Noriega Trial

As I understand it, Manuel Noriega is on trial in this country because he was involved in the Colombian drug trade that eventually brought drugs to our shores and into our communities, but neither Presidents Reagan nor Bush is on trial, though each approved covert and at times illegal CIA operations that used drugs and associated illegal activities as a means to “democratic” ends but which, in the process, brought drugs to our streets.

In short, we are told by our government that Noriega did it for personal profit and is a bad man, whereas Reagan and Bush did it for political profit, i.e., the greatest good for the greatest number--you and me--and are good men. The fact that lives were destroyed, I suppose, is irrelevant.

However, given the fact that we are a moral and law-abiding nation that sets itself above all other nations and points with unabashed pride to its unparalleled legal system and rule of law, it would seem to me only right and just that all three--Reagan, Bush and Noriega--ought to be tried together because their crimes against humanity are the same.

PAUL A. CAVALLO, Ramona