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From: riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle)
Newsgroups: net.general,net.politics
Subject: Letters for Peace
Message-ID: <2555@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Jul-84 22:58:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.2555
Posted: Thu Jul  5 22:58:06 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Jul-84 07:13:15 EDT
Followup-To: net.politics
Organization: U. of Tx. at Houston-in-the-Hills
Lines: 42

Letters for Peace is a grassroots program that helps American citizens
communicate their concerns about the arms race and the danger of nuclear
war to their counterparts in the Soviet Union.

Each sender of a Letter for Peace receives a standard two-page letter
written in Russian, an English translation of the letter, and a stamped
envelope pre-addressed to an individual selected at random from a
Soviet telephone directory.  Senders are encouraged to add their own
thoughts in simple English and to invite the recipient to reply.

An excerpt from the English translation of the letter:

   "I am writing this because I am aware of the frightening danger of
   deadly combat between our countries with the use of missiles with
   nuclear warheads.  Believe me, we Americans do not want to cause
   you any harm, and we believe you feel the same toward us.  But the
   thousands of nuclear warheads of our countries are aimed at each
   other and can cause the suffering of people and the devastation
   not only of the USSR and the USA but of all our earth...  The
   rulers of our governments are searching for ways to lessen the
   danger of nuclear war, and we hope that we can help those efforts
   by extending out our hands to one another as a sign of our
   struggle for nuclear disarmament."

As you may gather, the message is not intended to belabor the disputes
over nuclear issues between or within the two nations or to lay blame
for the problem, but simply to express the fact that Americans, too,
are concerned about nuclear war and how to avoid it.  The form letter
is just a way to open communication; more detailed discussion is then
up to the individual correspondents.  Since each letter is estimated
to reach an average of 25 pass-along readers, an individual sender can
have some impact.

For a sample Letter for Peace and more information, write to:

		Letters for Peace
		59 Bluff Ave.
		Rowayton, Connecticut 06853


--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle