On "Civilization," the CIA, etc.

A CIVILIZED PASTIME

REGARDING Victorino Matus's "'Civilization' and Its Contents" (Feb. 26): I've loved Sid Meier's games for a very long time (ever since playing his Silent Service submarine simulator--maybe my favorite Christmas present ever--for endless hours when it came out), and I appreciated getting to know a little more about where Sid's sensibilities come from. I, too, have become a fan of Guitar Hero, as I proudly watch my sons play the game. I would call this a "useful" enterprise; or as the Germans might call it, Spieltrieb--the "work" that is carried out while we are at play.

ALLAN COLLISTER
Berkeley, Calif.

I AM WELL OVER 60 and have been playing Civilization, or "Civ," for 10 years. It is my all-time favorite! I even enjoy the graphics when I get blown to hell!

ROD STANTON
Cerritos, Calif.

LANGLEY'S LIMITS?

MICHAEL RUBIN's "Privatize the CIA" (Feb. 5) makes some intriguing points, but it should be viewed in light of what it is--a theoretical piece by an academician.

Our first experience with a formalized American intelligence service was under the Lincoln administration. It was a private sector venture and a horrible failure. The Pinkerton Agency not only failed to provide accurate intelligence on what was essentially a domestic enemy, the Confederacy, but it also utterly failed to protect the president on the night of his assassination.

As for today's challenges, I (a former CIA case officer) can visualize a myriad of private sector contractors, all competing against each other with the White House on their version of "ground truth" in our confusing modern world. No thanks. Our naive and myopic approach to intelligence, born out of our Pilgrim/Puritan/Shaker/Quaker heritage, is enough of a burden to bear without superimposing a layer of private sector lobbying and competition over the top.

WAYNE E. LONG
Nairobi, Kenya

MICHAEL RUBIN RESPONDS: Wayne E. Long too readily dismisses outside-the-box thinking and so reflects the culture of Langley. Far from a theoretician, I was a consumer of CIA products, which fumbled the most basic facts. The growth of private analytical shops--mentioned in the essay--is a testament to CIA failure, as is Langley's past misanalysis of the Soviet economy and the Iraqi weapons program both before and after 1991. Long's disdain for competition symbolizes the CIA's complacency and unwillingness to reform. Rather than defend a shoddy system, Long would better serve the intelligence community by elaborating on how he might fix it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

IN MATTHIAS KÜNTZEL's "Iran's Obsession with the Jews" (Feb. 19), we failed to acknowledge the translator of several of the Arabic and Farsi sources quoted. These materials were translated and published on the web by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The editors regret the oversight.

CORRECTION

STEPHEN HESS's "Ike's Second Army" (Feb. 26) lists Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton as an Eisenhower appointee who subsequently ran for office. Actually, Hess meant Seaton's assistant, Ted Stevens, now Alaska's senior senator.