Russia’s Plea for Western Aid
Our apparent preoccupation and “assistance” with the “safe” disposal of Soviet nuclear weapons have finally revealed themselves for what they really are--our obsessive desire for military control of Eastern Europe, which has not diminished one iota with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It seems that our addiction to power has no limits as we continue to create enemies and dangers to justify our meddling. If we were truly committed to disarmament and conversion, we would start at home. We need to dismantle our own arsenal of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, begin a massive retraining and conversion program from military to civilian production and put our own house in order.
Militarism is obsolete. In a world where 40,000 children die every day from preventable diseases, spending money on weapons is a crime. With the end of the Cold War, why do we still spend $285 billion a year on the military? Who benefits from such a policy? It’s time for the U.S. public to ask some hard questions. The 1992 elections may prove that opportunity.
TANJA WINTER, La Jolla
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