Letters, Oct. 22, 1979

Kissinger

To the Editors:

At last we have in Henry Kissinger's White House Years [Oct. 1] a political memoir of world events for the lay person. The excerpt, void of political jargon, punctuated by imagery and vivid characterizations of political figures, moves along like a well-written novel. I only wish my college history textbooks were written in this fashion. Who says that past political events have to be flat and dry?

John Brown

Willingboro, N.J.

Bravo for the wealth of insights in Mr. Kissinger's excerpts. Perhaps I am a typical American who "tends to see international relations in terms of the play of individual personalities," but I wish that Mr. Kissinger would write some of the same type of clear and precise in-depth reviews of world leaders and geopolitical situations on some sort of regular basis.

James W. Allen

Port Orange, Fla.

Even though I am an old Nixon hater, I am appalled at Kissinger's snide and demeaning comments concerning Nixon's private side. While Nixon was President, Kissinger enjoyed all the benefits of power and prestige, as he still does by writing about his White House days; yet now that Nixon is in disgrace, Kissinger administers low blows.

Henry Cabrera

San Francisco

I give up! Who's on the cover of this week's edition?

Don Klein

Vero Beach, Fla.

The pale colors in the portrait of Kissinger on the cover make him look pallid and sickly. You probably chose it thinking the glum look appropriate to the gravity of his memoirs.

On the other hand, the photograph inside is a beauty. The colors are strong and vibrant, just like the man. He looks you straight in the eye and holds your interest. There is a quiet confidence and a seriousness softened by a touch of sadness in his expression. It would have made a great cover.

Masako Y. Lounsbury

East Haven, Conn.

Dealing with Dictators

Strobe Talbott's cynical Essay on "The Dilemma of Dealing with Dictators" [Sept. 24] clearly shows why we are so hated among the Third World nations. Talbott spends all his time telling us which despots we should back and which we should discard, according to our best interests. When a tyrant is no longer useful to us, we should invoke human rights. Only in the last two lines of his Essay does Talbott remember that the people in the distressed countries should have something to say about their own destiny.

Philip Angeles

Pensacola, Fla.

Contrary to Kissinger's pragmatic approach, I think the current Administration's consideration of human rights as a foreign policy is a growing force. Our degree of support for a particular government depends more and more upon its consideration of human rights rather than the type of government.

Bob Isaac

Lakeport, Calif.

It is not the collapse of the Somoza and Pahlavi regimes but their establishment with more than just a little help from official U.S. clandestine departments that should shame us.

Tord Friiso Denver