‘Hobby Shop Takes Off”

The fast entrenchment of Star Wars into the national budget may be the first solid clue that President Reagan will get his wish to be remembered in history for Star Wars. However, the quality of the remembrance may not be exactly what he has in mind.

All U.S. Presidents for 25 years have had image blemishes--for example, John F. Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs and Richard M. Nixon’s Watergate. President Reagan is driving SDI with all the energy and political skill he can muster. After many years and trillions of dollars, the program could turn out to be the greatest economic-military disaster ever inflicted on humankind. Historians would then cite it as the grossest breakdown in statesmanship since man began recording and explaining events. At the center of this failure would be President Reagan.

So who besides the President believes that SDI is a step in the right direction? The majority of scientists believe SDI to be unworkable, unwarranted, and too costly. Two-thirds of the physicists surveyed believe that it is very unlikely or improbable that SDI could provide an effective population defense. About two-thirds believe that it would be dangerously unreliable--since the system as a whole could never be adequately tested. Less than 10% strongly favor deployment of SDI.

President Reagan appears to be bucking the tide. He may be remembered for a monstrous mistake. However, he can take the tide at the flood--push for elimination of all nuclear weapons--strive for “talked out” settlement of world conflicts. He can go down in history as the able world statesman who looked at the earth as a whole; scrapped the Star Wars concept; and opted for a workable protective shield built on good will and negotiated agreements.

LARRY KELBLEY

Rancho Palos Verdes