Clinton and Haiti

President Clinton’s Haiti policy was predicated chiefly on uncontrolled Haitian immigration into Florida. Now with the departures of Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras and his gang, the people of Haiti will no longer feel compelled to flee their country for the U.S. In recent days, it has been announced that those Haitians at Guantanamo will be returning to their native land. Day by day, it is beginning to look like the President’s policy was the wise and correct thing to do in spite of all the naysayers.

BOB TEIGAN

Toluca Lake

* Your excellent editorial (Oct. 10) praises those involved in the American mission in Haiti, but glaringly omits one major commendation: not a word of praise for the commander in chief. Et tu , Times?

STANLEY E. TOBIN

Los Angeles

* Loathing the military is one thing. But turning our men and women of the military into social workers and teachers is quite another! Obviously there were no courses in commander in chief at Oxford!

JEANO BAILARD

Carpinteria

* As I see it, the main difficulty in implementing the Clinton plan for Haiti lies in making it clear to the Haitians just how democracy works.

Taking the American system as a prototype, we must pound it into the impoverished Haitian’s head that the morally repugnant elite must continue to run the country because they have the most money to give the candidates in free and open elections. Isn’t that the American way?

RICHARD M. POWELL

Los Angeles

* After everything is said and done, let’s remember that “it is better to have a bad peace, than a good war.”

JUAN M. SANCHEZ-CHEW

Simi Valley