I WOULD like to respond to the letter from David Kemp (July 23). I would hardly describe the USA as committing "Terrorist activities".

Far from it, the US defends against terrorists. Unfortunately, in that defence, sometimes innocent people are killed. It's regrettable, but a fact of war.

As for Vietnam, that was a long time ago. A lot has been learned since that war. It was a war fought by young, naive people, ill prepared for what greeted them in Vietnam. They fought a war that was doomed to never be won. They fought because their government sent them. They fought despite the fact that their countrymen protested against them. Most were traumatized by what they saw and did, for life. Atrocities were committed on both sides, that doesn't excuse it, but war is not pretty. It's not sensitive or polite, it's not kind or forgiving. War is death, destruction, kill or be killed.

Deborah Schlemer

USA