It appears, Mr. Lacy, that “bleeding heart liberals” are not the only myopic critics. Your defense of the National Guard activity in Honduras rests on two premises: 1) that the Guard is receiving valuable training “that they can’t receive at home,” road building, and 2) that this is in fact an altruistic attempt by our government to stimulate the economy of Honduras through infrastructural development. This raises three questions. First, does road building constitute military training, or is the National Guard playing a more active role in training and supporting the contras? Second, how will limited access roads from military bases into war zones stimulate the Honduran economy? If we want to develop the Honduran infrastructure, why not fund the building of general service roads by local contractors with local labor and supplies? And third, isn’t National Guard activity in Honduras actually a presidential end-run around guidelines on the committment of U.S. troops in Central America?

Michael C. Hickey

Illinois Taxpayer