Nuclear China Serves Missile Defense Shield

The Sept. 7 commentaries by Arianna Huffington and Cal Thomas were right on target. Building up Chinese nuclear missile capabilities in order to justify a U.S. “Star Wars” program is the height of idiocy. Instead of assisting China to build up its nuclear missile manufacturing capability, why not just give the Chinese some of our nuclear missiles out of the several thousand we have in our nuclear missile stockpile? This avoids our having to de-alert or dismantle them. No sense forcing China to divert some of its industrial capacity to building missiles when it can more easily increase its manufacturing of commercial merchandise for the U.S. market.

In fact, why not equip all “enemy” countries with our surplus nuclear missiles? Some type of “Star Wars” expensive missile defense shield would then really be justified. This entire U.S. project could then be placed alongside all the other idiotic programs of the Bush administration.

Sheldon C. Plotkin

Los Angeles

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Huffington nails the Bush administration squarely on the total lack of reasonableness in the frantic efforts to move forward on the “Star Wars” boondoggle. Does anyone really believe that missiles will be the delivery mechanism of choice for terrorists or “rogue nations,” should they decide to nuke us? Our borders are so porous that investing the huge sums necessary to develop and build an intercontinental missile capability when prosaic delivery systems of a rather low-tech variety are already in an “off the shelf” condition makes no sense whatsoever.

To abrogate the Antiballistic Missile Treaty and basically turn a blind eye to the Chinese nuclear armament development program can only make sense to those who see the great pork-barrel possibilities in developing a “full employment for missile builders” program.

Stan Califf

Orange