Doubt on UN's 'Zionism' Vote

In the editorial "UN and the Mideast," Dec. 19, the United Nations resolution of 1975 "equating Zionism with racism" is referred to as the "offspring of a marriage between Arab rejectionism and Soviet-bloc opportunism ... another cold-war relic, rightly discarded."

Apparently a sufficient majority of the UN, not just Soviet-bloc and Arab rejectionist states, caused the passage of that resolution. The editorial, along with other media data I've seen or heard, does not say what changes have been effected in Israel since 1975 that would justify repealing the resolution. The implication that the resolution is a "cold-war relic" just won't fly. William V. Kelly, Austin, Texas Fairness and the capital-gains tax

The article "Capital-Gains Tax Rises to a Boil in US Capital," Dec. 18, discusses the tax in terms of fairness. However, the present capital-gains tax is blatantly dishonest, far beyond the matter of fairness. It taxes people for transactions which in real terms (corrected for inflation) have resulted in actual capital losses, not capital gains.

Any change in the capital-gains tax should at least remove this egregious dishonesty by indexing capital gains to inflation. David P. Herron, Atherton, Calif. Immigration issues

Regarding the article "Immigration Joins List of '92 Issues," Dec. 17: The controversy over immigration is misplaced. It's not that the US can't accommodate a large number of newcomers, nor that they won't become excellent citizens over time. Rather, it's the fact that the present trend of 1 million immigrants per year combined with our already high birth rate projects a doubling of our population by 2080. And this does not fully take into account Mexico's explosive growth and its pressures on our border .

Either way, the effect on our environment of all those people living a US lifestyle would be ruinous. Marvin Gregory, Renton, Wash. Perspective on the Persian Gulf war

The interview with the presidential pastor in the article "Bush's Pastor Looks Back at Gulf," Nov. 27, helps to clear the air by placing the Persian Gulf war in correct perspective.

Too many Americans have remained insensitive to the huge Iraqi death toll. Any "new world order" must mean the lawful shared solution of the world's problems by its nations, and not a power ploy of American gamesmanship.

Bishop Edmond Browning states that part of the reason the US went to war was to test its weapons. It should be added that the testing laboratory was also a media showcase for prospective buyers of such weaponry. David Lawson, Xian, Shaanxi, China