BURDENS OF WAR

"If one U.S. peacekeeper were to die, it would not be for Bosnia but for peace throughout the world and America's ability to maintain it." IRVIN GASSENHEIMER JR. Montgomery, Alabama

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IS BOTH THE PRICE America pays [COVER STORIES, Nov. 27] and the benefit Americans derive from our affluence, our size and our strength. Worldwide hunger and poverty, the spread of nuclear weapons and the proliferation of violent conflicts harm us all. Economic development, better education, better control of arms, cooperation among nations and the peaceful resolution of conflicts help Americans enjoy greater prosperity and peace. Positive and active engagement in world affairs is the smart as well as the right thing for the U.S. to do. Yet among developed nations, America has become the least generous provider of either development aid or troops for peacekeeping. Our virtue is fading.

A few of the Founding Fathers, as indicated in your story "Uncertain Beacon," may have expressed isolationist views, but many of the early patriots were vigorous internationalists. Benjamin Franklin said, "Our cause is the cause of all mankind." Thomas Paine, the fervently religious man who gave us the name United States of America, said, "My country is the world." Today that spirit is not just noble; it is imperative. CHARLES F. DAMBACH, Chairman Coalition for American Leadership Abroad Washington

THE CRITICAL QUESTION IS, WOULD SENDing Americans to die in Bosnia have any long-term beneficial effect on the local inhabitants or on the U.S.? If the answer is no, then why are we sending them? There is no military mission or goal to be achieved by American troops in Bosnia, just as there was no mission or goal in Vietnam. The religious hatreds and the war in Bosnia have been ongoing for hundreds of years. Putting American kids in the path of certain death and injury will not accomplish a thing. The most American troops could accomplish would be to halt the genocide to some degree until our troops leave, and they will leave as soon as the public sees them dying on the nightly television news. Then the killing and the hatred will resume again, and American kids will have died for nothing. JOHN B. CURRY III Belchertown, Massachusetts Via E-mail

I AM A WORLD WAR II SURVIVOR WHO WAS drafted at 16 and was decorated with the Iron Cross. I ended up in Hitler's bunker as one of his last couriers. Not until I saw documentaries about the concentration camps and followed the Nuremberg trials did I realize the extent of the Nazi war crimes and recognize there were millions of innocent victims. We should not ask if Bosnia is worth dying for, but instead ask if thousands of innocent people, mostly women and children, are worth protecting. I wish that I had had the chance of putting my life on the line as a peacekeeper instead of being forced to fight for a dictator who turned out to be one of the biggest mass murderers of all time. ARMIN DIETER LEHMANN Waldport, Oregon

YOUR COVER OF THE YOUNG SOLDIER with the question "Is Bosnia Worth Dying For?" was haunting. As a Vietnam veteran and Native American, I can say a triple "Hell, no." To send fine young people into a horrendous mess to die in a pool of their own blood is not to be excused. Your articles were great, but they failed to convey the worry we older soldiers have for the well-being of our younger soldier brothers and sisters. Congress and the President: Don't waste their young lives! GARY J. VACHON Peoria, Illinois

TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, I ANSWERED THE call of my nation and spent a year in a foreign country we defended that was not worth dying for. More than 58,000 of our nation's soldiers laid down their life for their country in that war. Today I am an active-ready reservist subject to being called to keep the peace in Bosnia. Again I will serve, and I am willing to put my life on the line for the country. When you put on the military uniform, you do not question your duty; you perform it to your best ability. It does not matter what color hat you wear so long as Old Glory is etched on your heart. JOE VANCE SMITH Hughes Springs, Texas Via E-mail

WHEN I SAW THE PICTURE OF MY cousin Andrew Hawley on your cover, I was reminded of the situation in which my grandfather (Trooper Hawley's great-grandfather) was placed during the early years of this century. The perceived threat was in the Philippines, and a Republican President, wielding a "big stick," wanted to ensure peace and maintain American interests. Some have called the Aguinaldo Philippine insurrection and its aftermath America's first Vietnam. I guess things really never change over the course of a century. STEVE ARMSTRONG Lincolnshire, Illinois Via E-mail

HELPING TO ENFORCE AN AMERICAN-inspired peace agreement that could effectively end one of the century's most brutal conflicts is worth taking risks for. Proponents of the mission should be forthcoming concerning the expected problems. Congress must then make an honest assessment to ensure that the mission is workable, manageable and can be safely terminated before giving its consent for deployment. That is all we in the military can reasonably ask of our national leaders. (SFC) JAMES M. WHITE U.S.A. Fort Lee, Virginia

THE U.S. MILITARY SHOULD NOT BE IN combat again in Europe, where large, rich, powerful nations watch the grim and bloody theater from their couches. MIKLOS EMHECHT North York, Canada

ALONG WITH THE NOV. 27 ISSUE OF TIME, I received my son's draft-registration form. As I gazed at the young soldier on the cover and took in that haunting question ''Is Bosnia Worth Dying For?'' I saw my own son's face, and my mind raced back a quarter-century to the battlefields of Vietnam. As a disabled veteran, I still see the faces of my dead friends. I still feel the pain of my wounds. I suffer as tourists visit Ho Chi Minh City. Will the madness ever end? I am confident that I speak for millions when I answer the question "Is Bosnia worth dying for?" with a defiant no! DENNIS DIFOLCO Staten Island, New York

BEFORE AMERICANS GO RIDING OFF TO Bosnia John Wayne--style, we need to answer a couple of questions. With no clear-cut definition of the mission, how can we decide at what point it is successful? If there are no vital U.S. interests, why are we going? HOWARD SCULTHORPE Jekyll Island, Georgia

THE U.S. HAS NO BUSINESS IN BOSNIA. Americans say they need to balance the budget. I don't know how the U.S. can balance the budget if it continues to play the role of the world's police force. How much did it cost the American people to "save'' Haiti? How much will it cost the American people to save Bosnia? The problem is not worth the price of one single American life. ROBERT W. CHAMBERS Killeen, Texas Via E-mail

THERE ARE COUNTLESS REASONS WHY America has to get involved in the Bosnian conflict, and one that stands out is the magnitude of the problem America will have to deal with next year if it does not get involved now. CELIK PARKAN Hong Kong

THE SITUATION IN BOSNIA IS A RELIGIOUS war and has no solution; therefore we solve nothing by sending troops. It makes me very sad to see us, once again, getting involved in such a situation. Unless conditions change and a real hope for a solution exists, Bosnia is not worth one American life. F. SCOTT BASSETT Lakeland, Florida Via E-mail

IT IS INDEED UNFORTUNATE THAT THE present Administration is committed to "selling" this action to the American people. If Clinton is committed to it, he should lead the troops on the front line and provide the military service he so ably shirked during the Vietnam War. JOHN H. HILDRETH Knoxville, Tennessee

CORRECTION

IN THE CHART "THE WAR'S TOLL," WHICH accompanied our story on Bosnia [DIPLOMACY, Dec. 4], the estimated number of casualties on all sides of the war should have been 35,000, not 3,500.

YET ANOTHER 007

CINEMA CRITIC RICHARD SCHICKEL SEEMS eloquently unable to enjoy the hazards of adult reality: nothing is ever the same. Even 007 [CINEMA, Nov. 27] keeps growing beyond recognition. However, for such a traumatic experience, there is instant relief: rent one of the old Bond movies. For adults only: go "eye" Bond's latest exhilarating moments of "golden," unpretentious entertainment. DAG WAAGNES Sandefjord, Norway

YOUR MOVIE REVIEWER'S 007 REFLECTions on Goldeneye, "Shaky, Not Stirring,'' were fine as far as they went, although I wish people would stop whining for the return of actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore, who are too old for the part. Nobody currently acting could do the role better than Pierce Brosnan. Wake up, guys! This is what all of us women want to see, and we'll keep on watching Brosnan as long as he shows up on the screen. PHYLLIS HUMPHREY Oceanside, Californi

SAVORING KEILLOR'S THANKSGIVING

I SUPPOSE IT'S ALMOST AS NOBLE TO LIVE in Minnesota as it is to live in Wisconsin [ESSAY, Nov. 27]. Every word of Garrison Keillor's Thanksgiving offering was a treasure. What a relief to be reminded that the hype can only get to you if you let it. I will pay attention and be joyful to the funny, genuine parts of life that serve as reminders of what is right in front of me--the beauty of the accepted moment. Thank you, Garrison, for conveying the message of a holiday not gone astray. COLLEEN ALLGOOD Rhinelander, Wisconsin

I'M OUTRAGED AT YOUR PRINTING OF Keillor's piece on Thanksgiving. I almost choked to death while eating my jellied cranberry sauce. Garrison cooked a delightful stuffing of philosophical musings, corn-pone anecdotes and downright slapstick jokes. A milestone hoot. PAT STEPHENSON Prairie Village, Kansas

I AM THANKFUL FOR KEILLOR. IS IT TOO late for a presidential run? He doesn't have to win. Just remind us all of what's important along the way. We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll find some truth, and maybe we'll begin to find our way home. CRAIG J. BERRY Westport, Connecticut