Zinn on war.

• Author: Astin, Alexander W.
• Position: Letter to the editor

I have always been a huge fan of Howard Zinn's, and I applaud the premise of his July article, "Just Cause Does Not Equal Just War." But he undermines his argument by what he has to say about World War II.

It is at least plausible that the United States might have had it within its power to save most of those killed in the Revolutionary and Civil wars by finding alternatives to war.

But the fifty million World War II dead that he cites were not primarily the result of our entry into that war.

Most of the Russians, Jews, and other Europeans most certainly would have died anyway if we had decided not to fight in Europe. We no doubt added to the carnage, but for Zinn to imply that it might have been within our power to keep most of these people alive is absurd.

If Zinn wants to suggest that U.S. involvement in World War II might not have been "just," then he owes it to his readers to spell out some alternative courses of action and show why the overall result could have been better.

Alexander W. Astin

Los Angeles, California

As much as I'm in accordance with the spirit of Howard Zinn's essay, I must call into question one assertion therein. Zinn states, "Canada is independent of England, isn't it?" Actually, it isn't, as evidenced by recent events in Canada's parliament.

In December 2008, conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper was facing a confidence vote that likely would have removed him from power. The Governor General of Canada (who answers only to the Queen of England) approved Harper's request to "prorogue" parliament, effectively dissolving the legislative body and granting Harper several weeks in which to run an expensive negative PR campaign discrediting the coalition of opposition parties who were seeking the confidence vote.

Such monarchial meddling effectively nullified the will of Canada's citizens.

Bob Soper

via e-mail

I love Howard Zinn's study about how you justify a "just" war. We keep hearing there have always been and always will be wars.

Why is war inevitable? Are humans really that dumb? Can't we evolve one little step further?

Roberta Crawford Morency

North Palm Beach, Florida

I enjoy Howard Zinn, and he made a lot of good points in his article. However, he makes war seem too simple.

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