In the letter, "OK, on this point, at least, Obama's right," (Oct. 13), the author tips his hat to Obama for claiming that "When trouble comes up anywhere in the world, when the Philippines is devastated by a typhoon, when Haiti is crippled by earthquake, they don't call Beijing, they don't call Moscow. They call us."

That is basically nonsense. When natural disasters strike around the world, those in need call anyone and everyone. Many of the entities they call are not nations at all; they call Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Relief and the U.N. They call lots of nations, and lots of nations respond.

What our president announced in that speech was an air war in the Mideast. There, the United States can fairly claim world primacy; we truly have no rival when it comes to raining death down from the sky in that region.

I can't claim the letter writer's pedigree as a long-time Obama opponent. Nor can I claim to feel any great thrill of pride upon learning that we will be continuing to blow things up in the Mideast for years or generations to come.