Letters to the Editor

Gene Stackhouse writes, "In a free society dedicated to individual liberty, the government has no right to tell people what they can own or what they can buy and sell" (Letters, April 28).

Really? Can I own a pride of white lions and keep them in my backyard? Can I buy enough cocaine to fill my swimming pool? Can I sell uranium to terrorists?

Get real. "A free society dedicated to individual liberty" is not synonymous with "total anarchy." In any civilized society, freedoms must be balanced against the safety and security of its citizens. Why would any sane, law-abiding person need more than one gun a month? That's 12 guns a year. What are you planning to do with all those guns? You have only two hands to shoot with.

We enjoy a tremendous amount of freedom in the United States; just ask the many refugees from less-free parts of the world who seek asylum here every year. Rather than whining about utterly reasonable restrictions, we should be proud and thankful for the freedoms we have.

Liza DiMino

Morrisville

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I agree that former President Jimmy Carter may not have accomplished much in his informal, private talks with Hamas ("Carter should stay home," April 28), but that's compared with what? What exactly has the Bush administration accomplished in the last seven-plus years that it has any business criticizing the former president?

Richmond L. Gardner

Horsham

Nothing is more important to Merck than the quality and safety of our medicines and vaccines. We take our responsibility to manufacture these products for the public very seriously. We know that people - including our own families - count on them to be safe and effective. We settle for nothing less.

The article "FDA: Problems at Merck's vaccine plant" (Inquirer, April 24) does a disservice to public health by inappropriately characterizing a review process that has not yet been completed. Regulatory agencies around the world conduct regular inspections of our facilities, as they do with all pharmaceutical companies. We are committed to fully addressing each FDA observation to the agency's satisfaction. We want to stress that Merck does not distribute contaminated products.

We also object to your article's implication that issues raised in the FDA report may have been due to our efforts to become more efficient. Merck introduced four new vaccines in the last three years. To do so, we significantly increased staffing, invested heavily in new equipment and buildings as well as employee training while continuously enhancing quality systems.

Merck now makes vaccines for 11 of the 17 diseases for which the CDC recommends vaccines. We are proud of our legacy and leadership in vaccines, and efficiency considerations will never compromise our commitment to quality and safety.

John T. McCubbins

Senior vice president

Global Vaccine Manufacturing and West Point Operations

Merck & Co. Inc.

West Point, Pa.

Accusations of a Syrian nuclear program appear to bear out hard-liners in the Bush administration ("U.S.: N. Korea worked on Syria reactor," April 25). The construction of a facility close to the Iraqi border under mysterious circumstances and its destruction last September would make a novelist envious.

Before this becomes the raison d'etre for another preemptive war, Congress should take a hard look at the situation. If the plant was started in 2001, why did it take so long for the White House to denounce its purpose? Given the intense surveillance of Syria by U.S. and Israeli intelligence, how did Damascus expect to keep this a secret? With unrelenting American pressure and the threat of regime change, would a cautious President Bashar al-Assad invite military action by going nuclear?

Nonproliferation is a worthy goal. Before we take the high moral ground, however, it would enhance our international support and standing if we did something about the only Mideast country that has a nuclear arsenal and the necessary delivery systems: Israel. Without universal compliance, America's call for a nuclear-free Middle East smacks of hypocrisy.

Joseph Elias

Wilkes-Barre

» READ MORE: dmaak@msn.com