To the Editor:

In “Donald Trump Is a Hostage to 1979” (Sunday Review, Jan. 12), Stephen Metcalf argues that President Trump’s decision to kill Qassim Suleimani stems from his obsession with being the anti-Jimmy Carter. But the image of Jimmy Carter as a weak president defies reality.

As a former submarine officer, Mr. Carter considered a naval blockade of Iran’s ports, but his national security and military advisers were concerned that it would enhance the influence of the Soviet Union and lead to the hostages being returned in coffins.

As president he reversed the decline in post-Vietnam War defense spending. All the weapons systems that President Reagan used to help bring down the Soviet Union were greenlighted by Mr. Carter. Even his conservative critics applauded his tough response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan and his threat of military force to block any Soviet drive to the Persian Gulf.

He warned the mullahs in Tehran that any show trials or physical harm to the hostages would bring instant military retaliation. They heeded his warning.