True Democracy in Angola

Three facts were conveniently ignored in the Opinion page article "Savimbi Is Not to Blame For Angola's Trouble," Nov. 16. First, in framing the struggle as a "former Leninist regime" vs. a "former Western-backed resistance movement," the authors ignore the obvious fact that the brutal South Africa apartheid regime along with the Reagan administration were the key suppliers of Jonas Savimbi's UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) contra forces.

Second, as was the pattern in "low-intensity warfare" waged by contra forces in Nicaragua and in southern Africa, UNITA's main role was to make the Angolan economy a disaster through UNITA attacks on the civilian population which prompted sizable security expenditures by the Angolan government.

And third, most United Nations observers in Angola during the recent election pronounced these elections generally fair and democratic. It is time to embrace true democracy even if some multinational corporations and geopolitical strategists might be unhappy with the results. Bruce Campbell, Los Angeles The survey says... media are biased

An item in the "Transition Notebook," Nov. 16, referred to a survey showing that President-elect Clinton and Ross Perot received more favorable coverage about the presidential debates than did President Bush. The survey shows that the press was "riddled with biased writing."

Debate viewers must have been biased as well. Polls showed that viewers thought Messrs. Clinton and Perot performed better than Mr. Bush in the debates. Bush did not come off well in the debates, substantively or politically, and it would be biased reporting for the press to pretend otherwise. Jim Naureckas, New York, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting Home Forum page poetry

I am always happy when the Monitor prints poetry that is what I would like to write myself. The three poems on the Home Forum page, "Junkyard Thoughts," "Humming Birds," and "Storm Coming," Nov. 13, are poems drawn from everyday experiences and written with freshness and insight that give them beauty and depth. Jean W. Trigg, Henderson, Ky.