Nuclear Threat Does Not Come From Russia

Re “Bush, Putin Vow to Slash Warheads,” Nov. 14: Why is our president making a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding a reduction in our nuclear warheads?

Russia is no longer our most dangerous enemy. Communist China is--and the military dictators who rule China have threatened U.S. cities with a nuclear strike if we help Taiwan. China is building its nuclear armaments at a tremendous pace, which will be used to intimidate us into surrendering (without a fight) with the help of our home-grown peaceniks and our leftist-leaning Senate.

We must not reduce any stockpiles of nuclear warheads. This is why the Cold War is now over. Russian leader Putin is still a hard-line Communist. How can we trust that he will do what he promises? The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed with the former Soviet Union must be scrapped. This is the first issue to be settled.

Frank Drewe

Glendale

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Re “When Our Enemies Don’t Fight ‘Fair,’ Neither Can We,” Commentary, Nov. 13: I am sending a copy of James Pinkerton’s article to President Bush in hopes he might consider the futility of committing billions of our dollars and tons of precious resources to his missile defense system. Under this system, some nation shoots high-tech lethal weapons at us, and we move to block them with our “Star Wars” precision miracles. The problem with this plan is that on the ground, under this pie-in-the-sky where most Americans live, we scurry around in fear of opening a bioterror-contaminated letter, of traveling on a plane, of working in high-rise buildings and of drinking water from the tap, wondering when some terrorist with a nuclear device strapped to his body will obliterate thousands of innocent lives.

I prefer my nation’s resources to be used as efficiently and effectively as possible. With Pinkerton’s article in mind, this means considering that the rules of warfare have changed and that the “Star Wars” project will leave us even more vulnerable, forever fearful here on the ground and a lot poorer.

Ula Pendleton

Los Angeles

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Re “Nuclear Threat Is Real, Experts Warn,” Nov. 11: It is truly remarkable to me that Congress is poised to spend upward of $8 billion dollars on a missile defense system to protect us against the unlikely scenario of a rogue-state missile attack yet has voted to cut (to less than $1 billion) funding for nonproliferation programs that protect us from the much more real threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. Congress and the president should include funding for these programs in the supplemental spending package and address this gaping hole in our national security.

Alex Crowson

Los Angeles