Let's not start Cold War II — one was quite enough! President Barack Obama's cancellation of the summit talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin was childish, short-sighted and unnecessary ("No summit, small loss," Aug. 7). No doubt many are furious that NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden slipped away to Russia, but it's time to stay calm and carry on. Too much is at stake today, and this American hissy fit is an embarrassment.
I find it ironic that Mr. Obama canceled the summit yet at the same time has proposed ways to put the brakes on U.S. intelligence agencies that are trampling the Constitution and spying unnecessarily on law-abiding American citizens! Would this have happened were it not been for Edward Snowden? Face it; we owe this whistle blower a tremendous debt.
In the past many KGB officers and other Soviet dissidents sought and received asylum in the United States, but I don't remember any summit being called off for that reason. It's time President Obama's sandbox squabble with President Putin ends and our two countries get back to important business again.
Rosalind Ellis Heid, Baltimore