I feel compelled to respond to a recent editorial that appeared in The Northern Star. Sending troops into Colombia would be a foolish and grave mistake. Our soldiers do not speak the language, are not familiar with the terrain and very little intelligence information is available. Lastly, it would provoke a huge national outcry against the U.S. owing to the dismal track record the U.S. government has in Latin America.

We definitely must help Colombia because our country, with its insatiable appetite for cocaine, is equally as responsible as the Colombian drug lords for the blood bath that is taking place there.

However, sending U.S. troops is not the answer. That would be as ludicrous as sending troops into Beirut to try to free the hostages.

Karen Kjellquist-Gutierrez

Senior

Foreign language and literature