Nuclear Terrorism

* Re “Nuclear Terrorism Moves Closer to Home,” Commentary, July 10: While the closing line of the article says that it “may be only a matter of time” before a nuclear terrorist arises, there is no question in my mind about it. It will happen. We cannot prevent it.

Spending $60 billion on a missile defense system that has shown serious flaws and does not even remotely guarantee real protection is laughable when juxtaposed against the reality of how this nuclear threat will actually be delivered.

Through many generations of development, these weapons have become smaller in size. The smaller the weapon, the easier it is to transport. And, assuming the device is made up of “pieces,” the individual components could easily be transported separately over a period of a few months to a specified location, say London, assembled and then detonated with little to no warning, depending upon the agenda of the organization involved.

No umbrella, no border patrol, no amount of safeguards will work against a determined mind. Power will seduce, money will persuade and belief will empower someone somewhere to commit this evil. And commit it they will, very soon.

GEOFF ARNOLD

Santa Monica

*

* Michael Ramirez’s ABM cartoon (Commentary, July 11) misses the point entirely. No one doubts that our engineers, scientists and other technicians are talented enough to create a missile capable of seeking and destroying another missile somewhere in space, maybe even with 98% reliability.

With global trade as a cover and with open or sieve-like borders, other unfriendly engineers, scientists and technicians are surely capable of delivering an atomic weapon to our territory without the need or expense of a rocket. Checkmate to our checkmate.

The answer to the problems created by the need to defend narrow national interests lies elsewhere, and someday our leaders might be perceptive enough to recognize it. Let’s not buy into the Reagan ABM hallucination.

ERNEST J. SMITH

Seal Beach

*

* Let me see if I have this straight: The old men in Congress want the taxpayer to fund “Star Wars” for $60 billion and the X-fighter (a.k.a. Joint Strike Fighter) for $80 billion. At the same time, they want to push through a $750-billion tax cut for the rich, one that will benefit 2% of the population while 98% of Americans must make up the loss in revenue.

Am I the only one that sees this as another example of how members of the Greatest Generation expect generations unborn to pay for their greed?

DOUGLAS MILLER

Studio City