McNamara on Threat of Nuclear Arsenals

Re “The Threat of Annihilation Is Still Real,” by Robert S. McNamara and James G. Blight, Opinion, June 24: McNamara is no doubt among the least qualified people on the entire face of the planet to lecture today’s world leaders when it comes to what is moral and immoral with regard to weapons of war. Along with his commander in chief, Lyndon Johnson, McNamara is personally responsible for the instigation, pursuit and perpetuation of the most senseless, disastrous, lengthy war in American history. The two of them implemented the gradual escalation and no-win mentality that turned that war into a meat grinder of meaningless slaughter on both sides.

Being scolded about the evils of war by McNamara is about as believable as being scolded about the evils of crime by John Gotti.

Mike Morrison

Chatsworth

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While we focus on countries whose atomic arsenal size and locations are relatively known, what about the possibility of a terrorist whose geographic, political and organizational ties are relatively unknown walking into the middle of a large, populated metropolis in the middle of the night and detonating a mini-atomic bomb? To my mind, with today’s technology and access to information, money and materials, that is as real a threat as the one alluded to in the article.

Samuel J. Hasson

Glendale