Nuclear Freeze

To the Editors:

I wish to commend your magazine for the bold, incisive look into the terrible threat of nuclear war from which it is unlikely a winner can emerge [March 29]. The prospect of a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union is more than the issue of the '80s. The control and dismantling of these weapons of massive death present the greatest social and environmental challenge in the history of mankind. A fateful juncture in the course of human civilization and in the evolution of life on our planet is now upon the citizens of this country.

David J. Bine Silver Spring, Md.

With both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. having passed the point of overkill several years ago, those who advocate continued production of nuclear weapons are not realists discussing deterrence; they are fanatics talking about how many times to bounce the rubble.

(The Rev.) Steve C. Hancock Dale, Ind.

Proponents of a nuclear freeze are hopelessly naive if they truly believe that the Kremlin will voluntarily relinquish its comparative advantage in nuclear weaponry, or that the West will be able to maintain its political freedoms indefinitely vis-`a-vis such an advantage.

Jack R Cobb Baltimore

Reagan and Brezhnev should hold their first meetings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those sites might help them in their deliberations.

William G. Hughes Rego Park, N. Y.

Only Edward Teller and Michael Novak address the real issue and cause of the arms race, namely the Soviets' armed superiority and their willingness to use it if they assess their chances as favorable.

Armed inferiority and lack of resolve to fight have invariably invited attack; we must be as strong militarily as the Soviets.

Frederick K. Bauer Beverly Hills, Calif.

The problem is not so much military as moral. Therefore the answer shouldn't be expected to come from the keeper of the keys to the gun rack but from concerned citizens who have a healthy respect for the future of mankind. This issue relates not only to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. but to everyone. In an atomic war nobody will be left out.

(The Rev.) William A. Guenther Rosemont, Pa.

Reinstituting the draft would do more to diminish the danger of nuclear war than the MX supermissile and B-1 bomber programs combined. No one else dares to say it. I understand, of course, that risking a nuclear doomsday is preferable to losing the votes of the 18-year-olds.

Leslie Laszlo de Mathe Garden Grove, Calif.

Some members of the Reagan Administration suggest that nuclear wars are winnable. With ecological ruin, genetic damage and the possible destruction of all life, can there really be a winner?

Doane J. Liu Philadelphia

Is it reasonable to believe that a nation with the goal of world conquest and domination will lay down its nuclear weapons because we, the U.S., set a good example?

Bruce Schaefer Dillon, Colo.

After the President boards Air Force One, takes "the football" and sends out the signal for destruction, just where does he intend to land?

Kathleen Spitzer Liverpool, N. Y.

The advocates of nuclear disarmament are following precisely in the steps-of the pacifists who led us into World War I and later into World War II. Surely we have learned by now that only the military strength of the free world can stay the hand of the aggressor.

James G. Ekstrand Vinita, Okla.

Deterrence does not deter, it provokes. In promoting greater escalation, it makes more likely the very thing it claims to avert. We are pursuing peace by gambling with war. We cannot sow danger and reap security.

Howard F. Stein Bethany, Okla.

If we are already thinking the unthinkable, why not admit the bitter truth? One cannot put the genie back into the bottle, beat plutonium into plowshares, or transform the Politburo and KGB into pacifists. Tragically, the idea whose time has come is the very idea of nuclear war. It can and should be postponed by deterrence, but it is sheer utopia to believe that there could never be a miscalculation.

Jacob Rosin Netanya, Israel

Nuclear rhetoric:

I'll stop if you'll stop. . . I'll stop if you'll stop. . . I'll stop . . .

Teruko Burrell San Francisco

I'm one of the lucky ones--I live only 100 yds. from the center of New York City. I'll never know what hit me. I pity the people 25 or so miles away from the target areas--theirs will be a slow, miserable and certain death.

John Bunch New York City

You state that the bureaucracy plans to distribute emergency change-of-address cards in the event of a holocaust. As a member of the Mail Handlers Union I don't know who would be there to ship those cards to the proper location. I may have to call in sick that day.

Jeff Fortier Portland, Me.

Better B-l Bomber

Your article "Fat on the Sacred Cow" [Feb. 22] said the B-l bomber will be an integral part of America's strategic deterrent only until it is replaced by the Stealth Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB). In fact, there are no plans to replace the B-l with the ATB. Instead, the Bl, ATB and large numbers of cruise missiles will all be used together.

The B-l will not be "virtually obsolete by the end of the decade because of improved Soviet air defenses." We have recently made some very significant breakthroughs in electronic countermeasures. When these are combined with B-l design changes, we will have a plane that will do far better than even the most optimistic projections. This aircraft will be able to penetrate Soviet defenses well into the next decade, and can carry cruise missiles. Overall, the improvements are so dramatic that we now call it the B-1B instead of the Bl.

Robert A. Rosenberg Major General, U.S.A.F. Washington, D.C.

U.S. and Central America

Isn't it scare tactics to label as extremists the people who have the courage to fight brutal military dictators in Central America [March 22]? Why shouldn't Nicaragua arm itself against the U.S. Government, which has invaded it twice and is eager to do it again? Why do the Government and the press assume that backing military dictators supports U.S. interests? It doesn't support mine. Hasn't American industry found it profitable to deal with Communist governments in the Soviet Union, China, Yugoslavia and the Eastern satellites of the U.S.S.R.? Why does our Government invariably oppose a people's revolution and thus push those people into the Communist camp, as in the case of Cuba and now Nicaragua?

Benjamin Spock Rogers, Ark.

I am one American who is not dismayed to see our Government backing the "wrong party" in El Salvador. The fact is that we either support a fascist-style government or aid in our own downfall by helping the Communists. Neither government will be sensitive to human rights, as history has proved, so we had better choose the side that best serves American interests.

George C. Gray III Avon, N.C.

Journalists in El Salvador

It was with frustration, anger and sadness that I read of the dangers facing the press in El Salvador [March 29]. We must not forget one young American journalist, John Sullivan, who went to that country in December 1980 to report. He has not been seen or heard from since. But his life will not have been in vain if his colleagues can help to bring an end to the Salvadoran conflict by exposing the situation to public opinion. I am the sister of that courageous young man, and I still wait for his return.

Deborah Indrieri Ramsey, N.J.

Pryor's Power

We hope that Richard Pryor [March 29] is not "over the drugs" to the extent that he will no longer talk about them in his comedy routine. Preach, Richard, preach. Use whatever words you choose--but let your message be clear: Drugs do destroy.

Dick and Ginny Philbin Quechee, Vt.

It's truly glorious that a dark man like Pryor can make a dark world seem so bright. Let's hear it for the miracles of modern medicine!

Tracy Letts Durant, Okla.

It is a sad commentary on the mentality and sensitivity of the American public that it is willing to equate the use of four-letter words with another four-letter word: star. The pollution that flows from this man should restrict him to blue night clubs rather than elevate him to top-dollar stardom.

George Zavadil Towson, Md.

For a change this man is getting the credit he is due. It is pleasant to find someone who can be entertaining during these Reaganomic times. Richard Pryor speaks the truth onstage and is amusing.

Richard W. Ellison Sylvania, Ohio

Publishing Woes

Your alarming view of the state of U.S. book publishing [March 22] is not valid for all of the country. There are some 11,000 American publishing entities outside of New York that are patiently nurturing new books, making sure that any author with significant insights or information will find a forum. A few dozen big publishing houses and the celebrity authors in New York City may be in trouble, but there is far more positive excitement than negative fear in the American publishing industry.

Virginia Wiley and John Huenefeld The Huenefeld Co., Inc. Bedford, Mass.

Poor Diana Trilling! Paperback rights for her new book brought only $125,000. The publishing industry must be suffering from hard times indeed. Invested in a money-market fund, that sum will only net her a yearly income of around $17,000, without her having to lift a finger. Poor woman! How will she make ends meet?

Daniel Byrns St. Louis

Reply to Reggie

In response to Reggie Jackson's snide explanation of why he didn't choose the Orioles ("the only trouble with Baltimore is it's in Baltimore") [March 29], I have this to say: The only trouble with Reggie Jackson is he's Reggie Jackson. Baltimore is a much better place without him, and the Orioles certainly don't need him to remain serious contenders. We have proved that fact in the past two seasons.

Jacquelyn A. McDaniel Boston, Md.

It's Not Fiction

In your story on the Manufacturers Hanover Corp.'s annual report [March 29], you twice identify me as a novelist--without, however, citing the titles of any of my novels. That would have been difficult. Of the 20-odd books I have had published (most recently Jock: The Life and Times of John Hay Whitney), every one has been a work of nonfiction.

E.J. Kahn Jr. New York City

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.