President Bush Sends Troops to Saudi Arabia

Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam Nunn’s (D-Ga.) statement that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait suggests we still need weapons like the $500-million-a-copy B-2 Stealth bomber means, I guess, that the 600-ship Navy and thousands of nuclear missiles we procured at such cost in the ‘80s are useless. And what about the thousands of cruise missiles, our F-11s, F-4s, F-16s, F/A-18s, A-6s and A-7s? Are they useless, too?

And there’s the Army secretary’s statement in 1986 that “we are creating an army that, in a strategic sense, has more utility across the entire spectrum of conflict--an army that is ready today and preparing to meet tomorrow’s challenges. . . .” Is that baloney, too? What about former Navy Secretary John Lehman’s statement in 1984 that “the fleet and the fleet marine force are more ready to go in harm’s way than at any time in post-war history?” More bull feathers?

I’d really like to ask Nunn if the $1 trillion we spent on arms in the ‘80s was really such a waste, why we should ante up $27 billion more for Stealth?

ANN ALPER

Pacific Palisades