War and death and Woody Allen

Re “Woody Allen’s History Goes Nowhere,” Commentary, July 8

David Gelernter describes Woody Allen as a celebrity Jewish intellectual who describes history as a series of tit-for-tat killings that have no meaning. This merely confirms my long-held belief that Allen is a lightweight pseudo-intellectual who has a huge claque, nothing more complicated than that.

Norbert E. Talbert

Diamond Bar

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Gelernter is absolutely right when he states that Allen’s view of war is more popular with intellectuals worldwide than Natan Sharansky’s. Allen’s view is also more popular with citizens worldwide.

They view war as an impractical and outdated solution to modern conflicts. Modern warfare has become increasingly inefficient. It does not punish the perpetrators but innocent noncombatants. Citizens of the world feel it is time for nations -- especially the U.S. -- to step out of the cycle of war that plagues our planet.

Gelernter contradicts himself. While approving of Sharansky’s argument for military battle, he praises those whose struggle brought down the Soviet Union. He fails to note that they did so not with military action, but with video cameras and the Internet. With all our high-tech weapons and mass murder, we failed in Vietnam as we are failing in Iraq. What the world needs now is more intelligence, not less.

William DuBay

Costa Mesa