History repeats itself. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan seems as naive to me as Chamberlain. Annan came back from Baghdad with a worthless piece of paper. PAUL MONTAGUE Sydney

Let's leave Saddam to stew in his own juice, just making sure that he knows that using his weapons will result in certain annihilation. Keep the sanctions in place. There's lots we can do short of war to make Saddam impotent. J. PAUL EVERETT Shelton, Wash.

A NONMEETING OF MINDS

The students at the Ohio State University town meeting should be thoroughly ashamed of their actions [CLINTON'S CRISES, March 2]. High officers of government, like the Secretaries of State and Defense, deserve to be treated with respect. Has common courtesy disappeared from our fast-paced society? What happened at the meeting was not free speech; it was coarse brutality of the lowest type. The president of the university and a spokesperson for the students should apologize for this incident. LEE D. MACKEY Rutledge, Mo.

Did administration officials expect the students to sit around like good little children, speaking only when spoken to, asking polite questions? I'm happy those who attended the meeting in Columbus showed that students won't sit by quietly when given the opportunity to voice opinions. Government officials wanted an open forum. They got it. LORI ELLMANN, student University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wis.

I watched the Ohio town meeting live on television and saw it differently from the way you reported it, and so did all my friends. There were perhaps a dozen rude, nihilistic hecklers with no concern for courtesy, order and civility, and we thought they needed to be forcibly removed. Yet instead of focusing on audience support for Secretary Madeleine Albright and applause for her admonition that the rest of the audience wanted to hear what the Administration officials had to say, the American media widely broadcast the protests in 60-second sound bites. I live close to Saddam's borders, and he worries me very much. He is clearly irrational, irresponsible and dangerous. He is driven only by greed and impulse and has no regard for humanity. That was Albright's message, and it was the truth. DANA SAUR Bucharest

THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR'S ROLE

It is sad to see top politicians, lawyers and media people blame the function of a special prosecutor for the current presidential scandal [CLINTON'S CRISES, March 2]. The special prosecutor's role is to determine the truth, with no interference from any person, not even the President. Elected representatives, Bill Clinton and every other American ought to proclaim, "Regardless of the outcome, we have the best system in the world." DON BRANDON Sherwood Park, Alta.

Perhaps if we ignored Clinton's dalliances and instead concentrated on crime, education and health--the important issues--we could all grow up. AARON LUMLEY Dartmouth, England

I can't believe there is so much support for Clinton. People are missing the entire point of Kenneth Starr's investigation: to find out if there was perjury or suborning of perjury by the President. It has nothing to do with Clinton's having sex outside his marriage. Defense of Clinton is premature. Let the investigation determine whether or not he committed a federal offense and if he lied. Americans can withstand quite a bit of nonsense and double-talk from their leaders, but I believe they will not stand for a bald-faced lie. I encourage people to hold in check their support of the President until all the facts are known. JIM BURT Meriden, Conn.

Help! Somebody call the exorcist! It seems that Starr is possessed by Joseph McCarthy's malevolent spirit. Come election time, the political parties had better scour the countryside for monasteries. Only a monk with an interest in politics will do as a candidate. GERA KORTE Kapaa, Hawaii

KEEPING A CONFIDENCE

Starr may have been able to force Monica Lewinsky's mother to testify about her daughter's activities [NATION, Feb. 23], but he could chain me to a wall in the deepest dungeon with rats nibbling at my feet and I would never divulge what my daughter told me in confidence. In Nazi Germany children were encouraged to squeal on their parents. Is this what we have sunk to? HARRIETT SCHUTKIN Fox Point, Wis.

THE FLU HUNTERS

Your excellent detective story about the emergence of avian flu [MEDICINE, Feb. 23] was an important reminder that the most threatening bioterrorist may not be a belligerent Iraqi, a lunatic cult or a white-supremacist group but nature itself. Without warning and with little provocation, nature can deploy an army of rats and mice and an air force of birds and stealthy bats to deliver a swarm of deadly new viruses. All we can do is react to the first casualties of such an attack. EDWARD MCSWEEGAN Crofton, Md.

Rather than immunize humans with entirely new vaccines, which are difficult to manufacture and whose use would be economically feasible only in the developed world, it may be more cost effective to immunize poultry and swine against avian and swine (and possibly human) H and N flu antigens to eliminate the reservoirs for antigenic reassortment and thus 1918-type epidemics. ROY CURTISS III, Professor of Biology Washington University St. Louis, Mo.

RIGHT COURSE FOR THE DIGEST

The board of directors of Reader's Digest [BUSINESS, March 2] knows Wall Street wants action. That is why it acted decisively last August, when it determined that the best way to restore shareholder value was to change management, revitalize the company and position it for future growth. The board determined that George Grune was singularly well qualified to return as CEO, get the company refocused and lead a turnaround while the search for his successor progressed. People who understand publishing and direct-mail marketing know it is a business with a long lead time, not one for those who insist on instant gratification. We are confident the company is on the right course. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Reader's Digest Association, Inc. Pleasantville, N.Y.

THE FATE OF ICE BABIES

Your report on the birth of babies from long-frozen embryos [SCIENCE, March 2] may lead readers to think that in-vitro-fertilization clinics are less than forthcoming to parents about the fate of unused embryos. In IVF clinics, all of a patient's embryos are accounted for. The truly pressing issue surrounding frozen embryos is abandonment. IVF clinics throughout the world often become the guardians of unclaimed frozen embryos because couples lose contact with the lab either by choice or by not supplying forwarding addresses. Clinics must then decide whether to destroy the embryos after a certain period of time or keep them frozen indefinitely. Without a specific, notarized directive, IVF clinics are loath to destroy these "orphan" embryos. And although they can be long frozen, as your story indicated, they are certainly not "lost." DAVID HILL, IVF Laboratory Director Center for Reproductive Medicine Century City Hospital Los Angeles