Once again, the Post brought us an article heavy on quotes from those who characterize the recent civil war in the Congo as a futile venture that did little to end that nation's troubles.

We in the United States are hardly in a position to rush to judgment. Our own civil war was far bloodier and longer than the recent one in the Congo. Yet for decades after it ended, the terrorism of the Klan and their ilk (our own Hutus) was unchecked in the secessionist region.

The future may well show that the blood and the passion of the Congolese was spent uselessly. But it is unfair to jump to that conclusion this soon. And it is particularly ugly when the dismissal comes from the same capital that bankrolled Mobutu's tyranny for decades.

Sincerely

Larry Yates