Nice-Guy Carter Is No Inept Politician

We read with dismay the opinion-page column ``Carter's Haitian Gambit,'' Oct. 6. The author seems not only to belittle President Carter, but almost to castigate him. Far from being ``politically inept,'' it seems to us that Mr. Carter is engaged in his diplomatic missions not to ``find the success he seeks in his post-presidential career,'' but simply for the betterment of mankind in this strife-torn world.

Carter laid the groundwork for present-day agreements with the Arabs and Israelis, for which Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Similarly, North Korea signed a nuclear agreement in Geneva to halt its nuclear production and to work within the guidelines of the international nuclear regulatory agency.

And finally, the banishment of the military junta from Haiti and the peaceful return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide were accomplished through the earnest endeavors of Carter, Gen. Colin Powell, and Sen. Sam Nunn (D) of Georgia.

It would hardly seem appropriate to term the successes of Carter as ``inept.'' Rather, they demonstrated his qualities of statesmanship that could possibly make him a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in the future. Paul and Mavise Crocker, Falmouth, Mass.,

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