This is in response to Kazimierz Wiesak's letter ("U.S. spends billions on military readiness," Feb. 3) regarding his opinion on "soft-on-defense liberals." Sure, we may spend a lot more money on defense than every other country in the world, but that doesn't dissolve the fact that many liberals are weak on defense. During the Korean War, Gen. Douglas MacArthur asked President Harry Truman for more military might in Korea to fight the Chinese militants sent into North Korea.

Truman said no, and the Americans had to settle for a draw. During the John Kennedy Administration, nuclear weapons were taken out of Turkey; Kennedy would not allow naval ships to bombard the beaches of Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and he missed an opportunity to blockade the Soviet Union before it even reached Cuba.

Jimmy Carter, president during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, did nothing in response to this invasion other than destroy the hopes and dreams of Olympic athletes.

Not to mention he watched as terrorists held 70 Americans hostage for 444 days in Iran. They weren't returned until Ronald Reagan took over the presidency.

Bill Clinton did little in response to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and the Al-Khobar bombing in Saudi Arabia.

The list goes on and on. Sen. John Kerry himself claimed that he would only respond to a terrorist attack after that attack already took place.