To the editor: I found two articles in the June 22 edition of the Los Angeles Times of particular interest. On Page A4, there is a description of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s strategy to reduce the flow of fentanyl into the United States (“Staggering amounts of fentanyl hit streets as the DEA watched and took no action, records show,” June 22). It involves refraining from seizing shipments entering the States in the hopes of bringing bigger criminal cases against traffickers. The reporters display a somewhat critical analysis of the approach but, for the time being, let’s say there is at least a strategy.
On Page A7 is a report on another attack on alleged narcoterrorists (“U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat kills 2, leaves 6 survivors in the Caribbean,” June 22). This latest attack brings the number of people killed in boat strikes since September to 210. The military provided no evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.
So, on the one hand, we have a strategy that allows tons of fentanyl to enter the United States unimpeded and, on the other hand, we have a bully president who flexes his muscles by killing 210 people with little evidence a crime has been committed. I guess that’s what happens when we elect a president who has a proven track record of business failures as a result of making decisions based seemingly on gut feelings.
Doug Emerson, Camarillo