Restoration of Emir’s Palace

I would like to ask why the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is being asked to help “supervise the sumptuous restoration of apartments in the Bayan Palace, the new home and offices of Kuwait’s emir and crown prince” (front page, March 19).

While work goes on to ensure that Kuwait’s enormously wealthy emir has a place to live that is suitable to his immense fortune, The Times reports also on that country’s badly damaged electricity and water systems which, if Americans must be used, could better benefit from the engineers’ expertise.

GABRIEL FURLONG, Carson