Editor:

I am writing in response to Leigh Rasen's letter (March 6) on U.S. bashing and closed-mindedness.

In her letter she asks Christian Hatley (March 4) whether he has ever been outside of the U.S. Then she bases her opinion on the following statement: "I've had the opportunity to visit another country ..." Well, I am not sure how many countries you have visited, but it sure sounds like that you had an opportunity to visit only one (Mexico?).

On the other hand, I would not call my self a world traveler, but I have been to 19 different countries including the U.S. All of them have certain freedoms that others don't, but only the U.S. claims to be the greatest. Different cultures define "freedom" differently, so claiming that one is better than the other is pure stupidity.

When I first came to the U.S., one of the first things that I noticed were how many things I was not allowed to do and how many rules and regulations are there. The U.S. seems to have the biggest number of laws, and if I understand correctly, freedom is not evaluated by which country has greater number of laws, but the contrary.

So coming back to the original letter by Hatley, I like this country enough to make it my home, but I am also sick and tired of listening to all of the hypocrites telling me how great it is.

Mladen Micic
AME senior