Letter: Don't let CIA run Afghan war

The article "Sources: CIA may run Afghan War" [News, March 4] recalls a reverse strategy taken during the U.S. war in Indochina. In that bloody war, the CIA ran things until President Lyndon Johnson realized the war's futility. He went to Congress, had the war transferred from the CIA to the Defense Department, and got the power to enlarge it by sending in the Marines.

Unfortunately, the leaders of this country don't seem to learn from mistakes; others pay the price of their folly. War should be the last resort of a decent people; the only justification for it is as defense against an aggressor.