Professor Desmond Dinan, George Mason University and son-in-law of Delmar friends, in his "2004 Europe Recast-A History of European Union" states that "Marshall aid helped close the dollar gap" and encouraged "countries of Europe ... through a joint organization to exert common efforts." More than four decades later, this led to the European Union.

A dramatic revision in our martial policies and budgets is long overdue. According to the May 29 Times Union's front page account of "Anger, worry at the Iraq war on rise," 57 percent of Americans say they are angry, nearly double the figure in March 2003. This anger is caused by: increased terrorist threat, continuing casualties "when we truly don't know the reason behind it" (many believe it to be the President's war obsession); trying to Americanize a culture that doesn't want to be; and abuse of prisoners.

Without delay, we must concentrate on a major new "Marshall Plan" for the Middle East through United Nations' engineers and other technical advisers recruited from Arab and European countries.

I know it can work based on my experience as public administration adviser to the prime minister of Iran from 1957 to 1960. I was one of a team of more than 20 under President Truman's "Point 4 Program." U.N. representatives, U.S. advisers, and advisers from other countries were enthusiastically welcomed in selected Middle East and other developing nations. Water supplies, irrigation systems, schools and government reform were early projects.

With increasing support from both political parties, Point 4 was renamed Agency for International Development and made permanent. Many European and Asian countries had enlarged their own programs in addition to supporting the U.N.'s. With this highly successful experience, all that is now lacking is vision and strong leadership. Let's urge our President to change from endless wars to development aid and be the first to call on the U.N. to act in the spirit of the Marshall Plan.

RICHARD H. MATTOX

Emeritus Professor

The Sage Colleges

Albany