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Your report may have told us more about America than about Soros the man. For decades now, other luminaries have been ignored, even ridiculed, for noting the corrosive effects of America's disastrous war on drugs--the waste of our resources on "crimes" that are merely consensual pleasures, the costly incarceration of millions of harmless Americans, the corruption of police departments by asset-forfeiture programs. If only we would remember that in America money talks and if only we would listen to a person with a pile of it, we might save trillions of dollars and avoid much agony. Now we know how to create change: get a renegade billionaire to back your cause! DAN FURST Honolulu
Without people like Soros to fund a return to sanity, our bigoted and draconian drug laws will continue to result in the unchallenged persecution of millions of peaceful Americans. CLARK BATTLE Secane, Pa.
POLICEMEN BEHAVING BADLY
Your article on police brutality [NATION, Sept. 1] failed to mention one crucial, complicating fact of police work: the character of criminals. Because law-enforcement officers routinely deal with people who are brutal and do not respond to sweet persuasion, the police must use force. Sadly, the only logic many criminals understand is the big stick. Thus to handcuff the police is to liberate the thug. Of course, there is no excuse for the extreme brutalization of a Haitian immigrant at Brooklyn's 70th Precinct, but a citizen like me has far more chance of being viciously attacked by a hoodlum than by a rogue cop. I would rather take the risk and let the police make tough decisions. I trust the cops more than the crooks. JOHN B. CARPENTER Vernon Hills, Ill.
If what retired police chief Joseph McNamara says is true, then I'm more frightened than sick. McNamara stated, "The message of politicians to police that they are soldiers in a war may be driving these angry and violent expressions of contempt. It is common in war to dehumanize the enemy. And all wars produce atrocities." If that's what police officers think, it's no wonder that some are seduced by the power a police badge can bring. Officers who adhere to that sort of philosophy end up creating wars of their own where there were none before. I have enormous respect for police officers, but an example should be made of those who harbor racist sentiments. Let them fight the war from the cold comfort of a jail cell. LARA PRYCE New York City
If cops think they are in a war, as McNamara said, perhaps they should adopt some of the military's doctrine. Even occupying armies must know the difference between friends and enemies. Cops who view communities in which they serve as "the bush" and its residents as the enemy are not likely to gather intelligence and arrest the most serious criminals. Minorities in inner cities have a serious stake in eradicating drugs and guns. However, they will not support police operations if they feel that most cops are not serious professionals but hostile, narrow-minded thrill seekers. JOSEPH BALANCIER JR. Marina, Calif.
LAND-MINE CRUSADE