In response to Eugene E. Ratay (“Rumors of War,” Sept. 1):

The civil war in Syria is conducted chiefly with arms imported from outside countries. Our news media blame Russia for selling arms to the Assad faction and report that America, governed by Nobel Peace laureate Barack Obama, is considering arming other factions.

I agree, this stinks. Unlike the writer, however, I don’t care “whether the alleged chemical attack was actually carried out by the rebels or other groups in Syria.” Rather, I am dismayed that America is the world’s largest exporter of arms, Russia a distant second, followed by various American allies.