27 SEPTEMBER 2003, Page 38

Blessings of US involvement

From David Watkins

Sir: I don't have the knowledge to dispute Taki's assertion that `FDR provoked a war with Japan because he needed to get involved in the European conflict' (20 September), but if it is true, why does Taki disapprove? It's as certain as anything can be that if the US had not joined in the European conflict, Greece, with the rest of Continental Europe, would still be a part of the empire of Nazi Germany — or, just possibly, of the empire of communist Russia. I see why Patrick Buchanan and Gore Vidal wish the US had never abandoned isolationism, but how can any sane European feel the same way?

David Watkins

Cardiff