Rogue States

* Regarding Mike Clough’s “Cozying Up to the World’s Libyas,” Opinion, May 30: Nothing could be poorer strategy than a rigid foreign policy toward so-called “rogue states.” Instead, one must play our reaction to such states by ear. Not to do so is “fundamentally flawed,” to use Clough’s words.

Flexibility is necessary since each country’s leadership differs, and each country’s people’s mood differs and over time each situation differs inherently from other seemingly similar situations. Therefore, inconsistencies are necessary in foreign policies, as national and international conditions and times shift. I respect Clough’s concerns but cannot go along with his conclusions, which seem erroneous to me.

THEODORE C. KENT

Ventura